Today's Chicago Tribune carries a front page story on Bush's disavowal of 527s.
But nowhere in the article is any mention given of Bush's previous approval of such organizations, as well as his active participation in them, as so well documented in Drew's recent
diary
Read the article
here and then e-mail the Tribune's Public Editor. His name is Don Wycliff, and based upon everything of his that I've read in the past, he is both a reasoned and reasonable man, with a far greater proclivity to self reflect than his counterparts at most newspapers.
dwycliff@tribune.com
Here is my letter to him:
Dear Mr. Wycliff,
I was quite distressed to read today's front page Tribune article penned by Rick Pearson (among others.)
The article quotes George W. Bush as stating his opposition to 527s. Yet nowhere does the article mention that when Bush signed the McCain/Feingold act, he publicly expressed concern that the bill might stifle exactly this sort of activity.
From a March 27, 2002 White House press release: "I believe individual freedom to participate in elections should be expanded, not diminished; and when individual freedoms are restricted, questions arise under the First Amendment. I also have reservations about the constitutionality of the broad ban on issue advertising, which restrains the speech of a wide variety of groups on issues of public import in the months closest to an election."
That is quite a "flip-flop," and certainly newsworthy, is it not?
Bush's greater hypocrisy is in regards to his own participation in 527s. In 2000, the Bush campaign created a 527 "Recount Fund," which failed to abide by public disclosure laws.
Bush has also participated in fundraising activities for numerous other 527s, including The National Federation of Republican Women, The National Republican Congressional Committee, The National Republican Senatorial Committee, and The Republican Governor's Association.
Yet none of this, not one word Mr. Wycliff, was included in the Tribune's article. This is all the more troubling given your paper's recent exemplary coverage of William Rood, and the indisputable links between the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and long time Bush supporters and advisers such as Karl Rove.
Of course, giving your readers the full story might make your editorial board's inevitable endorsement of Bush a little dicier to pull off.