The Fantasy Behind the Scandal (scathing NYT editorial)

The Times ties the firing of the prosecutors to a recent news report that made not-too-much of a splash a few days ago -- a report about how the admin rewrote a report on voter fraud to make it seem like a bigger problem than it is (which they then pointed out was part of a pattern seen also in the rewriting of the global warming report).

Then they said it looks like the prosecutors might have been fired because they didn't go along with the drummed up charges against some (Dems) for voter fraud and also the notion that voter fraud was a big, not minor, problem.

Then they get to the missing emails and don't buy the claim they're lost.

THEN they get to what they want Karl Rove to do.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/opinion/15sun1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The difference between voter fraud and election fraud. Voter fraud is indeed a minor issue. Election fraud on the other hand is the elephant in the room.

The tactics the the tobacco companies used to "muddy the waters" for decades looks like the exact playbook of what we're seeing now with "voter fraud" "global warming" "stem cell research". The WH seems to be using this model...

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Well, he does it. Big time. I defy anyone to read the middle chapters of The Cigarette Century, the ones that detail the foundation of the Tobacco Institute and the industry's efforts to muddy scientific waters, and not come away with a burning need to drive down to North Carolina and find someone to throttle. Or Madison Avenue. Among the many villains Brandt skillfully waterboards are executives at the public relations giant Hill & Knowlton, which during the 1950s single-handedly orchestrated Big Tobacco's campaign to undermine anti-smoking advocates and scientists up to and including the surgeon general. No lie was too big to tell, no bit of pseudo-science too ridiculous to pass off as legitimate. Parents, if you have teenagers considering a career in p.r., have them read this first. I can't remember the last time I read a more scathing indictment of corporate malfeasance.
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http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0465070477/bookstorenow99-20

Sound familiar?