Topic: WorldNetDaily
With the news earlier this month that Richard Pombo is set to make another run for a House seat from California, Talking Points Memo compiled a bill of particulars detailing Pombo's various alleged ethical violations (relatives on the payroll, attempted bribery, dalliances with Jack Abramoff).
That got us to wondering: What did WorldNetDaily, that self-proclaimed "fiercely independent newssite committed to hard-hitting investigative reporting of government waste, fraud and abuse," write about Pombo's ethical violations before he lost his House seat in November 2006?
Nothing that we could find. You will, however, find a May 2006 column by Henry Lamb touting Pombo's performance at a committee hearing, as well as a July 2006 column praising Pombo for co-sponsoring a bill to reform Indian gaming laws.
You will also find a column by WND editor Joseph Farah lamenting Pombo's 2006 loss:
Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., my co-author on a book called "This Land Is Our Land," a property rights manifesto published in 1996. Pombo is chairman of the House Resources Committee, where he spent much of his time trying to overhaul one of the most ridiculous pieces of legislation in the history of our country – the Endangered Species Act.
Pombo was targeted with millions of dollars by environmentalist extremist groups that don't really care about conservation or endangered animals but do care about government control and political power.
After all the shock expressed by Americans over eminent domain in the last two years, men like Pombo, who have been fighting for personal property rights for decades, should have been returned to power, not turned out. But this was a strange election cycle, indeed. It was quite an upset.
He is a good man. He will be missed not just by people in his congressional district, but by all freedom-loving Americans.
There's our answer -- Farah gave his friend and co-author a pass on his ethical violations, making a mockery of any pretentions to watchdogging.
We already knew, from WND's similar silence on the corruption of Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham that Republicans were exempt from WND's brand of "hard-hitting investigative reporting of government waste, fraud and abuse." Now we know it also helps to be a friend of the editor.
