The following Associated Press story is making its way across the net and the news media outlets:
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian says he plans to run for Congress.
Kevorkian is on parole since his release from prison last year after serving the minimum of a term for second-degree murder in one man’s death.
He said he plans to run without party affiliation for the 9th District seat now held by Republican Joe Knollenberg, who is running for re-election, The Oakland Press reported Wednesday.
“We need some honesty and sincerity instead of corrupt government in Washington,” Kevorkian said. He said he would say more about his candidacy next week.
As cited above, the main source for the AP article is a longer one in the Oakland Press.
Kevorkian’s motivations are pretty transparent. After a brief flurry of media interest following his release from prison, he found it was hard to get media attention if he wasn’t actively building a body count. He had hopes of making it big on the speaking circuit, but word has gotten out that he pretty much sucks as a speaker – especially a speaker who demands a $50,000 speaking fee.
The media in Michigan has a pretty poor track record when it comes to Kevorkian. They’ve had a history of mischaracterizing his body count as people who were “dying,” for example. And every time there’s a study or article pointing out that the majority of people who died at his hands weren’t terminally ill, it becomes “news.”
So how will the press treat Kevorkian this time? Will this be treated as some sort of sideshow or will they ask them the kind of questions they might ask a real candidate?
What kind of questions? Well, since Kevorkian said the voters deserve “honesty and sincerity,” let’s start with his medical status. It’s reasonable for voters to ask if a candidate can be expected to live out his or her term of office.
Kevorkian has a problem here, as discussed in a previous blog entry:
Like the boy who cried “wolf,” Mayer Morganroth claimed – year after year – that Kevorkian had “less than a year to live” in his efforts to win an early release for his client.
This was laid out and confirmed in an Associated Press story that appeared on December 14th of last year (link is no longer operational):
Some object to Kevorkian’s upcoming release from prison
12/14/2006, 5:34 p.m. ET
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
The Associated Press(excerpt)
Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights group based in Forest Park, Ill., also said it was disappointed that Kevorkian would be released in June.“We won’t forget the struggling disabled people he preyed upon. And we won’t be silent,” the group said in a statement.
It added that it expected that the 78-year-old Kevorkian, after leaving prison, will show a “near-miraculous `recovery'” from his health problems, which include diabetes, hepatitis C, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries in his brain and vertigo, according to his attorney.
“We were suspicious his health problems were greatly exaggerated when his lawyer filed appeals for four years in a row claiming Kevorkian was essentially on the brink of death,” the group said.
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Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said all requests to have sentences commuted for health reasons must first go to the Corrections Department and then to the parole board, which recommends to the governor whether the request should be
honored.Boyd said Morganroth already has made four such requests, in 2003, 2004, 2005 and earlier this year.”In each instance he indicated that Dr. Jack Kevorkian had less than a year to live,” she said.
It would seem more than reasonable to request Kevorkian to make his medical records public so the voters can be assured he’ll actually be able to live long enough to serve out his term.
Of course, if his medical records indicate that he is healthy enough to survive the term, then he has another problem:
Why did his lawyer apparently lie about his health status for several years?
One more thing Kevorkian should be challenged on. If he wants Michigan citizens to vote for him, reporters should ask him to reconcile his candidacy with the following statements at the University of Florida earlier this year:
Not all of Kevorkian points were met with support. He evoked a mixture of applause and boos when he spoke out against the voting system.
“Everyone should refuse to vote,” he said. “That’ll send the tyrant a message.”
Maybe some member of the press should ask if “everyone should refuse to vote” refers to Kevorkian as well.
Considering the softball – even pandering – treatment that the press has accorded Kevorkian so often, it’s a lot to hope for and maybe too much to actually expect. –Stephen Drake