Bad Deeds for 3-9-07

Republican Congressman Knew of Problems at Walter Reed Hospital But Kept it Quiet – The top Republican who previously chaired the committee that wrote Defense Department budget bills admitted yesterday that he was aware of many problems at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center but feared that more aggressive oversight would “give the Army a black eye.” He alleged in a lengthy statement that an Army Staff Sergeant died at Walter Reed Army Medical hospital several days after a respiratory therapist mistakenly conducted a percussive therapy exercise that caused the soldier to bleed heavily.

News Media Falling Short in Watchdog Role, Critics Say – In both the Walter Reed scandal and the Lewis Libby case, media critics say the country would have been better served if big news outlets had taken a more aggressive watchdog attitude. The consequences can be enormous when the media falls short of its responsibilities: The country went to war in Iraq on false or exaggerated evidence trumpeted by anonymous sources through compliant media. And U.S. forces have been at war since 2001, but only in 2007 did the Walter Reed abuses come to light, as the elite media ignored earlier reports from smaller outlets, such as Salon.com, rather than credit and build on them.

Police On-Duty Without Training in Some Cities

Bigger scandal involves US attorneys still in office rather than those fired – For now, the nation’s focus is on the eight federal prosecutors fired by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for political reasons. In the last few days we have also learned that Republican members of Congress called prosecutors to pressure them on politically charged cases, even though doing so seems unethical and possibly illegal. But statistical evidence suggests that many other prosecutors decided to protect their jobs or further their careers by doing what the administration wanted them to do: harass Democrats while turning a blind eye to Republican malfeasance.

Soviet-era compound in northern Poland was site of secret CIA interrogation, detention

Conservative pundit on Fox News says that leaning on prosecutors for favors should be allowed – Referring to phone calls made by Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) to US Attorney David Iglesias prior to his firing, Barnes told host Brit Hume on Fox News Special Report, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with these phone calls that were made.” They called Iglesias “and asked if what was an indictment of a former Democratic official was going to happen before election day,” he continues. “Well now, that seems perfectly okay to me, if they do that.” The fact that Iglesias was fired shortly after the phone calls in question is not brought up by anyone on the Fox News panel.

Regards,

Jim