On the bias of AP and non-independence of Daniel

Bravo to Clarice Feldman of American Thinker and Steve Gilbert at Sweetness & Light for amplifying the concerns first expressed by FReepers and Texas for Sarah Palin -- but ignored by AP's Rachel D'Oro -- about how "independent" an investigator the activist Democrat and ACLU lawyer Thomas Daniel really is.

As Feldman asked:

"Don't you think the AP could just once google their sources? Or at least figure out bloggers will and expose their bias?"

FReepers and bloggers did precisely that googling, and we have found a number of smoking guns.

Rachel D'Oro has proven her employer's promise of  "fairness, balance and accuracy" to be not just lies, but what Mark Twain is often quoted as calling "damned lies" (Twain himself attributed the quote to Disraeli).

As for Mr. Thomas, we have heard from some readers in his defense that he did render findings in Gov. Palin's favor in some of the politically-motivated ethics complaints which have been dismissed. While we agree that he has indeed done so, our argument is how could he have found otherwise? Each and every one of these complaints has been so clearly bogus and lacking in substance that any recommendation other than to toss them out would have set off enough red alerts the the resulting commotion would be something even Alaska politics has never seen. This writer spent the first thirteen years of his life in Louisiana and therefore recognizes the swarmy face of unscrupulous politics when it rears its ugly head. Examine the evidence and ask yourself what a reasonable person would conclude.

Updates...

The WSJ's James Taranto:

It may be that Daniel’s interpretation of the ethics act is consistent with a very literal reading of the act, but contrary to his claim, it is an affront to common sense. No “ordinary citizen” would face the kind of “legal charges” that have bedeviled Palin--to wit, politically motivated accusations that she has misused her office.

CNN.com quotes Palin as saying in a statement that “neither I nor my lawyer has received a penny from this fund.” Even if that changes, it is ridiculous to say Palin enjoys “personal gain” if she gets help offsetting her legal bills. At best it would partially offset the costs imposed on her by her roles as governor, vice presidential nominee and political hate object--only the first two of which she took on voluntarily.

Curt at Flopping Aces:

Now should the investigator into ethics violations be a Republican if the person being investigated is Republican? Definitely not. But given the fact that he is most obviously a hardcore Democrat AND he is employed by the very same law firm that served as counsel to Obama during the campaign last year I would say the man had no business being anywhere near an investigation into Sarah Palin.

- JP