Kranz Watch

South Dakota Politics long ago initiated a formal "Kranz Watch," a reference to the Argus Leader reporter Dave Kranz, who some believe has been working in rather close order with the Daschle organization in South Dakota. Here's SDP's latest. Here's an article entitled "Daschle Challenger Calls for Reporter to Reveal Ties to Senator." In a similar vein, see this article from today's New York Times about the Sierra Club demanding that Justice Scalia not participate in a case involving his friend Dick Cheney:

Pressure on Scalia to stay out of the case had mounted in recent weeks, with calls from dozens of newspapers for the conservative Reagan administration appointee to recuse to protect the court's image of impartiality.

Supreme Court justices, unlike judges on other courts, decide for themselves if they have conflicts, and their decisions are final.

Judges must disqualify themselves from cases in which their impartiality "might reasonably be questioned." The Sierra Club asked for Scalia's recusal in February, pointing to the "American public's great concern about the continuing damage this affair is doing to the prestige and credibility of this court."

It's unclear what standard of judgment SDP has in mind for Kranz, but questioning whether Kranz's impartiality "might reasonably be questioned" seems like a good one.