As you're probably aware Dr. George Tiller, the medical director of a Wichita, Kansas clinic that provided late-term abortions, was killed this weekend while attending a church ceremony. Scott Roeder, a far-right anti-tax nut with a history of mental illness and a taste for the fire and brimstone of the Old Testament, is in custody as the sole suspect.
The Tiller killing has brought up reflection on the assassinations of other doctor who provides abortion services in the path, especially by the liberal leaning talking heads on MSNBC. But one of their colleagues has an interesting connection to the subject.
Michael Griffin, an anti-abortion activist, killed Dr. David Gunn in Pensacola, Florida back in 1993. Joe Scarborough, a former US Rep from Pensacola and current MSNBC host made his name by representing Griffin pro-bono.
Long-time Village Voice writer Wayne Barrett. who's spent more than 30 years with our corporate cousin, detailed Scarborough's connection to Griffin last year:
The first two abortion doctors murdered by pro-life assassins were shot to death on their way to Pensacola clinics, both during Joe Scarborough's first congressional campaign. In 1993, Dr. David Gunn was killed, and Michael Griffin was accused of his murder. Scarborough represented Griffin pro bono, attributing it, to this day, to a relationship between his then father-in-law and Griffin's father--a relationship that neither would confirm despite numerous calls by the Voice. It is, by any measure, a strange "favor for a friend," which is what Scarborough calls it, though he says he hasn't seen Michael's father, Thomas Griffin, since. Thomas Griffin contributed twice to Scarborough's campaign, $200 each time.
Scarborough then went on to win his first campaign with a nice influx of cash from pro-life groups.
Barrett took to the VV's blog today and wondered why MSNBC hosts like Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow continue to hammer away on these killers and their supporters, why aren't they mentioning their colleague Scarborough?
Barrett also notes that Scarborough has so far not done any indepth coverage of the Tiller assassination.
