Olbermann & Maddow Explain Graeme Frost Story

Reading the story about 12-year-old Graeme Frost, the SCHIP program, and the conservative attacks on the Frost family is sort of a tangled mess. There are tangents from Sen. Mitch McConnell to FreeRepublic.com to (shudder) Michelle Malkin.

Fortunately, the TV machine has a program called Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and fortunately for the program, Air America Radio host, Rachel Maddow, is a recurring guest. Here, Rachel and Keith boil the story down to its high (and low) points. Recommended, if you don't want to dive too deeply into the story, or if you just want to see why you might want to.

GOP Senator Behind Attack of 12-Year-Old

Photo from source, ThinkProgress.org

In one of the more ridiculous political stories of the year, Republicans are indeed actively attacking a 12-year-old boy and his family. True, Democrats used the boy to combat the President's veto of the SCHIP program--a move I've already characterized as somewhat cloying and calculated.

But the right-wing blogosphere has jumped across, and run far past the line of decency and taste with this story. And they managed to get a US Senator to do their dirty work for them. Way to go, Senator! Careful, Mitch. I think one of those liberal bloggers (like Blogactive.com) may be ready to spell out some of the details of your life, and they probably only need a little push. . .

[Excerpt]

E-mail Reveals That McConnell Staffer Propagated Smear Campaign Against Graeme Frost

Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported that there was mounting evidence that a staffer for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) may have been involved in the right-wing campaign to smear Graeme Frost and his family.

ABC News reported earlier in the week that an e-mail sent to reporters by “a Senate Republican leadership aide” in McConnell’s office suggested that “GOP aides were complicit in spreading disparaging information about the Frosts.” A McConnell spokesman refused to deny the office’s involvement in the affair.

Read the whole story at: ThinkProgress.org