'Journalists' Fail Most Basic Test: Truth

Based on what some so-called television network "journalists" have reported breathlessly, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin rushed out and hired an attorney to defend herself against allegations of undue influence involving the state's public safety chief after John McCain picked her as his running mate. And, at least two network reporters failed to use the word "alleged" when referring to allegations against Palin. One CNN reporter presented the allegations as fact but offered no facts in her report.

The truth is far less sensational, as this AP report proves: As for the Alaska probe, a Republican-dominated legislative committee is investigating whether Palin dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan after he refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced Palin's sister.

The state's attorney general, Talis Colberg, hired Thomas V. Van Flein more than two weeks ago to represent Palin and members of her staff, according to Van Flein. He has represented the Palin family in the past as a private attorney, according to a McCain aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Van Flein said he couldn't confirm representing the family because of attorney-client privilege.

"Did I know the Palins before the state hired me? Yes," he told The Associated Press.

"The governor of every state gets legal counsel, and this attorney is part of a weeks-old effort to provide this governor defense in a series of outlandish, politically motivated charges," said senior McCain adviser Tucker Eskew. "It is a matter of her job and is not recent, and it is not related to her selection on the McCain-Palin ticket."

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