It will not surprise readers that I don't like Mitch McConnell who I view as a nasty, lying sleaze bag most of the time. Thus it was delicious to see a secret audio tape of a meeting among McConnell and his campaign aids which ridiculed would-be political rival, actress Ashley Judd, and plotted tactics to undermine her, including depicting her as mentally ill. Thankfully, more of the public will now know just how down and dirty and sleazy McConnell is in fact. Sadly, he's the typical Republican who talks "values" and integrity yet tosses both out the window in his obsession to retain power. The Washington Post looks at how Mother Jones scored this second coup and suggests that others may follow. I find it a good thing that some people are finally disgusted with the GOP's hypocrisy and nastiness and willing to help expose it. Here are article highlights:
David Corn says one good scoop may have led to another. And might even lead to still others, too. The Mother Jones magazine reporter and MSNBC pundit was busy Wednesday handling the fallout from, and some fawning over, his latest revelation about a prominent Republican. Corn unearthed the audiotape of a private meeting in which Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and his aides mocked a would-be political rival, the actress Ashley Judd, and plotted tactics to undermine her. An unidentified source leaked the surreptitious recording of the February meeting to Corn.
And just like that, Corn and Mother Jones had their second major bombshell in seven months. The first, of course, was one of the most consequential scoops of the presidential campaign — a leaked video recording of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney saying at a small fundraiser last May that “47 percent” of voters were “dependent” on the government. (Corn will receive the prestigious Polk Award for Political Reporting for the Romney story on Thursday.)
Corn, 54, says the two career-making stories might have been linked. He guesses that his source on the McConnell recording — whom he won’t reveal — came to him because of the way he handled the Romney recording and the firestorm it ignited.
[I]n the wake of the Romney revelation, Corn has received a mini-flood of would-be audio and video leaks about Washington figures. Some of these have looked promising, but none have become public — yet. Corn said he hasn’t been able to vet them to his satisfaction or work out terms for making them public. He has “passed” on several of the offers for a variety of reasons.
Not so of the McConnell recording, which Corn said he received two weeks ago. He spent several days authenticating it, ensuring that it wasn’t faked, doctored or taken out of context. He tried to get a response from McConnell’s camp a day before publication but received nothing.
Despite ample criticism, including from McConnell, that the audio recording is an invasion of privacy, Corn argues that its newsworthiness trumps those concerns. “I think voters and citizens have a tremendous right to know almost as much as possible of the elected officials who come before them and ask for their votes,” he said. “I think people can decide for themselves how outrageous [McConnell’s] behavior is, but it gives you a glimpse inside his campaign’s thinking.”
“What’s wonderful about this story and ‘47 percent’ story is that no one needs to listen to me or any commentator to know what it means,” he said Wednesday. “It’s all there. It’s journalism verite. You can listen to it and come to your own conclusion. I would encourage people to come forward with more tapes.”
We once saw investigative reporting in the main stream media. Sadly, the MSM now largely only echos the sound bites of politicians. Thankfully, Mother Jones and other alternative sources are stepping in to take up the slack. I want to see more of it.
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