The 2006 Pulitzer Prize awards were announced today in New York. If there is one common attribute many of the winners share, it is holding up a mirror to the scandals and corruption of the Bush administration and his Republican Party.
The Pultzter Board recognized coverage of a broad range of Republican fraud, deceit and skullduggery, including the NSA domestic spying program, the CIA's secret prisons and the Jack Abramoff scandal, just to name a few. For example, Susan Schmidt, James V. Grimaldi and R. Jeffrey Smith of the Washington Post received the Pulitzer for Investigative Reporting for their work on the Abramoff affair. The Post's Dana Priest got the nod for Beat Reporting with her coverage of the secret CIA "black prisons." The New York Times' James Risen and Eric Lichtblau were awarded for their stories on President Bush's illegal domestic surveillance program.
The Pulitzers also recognized GOP malfeasance in the states. The Toledo Blade was a finalist for its coverage of Bush Pioneer Tom Noe and his Ohio "Coingate" scandal. While the Blade came up short, a National Reporting award went to the San Diego Tribune for its coverage of bribe-taking Banana Republican ex-Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham.
But the Pulitzer Board saved special attention for coverage of Hurricane Katrina and how in its aftermath the Bush administration turned a natural disaster into a national disgrace. The New Orleans Times-Picayune and the Biloxi Sun Herald each were awarded the Public Service prize for Katrina coverage. The Times-Picayune also picked up the prize for its breaking news coverage of Katrina, while the Dallas Morning News was awarded for its Breaking News Photography.
Living through the years of the Bush administration and the Republican majority has been traumatic for Americans and people around the world. But for the journalists who cover the wrongdoing of the President and his GOP allies, it has been very rewarding indeed.
For extensive coverage of the gamut of Bush/GOP scandals, see the Perrspectives Document Library.
UPDATE: Predictably, the conservative blogosphere has unleashed its wrath on the Pulitzers. Powerline rages about the "treasonous contribution" of the New York Times in bringing President Bush's illegal domestic spying program to light. Meanwhile, Japanese internment advocate Michelle Malkin generally vents.