Greg Palast, thrower of journalistic Molotov cocktails, has recently been attacked on Daily Kos. Many people catch heat there, but in Palast’s case, the attack was a bit weird. He brought his allegations of a little something called vote caging (for more, please check out the column I penned about the issue in the Advocate proper) to the airwaves in Britain, where libel laws make American ones look like mere suggestions–if you can’t prove yourself, you’re pretty much gonna suffer legal consequences (or, as lawyers like to say, "remedies").
A Kos challenger demanded more proof, as in the actual emails about the caging that Palast has from Tim Griffin, former Rove aide appointed U.S. Attorney after the initial eight firings about which we are still hearing. Palast, of course, can’t respond to every challenger any more than NASA can address each particular crank who says we didn’t go to no stinkin’ moon. He replied in his characteristically snarky fashion (he’s kind of known for it), enflaming more commentary.
But that challenger and every other ought to rejoice in the latest news from the vote caging front. Palast met with Congressman John Conyers, one of my personal political heroes, and apparently showed Conyers the evidence. Quite shortly after news of this meeting aired on the BBC, Tim Griffin resigned.
It’s mighty nice to write a column about a macro-level gaming of the political system, and then find out that you’ve learned about something really damning. Looks like lots more people were noticing this than just a Valley Advocate writer. It’s a real breath of fresh air after the past 7 years of brutal crushing of our democratic traditions to see some consequences visited upon these Mayberry Machiavellis. Small victories add up.
Here’s to ya, Timmy boy.
