Bad Deeds for 1-15-2008

Romney Photo-op Was With Staffer’s Mom – Media outlets reported that Mitt Romney was the picture of empathy as he sat at the Marshall, Mich. kitchen table of 51-year-old Elizabeth Sachs, a single mother of two who lost her job as a retail manager – as well as her health insurance – and is running out of money as she tries to sell her house to move to Florida. What wasn’t reported – and what the Romney campaign did not reveal at the time – was that one of Sachs’ sons, Steve Sachs, is a paid employee of Romney’s campaign, organizing five counties in Michigan.

Bible-Toting Lawmaker Kicks Photographer – Carrying a family Bible, a Republican state representative-elect kicked a photographer who took a picture of him during a statehouse prayer. When Rocky Mountain News photographer Javier Manzano took Douglas Bruce’s photo during the traditional morning prayer, Bruce, who was standing, brought the sole of his shoe down hard on the photographer’s bent knee. “Don’t do that again,” Bruce told him. Later, Bruce refused to apologize.

Megachurch Leader Charged with Perjury – An 80-year-old leader of a suburban megachurch who is at the center of a sex scandal has been charged with lying under oath for saying he had sex outside marriage with only one other woman. Former church employee Mona Brewer is suing Paulk, his brother and the church on allegations that Paulk manipulated her into an affair from 1989 to 2003 by telling her it was her only path to salvation. In a 2006 deposition stemming from the lawsuit, the archbishop said under oath that the only woman he had ever had sex with outside of his marriage was Brewer. But the results of a court-ordered paternity test revealed in October that Paulk is the biological father of his brother’s son, D.E. Paulk, who is now head pastor at the church. As part of Brewer’s lawsuit, eight women have given sworn depositions that they were coerced into sexual relationships with Earl Paulk.

Fox Talkers Gang up on John Edwards, Dead Girl’s Family to Defend Insurance Company – Fox News host Megyn Kelly teamed up with one of the network’s “legal analysts” to bash John Edwards and others who are criticizing an insurance company for dragging its feet in approving a potentially life-saving liver transplant for a now-dead California teen.

The segment also featured a defense attorney, who defended Edwards and the family of 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan, but the segment was heavily slanted towards defending insurance company Cigna, and tying Democratic presidential candidate Edwards to ambulance-chasing trial lawyers.

Defense attorney Rachel Kugel spoke for about 50 seconds of the five-and-a-half minute segment, according to a rough estimate. Fox News Legal Analyst Mercedes Colwin received more than twice as much talk-time to admonish Edwards and stick up for the poor, demonized insurance company.

MSNBC Only Describes John Edwards as “the White Guy” – In their ranking of candidates, MSNBC describes Hillary Clinton in 12 lines of text, Barak Obama in 7 lines of text, and John Edwards in only 2 lines of text that state, “Does he really want to be the white guy, playing the white candidate?” Edwards has gotten horrible press coverage, but this is the worst. Write a letter to MSNBC and tell them what you think.

EPA Administrator Refuses to Attend Congressional Hearing to Explain Why States Requests to Regulate Greenhouses Gases Were Denied – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied a request from California and 18 other states to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. Despite an invitation, EPA Administrator Johnson refused to attend the hearing and explain why, over the unanimous recommendations of technical and legal staffers at the agency, he denied California’s common-sense waiver request. He has also failed to respond to the Committee’s demand that the EPA release all documents pertaining to the agency’s decision.

White House Opposes Mine Safety Bill – The White House on Tuesday threatened to veto a mine safety bill, saying the new regulations proposed by Democrats would interfere with legislation President Bush signed in 2006.

Regards,

Jim