When the L.A. Times‘s Chuck Philips covered the Biggie Smalls civil trial, I was amazed at some of the reporting I saw. One example stands out in my mind: an article trumpeted the fact that a witness worried about gang retaliation was — gasp! — recanting! Can you believe it?!

The article made it sound like this was the end of the plaintiffs’ case, when it was obvious that witnesses in such a situation would often recant. This and other articles seemed quite biased against the plaintiffs.

I was very interested because I had read Randall Sullivan’s book LAbyrinth and had written this post about it. But I didn’t have the time or energy to write about the coverage of the Smalls civil trial while it was happening. I made a few comments to my wife about it, and left it at that.

Luckily, Sullivan has continued to cover it extensively, as noted in a fascinating article titled Scandal Erupts at the L.A. Times by Jan Golab. It offers a possible explanation for the biased reporting — one which, if true, is an explosive allegation.

UPDATE: Michael Hiltzik, a friend of Philips’s, says that I should have said in this post that the allegation is based on the word of the recanting witness. It’s an odd complaint by Hiltzik. I didn’t say in this post what the allegation was or to whom it related, so you have to read the linked story to learn those details — and you would have inevitably learned the fact that Hiltzik thinks I’m trying to hide.

I do allude to this post in my 2005 Year in Review post, where I have a brief mention of what the allegation is — but I still don’t say the name of the reporter to whom it relates. You still wouldn’t know that unless you read the link (or read Hiltzik’s post about it, since he names the person).

I suspect the execution of Tookie Williams is a coverup by sinister forces within the intel community. After all, as no less an authority than Rep. Maxine Waters has informed us:

“The origin of the crack cocaine trade in this country was led and designed by the CIA and their paid Nicaraguan agents — who introduced crack cocaine to South-Central Los Angeles,” proclaimed Waters as the hearing began. “The consequences of this wholesale dumping of cocaine into inner cities by CIA-organized agents has been widespread homelessness, violence, the destruction of families, and death.”

Rep. Waters cited a series of articles in the San Jose Mercury News, from August 18 – 20, 1996, authored by reporter Gary Webb, which documented the connection between U.S. foreign policy in the 1980s, international drug traffickers, and crack cocaine’s origins in South-Central Los Angeles. The drug trade subsequently spread to many other inner city neighborhoods in the United States.

The implication of Waters’ bombshell is that Tookie, founder of the Crips gang that sold so much of that cocaine in South Central, must have been a CIA operative and an important cog in their wheel of destruction. When he is executed, knowledge of the plot will die with him.

Okay seriously, back on planet Earth now:

Why is the Left so up in arms to save this guy? I mean, he’s not political. Mumia I can see. Mumia was all Black Panthered up and shot a cop to further the revolution. Same with Leonard Peltier, gunning down an FBI agent up in the Dakotas. Progressives eat that crap up. These guys are ‘political prisoners’ and ‘martyrs’. Sure, whatever. It’s pernicious hogwash, but I can understand why those with a Guevara-smooching revolutionary worldview might want to believe in these guys.

But Tookie–Tookie is an exploitative capitalist. Tookie–oh, screw that cute little nickname, he sounds like an f’n Care Bear–Stanley Williams is a robber baron. Let me elaborate. (more…)