Before joining theblaze.com as Middle East correspondent, Sharona Schwartz was a coverage editor for CNN's Washington, D.C. bureau and a scriptwriter for Wolf Blitzer. With credentials like those, it's no wonder her post today about a certain Obama recording is so solidly put together.
Schwartz starts off by culling renewed questioning, in the wake of the Mitt Romney/Mother Jones bombshell, of the LA Times' refusal to release a recording of some controversial 2003 remarks made by Senator Barack Obama at a dinner honoring departing Chicago Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi. She then shares the response theblaze.com received from Nancy Sullivan, vp of communications for the LA Times:
In April 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported first, and in explicit detail about the dinner event and the tape of it. More than six months later, just days before the November 2008 election, the McCain campaign demanded the public release of the tape. As we stated then, the Times did not publish the videotape because it was provided for review by a confidential source who did so on the condition that we not publish the tape itself. The Times keeps its promises to sources and nothing has changed in that regard.
In the comments, JimiKimble writes: "I'm sorry, but I agree with the LA Times on this one point. You must respect the wishes of your sources. I'm sure it wasn't hard for them to respect those wishes, however." To which Stelex replies: "You know damn well if it was the same situation with a Republican, they would publish."
That's of course not true. However, in the wake of the Romney derailment, it must be incredibly frustrating for his supporters to imagine but not be able to witness the damage that 2003 videotape could do to the incumbent.