Secretary of the Army; comparison
With nearly every news show and news paper focusing on the resignation of the Army Secretary Francis Harvey over the Walter Reed disgrace, I began wondering how the same media covered Bill Clinton’s first choice for the Secretary of the Army, John Shannon;
Washington – The Army’s acting secretary, John Shannon, has been charged with shoplifting a woman’s blouse and skirt at a post exchange near the Pentagon, the Army said yesterday.
The incident occurred Thursday at the Army PX at Ft. Myer, Va., said Army spokesman Col. Steve Rausch. A store detective apprehended Shannon for allegedly shoplifting a woman’s blouse and skirt, the spokesman said.
Shannon, 59, was charged with misdemeanor theft of government property, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of 1 year in prison and a $100,000 fine, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Chesnut, a federal prosecutor in Alexandria, Va.
Four one-line paragraphs.
And the New York Times;
August 28, 1993, SaturdayLate Edition – Final, Section 1, Page 6, Column 1, 371 wordsThe Acting Secretary of the Army, John W. Shannon, was placed on administrative leave today after being accused of shoplifting, the Army said. Mr. Shannon was accused of shoplifting a skirt and blouse valued at about $30 from the Army post exchange at Fort Myer, Va., on Thursday….
Page 6, 371 words. A little different than this story in yesterday’s Times which is two .html pages long. And not a word in the Washington Post’s archives about the 1993 incident.
Seems to me that an Army Secretary who shoplifts has more personal deficiencies than one who doesn’t personally inspect every building the Army owns. And, in case anyone is wondering what happened to John Shannon, the Clinton Administration kept him on the Pentagon payroll for eight years as a paid consultant.
Category: Media, Politics, Walter Reed
