An almost enraging story, reports of which are in
today's Dallas Morning-News:
EXCERPTS:
Lawyer was fired after Rove called
Wayne Slater
AUSTIN - White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove personally called the Texas secretary of state about a newspaper story quoting a staff lawyer about whether Mr. Rove was eligible to vote in the state.
The lawyer was subsequently fired.
...
Elizabeth Reyes, 30, was terminated Sept. 6 after being quoted in The Washington Post three days earlier saying it was potential vote fraud to register in a place where you don't actually live. Ms. Reyes said that she was answering a hypothetical question, that she didn't know she talking with a reporter and that Mr. Rove's name never came up.
The Post acknowledged that Mr. Rove's name was not mentioned.
RHETORIC/RANT:
- A State employee can be fired for answering a hypothetical question unknowing of the nature of the inquiry, when that answer later embarasses the Bush Administration?
I've had it with the Texas apologists in here- you can go to hell. Oh, wait- you are already there! Quoting Sam Kinison, you need to "move."
- The WaPo Editorial Page has nothing to say about this?
This is an extraordinary intimidation of the press. Nobody in a Red State will speak on background again. The WaPo can no longer claim to be a newspaper- they do no reporting, only spinning and weaving.