TNR: Coleman and Blagojevich

Aaron Keyak — February 3, 2009 – 1:47 pm | GOP Hypocrisies | Republicans Comments (0) Add a comment

Jonathan Chait of The New Republic wrote a piece titled, “Spare the Rod,” that Chait calls a “kind of” “defense of Blagojevich.” The article points out, “Coleman is accused by a Houston businessman of having actually accepted illicit funds, while Blagojevich is merely being accused of harboring an intention to sell his Senate seat.”

An excerpt:

Some differences in the scale of relative guilt do present themselves. In Coleman’s defense, he’s currently just a subject of an FBI investigation, while Blagojevich has been voted out of office. And, of course, Coleman hasn’t been caught boasting about his scheme. On the other hand, Coleman is accused by a Houston businessman of having actually accepted illicit funds, while Blagojevich is merely being accused of harboring an intention to sell his Senate seat.

Now consider how the two stories have fared in the national press. Blagojevich has turned into the biggest crime story since O.J. Simpson. Can you guess how many articles about the Coleman scandal have appeared in the national media? One short wire story. When I bring up Coleman’s scandals with my colleagues, many of whom follow politics for a living, invariably they have little or no idea what I’m talking about.

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Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are staunchly defending Coleman’s hopeless legal challenge to overturn Franken’s victory. Last week, the Republican Jewish Coalition hired Coleman as a spokesman. The RJC announced, “we are eager for him to travel across the country on our behalf and to be an important voice within the organization.” Republicans aren’t just defending Coleman, they’re going out of their way to keep him in the public eye! Do they even realize this man is being investigated by the FBI?

Click here to read the entire piece.

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