When The Free Press failed to endorse a single Republican running for office last year, many thought the paper was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the DFL. Now The Free Press has turned sharply to the left when it parroted conspiracy theories (the claim that Lewis Libby took a bullet to protect Karl Rove) found on Web sites funded by billionaire George Soros.

What’s worse, The Free Press falsely labeled Rove and Richard Armitage as “criminals” even though neither were charged with unlawfully disclosing Valerie Plame’s name to the press. In fact no one has been charged with “outing” Ms. Plame. The reason, as testified by the person who wrote the statute regarding CIA agents, is because Plame was not covert under the law.

If this newspaper were concerned about honesty, it should have criticized Joe Wilson for not telling the truth about Iraq’s connections with Niger. Even The Washington Post ran stories rebuking Wilson’s contentions.

Or maybe The Free Press should have simply told the truth about Rove and Armitage. Either way it is clear this newspaper has become a mouthpiece for the far left in America instead of being a voice for southern Minnesota’s values and concerns.