Stranger reporter David Goldstein, a.k.a. Goldy, provides more details on the incident last night at McKenna’s campaign kicker in which Goldy was blocked from attending the post speech press conference.
The campaign was specifically targeting The Stranger for exclusion, as the publication did not receive an invitation…and they essentially told Goldy as much. McKenna’s campaign communications coordinator Adam Faber told Goldy that “he wasn’t invited” and he couldn’t get in. Nevertheless, Goldy observed that Erik Smith, the right-wing whack-job who writes for Washington State Wire “also lacked campaign-approved credentials, but Reagan Dunn personally ushered him in.” So…it wasn’t that Goldy showed up uninvited (as did Smith)…it was that Goldy and The Stranger are specifically blacklisted.
Here is the audio Goldy captured beginning a few seconds into the conversation:
[audio:http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2011/06/09/1307655150-faber.mp3]Goldy muses:
It’s an odd idea that candidates for public office (let alone an open government champion) should get to pick and choose which professional journalists get to attend their press conferences—and yes, that paycheck I get from The Stranger makes me a professional journalist, so suck it up. Granted, I haven’t exactly written glowing prose about McKenna, but politics is a tough business, and besides, it’s not like denying me access is going to stop me from writing.
An interesting irony in this exchange comes at about 1:50:
Goldy: And I could have been at the Tom Skerritt happy hour this evening…
Faber: Well…he looked great on that cover you had the other day.
Huh…So Adam Faber, the communications coordinator, reads (or at a minimum checks out the cover of) The Stranger—the publication his campaign has blacklisted?!?
What a bunch of hypocritical assholes!
There are warning signs here. The McKenna campaign, right out of the starting gate, is engaging in thuggery. “Open government champion,” my ass. This feel a hell of a lot like the tactics of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker….
“Right wing whack job”? Oh, come on.
*Rob* McKenna
Republicans are assholes. Period.
Erik @1,
Well…maybe that is a totally unfair thing for me to say because I have never met you.
All I have to go on is what you write. And that stuff makes you sound like a right wing whack job.
But look at the bright side…I do read you!
Cascadian,
Thanks…this is like the third time I’ve done that. I seem to have some sort of rob/rod dyslexia….
Darryl @4–
…and you’ve just caught me reading Horse’s Ass.
Um… This is the Erik Smith that was roomies with Dunn and McKenna back in there college days we’re talking about right?
WSRP people seem to be making a habit of not inviting the press to their press conferences.
Eric @ 6,
Indeed!
Tell you what. I make it up to you by buying you a beer (or other beverage of choice) when we do meet sometime…
Sounds like Goldy should have picked better college roomies.
Old Bobby is a nasty piece of shit who allowed state agencies to use the AG office to attack state employees.
The Seattle Times should be wiping their face. It is unseemly the way they fawn over this asshat.
The day that this blog starts a post with “Stranger reporter David Goldstein, a.k.a. Goldy” – Horsesass is dead.
This blog is officially toast. R.I.P. Horsesass.org
From The Stranger comments:
If you even *tried* to write fairly about Republicans, I’d feel bad. But you don’t. You think we’re scum. So stop whining about being denied access. You brought that on yourself.
Roger Rabbit Comment: How can Goldy, or anyone else, write fairly about Republicans without calling them “scum”? They are scum.
@12 “This blog is officially toast. R.I.P. Horsesass.org”
Man talk about wishful thinking! If I hope the stock market goes up tomorrow, will hoping make it true?
Wisconsin Bribery???
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a Wisconsin Republican state legislator says police and fire unions were exempted from Gov. Walker’s union-stripping legislation because “the unions have bought out several people.”
http://www.jsonline.com/watchd.....92004.html
Darryl @ 9 and Michael @ 7–
Actually, I did see that curious comment on here a year ago that claimed I was roomies with McKenna. So maybe I ought to clear it up. Not true, not at all. I wrote for the UW campus newspaper back when McKenna was ASUW president, so of course I knew him. Fact is, I knew a lot of folks in my college days who wound up in politics/media/public affairs. Closest thing to a roomie, though, would be Craig Pridemore, who was president of my frat. But he was down the hall from me. And guys, he’s a Democrat.
And sure, Darryl, one of these days I’m bound to bump into you at a function somewhere.
In other Wisconsin news, Republicans have backed away from a controversial proposal that would let anyone — including violent felons — carry concealed guns anywhere — including in daycares and kindergartens — without background checks or a state-issued permit.
Apparently Wisconsin Republicans have now seen the wisdom of not allowing violent felons to carry concealed guns into daycares and kindergartens.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/s.....65134.html
If you elect idiots, you get idiotic laws! That’s why no one should ever vote Republican for any office.
@16 While you’re bumping Goldy, please be sure you don’t step on any rabbits! I’m only 30 inches tall so it’s easy to not see me at a crowded function.
@16
Hmm… Right guy wrong story. I used to know a couple of folks that you went to high school with. I’ll let that drop now. ;->
Jeff Welch @ 12
“The day that this blog starts a post with “Stranger reporter David Goldstein, a.k.a. Goldy” – Horsesass is dead.”
Ummm…yeah, well, we’re devastated that you are quitting us. Still, curiosity is winning out and lifting us out of our grief-induced stupor to ask:
Of all the things we have said and done that might drive readers away, what the fuck is offensive about that!?!
Maybe Andy Billig should run against the smarmy fucker.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....e=youtu.be
22
“Smarmy” is the essence of McKenna. He is not very human. Jay Inslee is quite human. Inslee is waiting, almost to a fault, for Gregoire to finally say she’s not running again before he announces. I am so proud to live in the state with the longest streak of Democrats as governor without Republican interruption. Let’s keep it up, Washingtonians!
@23
It’s so early, it doesn’t matter if Inslee waits a bit. It might even be better if he waits.
“This feel a hell of a lot like the tactics of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker…”
Are we looking at the Koch (pronounced “coke”) Party candidate here? Does he have connections with the Washington Policy Center (formerly the Washington Institute for Policy Studies) which is part of the radical right State Policy Network?
(Google)
Crap. Yes, he does. He’s all over their web site. (Google it yourself; I won’t link it.) I think some investigation here might lead to a good strong muckraking story. The WPC deserves some daylight anyway. Exposing the WPC and linking it to SPN and the policies of Scott Walker would, I croak, be a Good Thing.
Goldy?
Considering that the Stranger was extremely influential in the last election, where, I think almost every candidate they supported, won, I think that mckenna is trying very hard to marginalize them. (Or maybe the Stranger was really good at picking candidates that cycle.)
It is an increasing tactic on the right to exclude any media that does not fawn over them. The Stranger would likely be asking too many dangerous or embarrassing questions.
Obviously part of McKenna’s message is something very anti-American/anti-constitution* that he knows the conservatives won’t pay attention to but that the liberals would focus on.
I certainly won’t vote for someone so anti-American.
*Of course, allowing in journalists without cherry-picking would quash these rumors, but Republicans don’t seem capable of understanding that.
The Democrats’ strategy against McKenna writes itself. Just make a list of recently-minted Republican governors and their policies. Make it clear that this is a national Republican strategy. And point out how McKenna’s background makes it entirely plausible he’d be the next Republican Governor to implement the policy if elected.
Washington will vote for a Republican, but only a truly moderate one. Covering McKenna with the stank of extremism couldn’t be easier this cycle.
@14 Wishful thinking hell. I don’t want Horsesass to die. I want the old fire back.
@21 What’s this “we” shit, ape-man? I LOVE offensive stuff. Sorely lacking from you guys, regrettably. The blog is becoming a snooze-fest. You can give me that “don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out” stuff if you want, or you can take it as motivation to feel free to crank things up a notch.
Pretty please?
It’s pretty easy to bait this kind of tactic away.
Just call McKenna and his staffers out for the chicken-shits that they obviously are.
After all, what are they afraid of?
David Goldstein???
The Stranger?????
They take ads for bondage massage and pet psychics. Need I say more?
I love Goldy as much as the rest of you guys. But he doesn’t have secret political superpowers. He aint Kryptonite. He’s just a writer. Are McKenna and his staff so squeamish and politically insecure that they are afraid of journalists? Journalists are pussies. If you can’t stand up to a fucking journalist, how in the hell do you expect to stand up to Teamsters? Boeing? Weyerhauser? If you can’t stand up to a pussy journalist like Goldy, how do you expect to face down bomb-throwing Stalinist Democrats in the legislature?
McKenna simply can’t afford to be labeled a wimp. No Republican can. The angry white males that they depend upon for votes will not stand for it.