By now everyone has heard about the Senate Majority Leader's lucky break. Virtually every MSM outlet and every political blog has the story of how Bill Frist managed to sell his HCA stock just weeks before it took a disastrous dive.
Frist's explanation? He ordered the stock to be sold in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Yet for as long as Frist has been in politics he has argued that his holdings in the for-profit hospital chain pose no conflict of interest because the stock in his family-owned business was held in a blind trust. The Senate ethics committee agreed with the Senator's claim as long ago as 1990.
Prof. John C. Coffee, an expert on securities law at Columbia suggests that "such well-timed sales" are "a red flag of possible insider trading."
Lucky break, or Martha moment?
At this point, the only reasonable position is that no one knows for sure.
While the subject is debated on the pages of newspapers and blogs across the country, here in the Senator's hometown, the debate is apparently over.
The Senator's hometown newspaper has spoken with a front-page opinion piece. The paper attempts to cover its front-page bias by inserting the word “analysis” into the second paragraph of the story (print edition).
If the Tennessean must put opinion pieces on the front page, then it should label them at the top of the story, and in big bold letters: “Opinion.”
Today's front-page story in the Tennessean, a.k.a. The Southern Baptist Times, leads with this definitive conclusion:
What started out as a defensive political play may have suddenly backfired on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
The Tennessee Republican sold all his stock in HCA Inc., the giant hospital company his family founded, in an attempt to shake conflict-of-interest charges that have dogged him through his political career.
Ah, the joy of living in a town with such an all-knowing newspaper. Since the reporter does not say where he got his 'facts,' we can only assume his source to be either: 1) the Frist PR team; 2) God. Since the story is featured on the front page instead of an opinion page, certainly many readers will take the opinion piece for an actual news story, in spite of the cute little 'analysis' tag.
Pity the poor folks who are stuck with newspapers that dare to question the honesty of the Senate Majority Leader. Thanks to the Tennessean, many of us don't have to worry our poor little heads with nagging questions about the honesty of Senator Frist. We can just check out the front page of Nashville's major daily newspaper, or the Senator's latest press release, and all questions are resolved.
Gee thanks, once again, Southern Baptist Times.
Bill Frist HCA Stock SEC Tennessean Frist Tennessee
