For those of you following the case of Paul Jacob, here’s a link to John Powers’ column in the Chicago Daily Observer.
For those of you catching up: Jacob, the Senior Advisor at the Sam Adams Foundation, has been indicted on charges related to his work leading a petition drive in Oklahoma. Jacob is charged with a felony of conspiring against the State of Oklahoma in collecting signatures in favor of a Taxpayer Bill of Rights by an out of state resident. After 300,000 signatures were gathered by Jacobs and others, signatures removed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court keeping the petition from making it to a ballot.
Writes Powers:
It seems sort of like arresting mom for making apple pie, but it is indicative of the current low-brow nature of politics in the United States. Rather than facing an opponent on the issues, rather than campaigning on facts, rather than organizing support for a cause, there is a grand group of autocrats that would rather imprison their political foes than wage a legitimate campaign against them. It is also quite telling that outside of a few Libertarian blogs (and of course the Chicago Daily Observer), the media has completely ignored this story from any angle except day to day uninspired coverage of court issues in Oklahoma.
The Sam Adams site has a deep archive of resources, articles and blog discussions on L’Affaire Jacob here.