Pro Publica Got it Right This Time Around

On Wednesday, I linked to an article in Pro Publica which describes how Roland Burris - a former attorney general in Illinois - once sought to impose the death penalty on an innocent man.

In light of this revelation, I questioned Barack Obama's rationale in endorsing Roland Burris for governor of Illinois in 2002.

Why am I mentioning this again? Because Glenn Reynolds - after linking to the Pro Publica article, via the Politico blog [which published the piece on Thursday] - cites a recent article in the Rocky Mountain News which depicts Pro Publica as an unreliable, slanted and shabby news source. Hence, I feel it is important to note that with regards to the Roland Burris death penalty debacle, Pro Publica relies on two news sources - the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune - to corroborate its story.

Thus, while there may be some legitimate gripes about Pro Publica and its journalistic integrity, as far as the Roland Burris story is concerned, it seems they got it right: Mr. Burris - for the sake of political expediency - sent an innocent man to death row!

And despite all of this, Barack Obama endorsed Roland Burris for governor of Illinois in 2002.

Apparently, Barack Obama's rationale is as follows:

You can impose the death penalty on an innocent man, be tainted by acts of sheer ruthlessness and still be qualified for public office - as long as the person who appoints you to public office isn't Rod Blagojevich.........