| June, 2004 |
| Money 4,530 Decatur Police 2,600 Governor 892 City Council 825 Republican 651 Iraq 558 Bush 472 Murder 463 Lynn Fowler 382 Drugs 346 Politics 310 Democrat 276 Sex 231 Roy Moore 188 Saddam Hussein 187 Terrorism 181 |
| A google search of the Decatur Daily archives tells how many articles containing certain words have appeared in the paper in the past couple of years. I think it's as good a measure as any to see what the Daily considers important: |
| Tipton 121 Death penalty (anti) 95 Daniel Wade Moore 72 Elvis 71 Bob Burrell 66 Karen Tipton 63 Catherine Halbrooks 51 Don Valeska 49 Osama bin Laden 45 David Tipton 34 Doris Baker 34 Terry Smith 21 Roger Payne 15 UFO's 7 William Dill 6 Linda Kubina 5 |
| The Daily's greatest concern seems to be money. They are Democratic activists; their favorite topics are Republicans, crime, drugs, and sex. As anti-death penalty activists, they are pro-dwm, pro-Halbrooks, and pro-chronic courthouse complainers. They are anti-any Republican Attorney General (and all his staff), anti-DPD, and anti-Tipton. |
| William Dill is the lead prosecutor in the biggest local news story for years, and Diane Murphy got more coverage. Why? Because he's been talking about the overwhelming evidence against dwm, like the DNA. And the Daily's never covered that part of the story. They've been too busy supporting Halbrooks trashing the DPD, the AG's office, and the Tiptons--all for political and financial reasons. Don Valeska got more negative press than Osama bin Laden. |
| The Decatur Daily has protected Democratic DA Bob Burrell for many years. And for the past two years, Catherine Halbrooks has been their hero. But now Burrell has switched parties, and Catherine Halbrooks is the new Democrat for DA. I think the Daily is worried, or at least they should be. Do they endorse the Republican, who's just slammed the Democratic Party? Or do they endorse the Democrat, even if it's Catherine Halbrooks? If they support Burrell, it goes against party lines, and it blows Halbrooks' credibility in the "Tipton" case. If they support Halbrooks, they're putting party politics above all else--after all, they've supported Burrell for many years, and he's certainly not changed. Of course, Halbrooks isn't "old Decatur," and is Democrat by paperwork only. And good old boys don't need loose cannons. |
| In this setting, where politics and the good old boy network run everything, we've waited four months for Judge Thompson's decision on whether to have a second trial, or to set dwm free. The decision, either way, would likely help Halbrooks' campaign. He's certainly given Sherman Powell everything he wanted so far; it would be great publicity for Halbrooks to have dwm walk free. However, Judge Thompson (and the whole Courthouse crowd) might not be too thrilled with Halbrooks as DA. And he'll have major political fall-out in 2006 if he were to set Moore free (and especially if he's slammed on appeal). He, and the Decatur Daily, have created a monster. He could order another trial, and all the press hoopla would still help her. But if Halbrooks becomes DA, Moore needs a lawyer and Halbrooks allegedly switches sides. Then there's that problem of paying for a jury trial. And in the world of capital murder trials, 2006 is like the day after tomorrow. For four months now, Judge Thompson has decided the best thing to do is nothing. |