One of Josh Marshall's TPM readers asks a very important question here.
Last night, news broke that the FBI had been taping phone calls placed to the senior Republican in the United States Senate as part of a bribery investigation stretching back more than a year. In fact, the man alleged to have bribed the senator is cooperating with investigators, and the calls recorded included some he placed at the FBI's behest.
The Washington Post, always eager to cover political stories of national import, ran the news on page A10. Most papers gave it similar prominence, if they ran the item it at all.Contrast that to the (admittedly luried) tale of Norman Hsu, fronted by papers around the nation. That was a case of a major donor to Democratic figures who turned out (unbeknownst to the politicians to whom he donated) to be a crook and a fraud. That's big news. But when a businessman who is a major donor to Republican politicians turns out to be a crook and a fraud, and some of the nation's senior legislators are revealed to have knowingly accepted his bribes and funneled him earmarks in return, it's hardly worth mentioning.
Where's the outrage?
The answer to this is sadly very simple: the are protecting their own. Sen. Stevens is a member of the DC community; Norman Hsu is most certainly not. To the members of the community, this one is easy. Demonize Hsu, minimize Stevens. It's a phenomenon Digby recently referred to as protecting the village.
One word of caution here, however. If, or rather when, Stevens is indicted and convicted, expect a media firestorm. At that point Stevens will present a clear and present danger to the village, forcing them to turn against him with great vengeance and furious anger. The village, after all, must be protected at all costs.
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