You know, there is a grain of truth to the popular myth of the so-called “Liberal Press,” in that despite the right-wing politics of their corporate bosses, rank and file reporters tend to lean a little more to the left. But the best example of journalists’ personal political bias comes not from a liberal skew in their coverage, but ironically, from the higher standards to which they seem to hold liberal and Democratic politicians.
A great example of this is the cynical, negative coverage of the Cantwell-Wilson rapprochement coming from our city’s urban daily, the Seattle P-I — a newspaper most honest observers would admit to being more liberal than it’s competition, the Seattle Death-Tax Repeal Times.
Yesterday columnist Robert Jamieson focused his cynicism on the inside politics behind Mark Wilson’s decision to campaign full time for Cantwell, and today an unsigned editorial solemnly urges the Cantwell campaign to immediately reveal how much Wilson will be paid for his efforts… you know, instead of waiting until the Sept. 7 reporting deadline.
Um… who cares?
First of all, I find this extreme curiosity over how progressives earn their money to be pointless and insulting. In interviews, one of the first questions posed to me is always “How much money do you make off your blog?” The answer: one or two bucks a day in advertising, plus the occasional beer money donation. (I make more in three hours on KIRO than I make from my blog in three months.) But if some union or progressive organization put me on the payroll so that I could continue doing what I do and still pay my bills… so what?
Both Jamieson and the P-I’s anonymous editorialist collect checks from the mighty Hearst Corporation, and nobody accuses them of being paid off… and the media in general has no ethical qualms about Mike McGavick’s mult-million dollar golden parachute so long as it is technically legal. So why the different standard for people like me and Wilson? Few people are wealthy enough or foolish enough (like me) to devote so much time to politics without getting compensated, so what’s the big deal if the Cantwell campaign pays Wilson to campaign for her full time?
Second of all… how can the dailies possibly justify all their cynical attention to inside political bullshit like this, when they are virtually ignoring McGavick’s own cynical approach to the issues? How about a column or editorial on McGavick’s intentional obfuscation of his position on reproductive rights?
“I do believe that choice should exist, but I believe choice should be narrow.”
Come on… what the fuck does that mean? Why not pin McGavick down on some specifics rather than delving into all this pointless speculation about whether a multi-millionaire like Dal LaMagna was somehow bought off by the Cantwell campaign? Gimme a break.
Sure, I’m into all the inside politics horse race crap, and I’m sure most reporters and editorialists are too. But that’s the least important part of this race. In the meanwhile, while we’re all debating the intricate workings of the Cantwell campaign, McGavick is criss-crossing the state in a fucking RV for chrisakes, pretending to be just an average guy with a sensible, moderate agenda… which we all know is a complete and utter load of bullshit!
McGavick wants a federal ban on gay marriage. He wants severe restrictions on abortion (possibly as extreme as South Dakota’s new law, but he won’t tell us, so who knows?) He wants to privatize Social Security and drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He’s opposed to Net Neutrality, but supports all the provisions of the Patriotic Act and the Bush Administration’s execution of the war in Iraq.
On all these issues McGavick is out of step with the mainstream of Washington state voters, and that might create a problem for him in November if voters actually understood his positions. But instead, all we read in the papers is cynical meta-analysis of whether Cantwell’s newest campaign staffer should actually be paid for his work.
But then, that’s the “Liberal Press” for you.
You pointed out the quixotic nature of Mark Wilson’s campaign manths ago, and as I recall discussed that kept trying to start at the top, before doing the nitty-gritty of becoming known as an able part of the Democratic Party.
It seems to me that taking his bound to fail campaign and parlaying it into a staff position on an incumbent Senator’s campaign — where, it seems likely, he will do more than answer phones and send out mailings — makes good sense. He will gain the experience and connections he now lacks, and show that he’s willing to be a team player.
If the peace and justice folks wanted Wilson to run, they should have raised more money for him and put some work into his campaign.
“months ago, and as I recall discussed that he kept…”
Goldy, I couldn’t agree with you more. The rethugs can rape the middle class, commit genocide and tell lies all day and somebody cares about what Wilson’s salary is???
Where have you learned of his positions? Where did you get the quote on abortion? The P-I!
Way to miss the point, Joel. The real question here is, did the P-I ask follow up questions about those positions? Have they done critical analysis of them in the editorial pages, as they are doing with Wilson’s decision? Simply printing that ‘x-y-z’ happened or was said is not journalism, it’s transcription. The P-I has much to recommend it, but Goldy’s got a good point, and you lessen yourself by reflexively defending your paper in this case.
Great points, Goldy, and ones that bear repeating. The press is not doing it’s job with clarifying where money comes from for right-wing candidacies and initiatives. Who cares about what Wilson earns as he learns the ropes of campaigning and helps Maria.
Tes, REP Pat Kennedy, REP Cindy McKinney, and REP William J. Jefferson, [ALL DEMOCRATS], certainly have been held to a “higher standard”. [I think your Ivy League Eastern school owes you a big refund, Goldysteinberg.]
Not clear what you trying to get at, Jughead, the three examples you give were all exhaustively covered, with Jefferson coverage ongoing, as recently as Monday.
What about those Republican Congressmen who took bribes from Jack Abramoff? That story seems to have dried up, completely.
Or Brian Doyle, one time DHS deputy press secretary placed on administrative leave without pay?
During the election season of 2004:
Signs were stolen, typically Bush signs
Tires were slashed, on republican vehicles
Campaign offices were vandalized: republican
Union thugs beat up republican volunteers
Cars bearing Bush/Cheney stickers were commonly “keyed”
Is there any wonder that some people were sheepish about truthfully saying who they voted for when asked by thuggish MoveOn representatives? [RR, Left Turn, K, Goldy,…………………………Yup!! I’m voting the way YOU vote!! hehe, JCH]
Technical note: As a CANDIDATE, Mark Wilson could pay for travel and incidentals out of contributions to his campaign committee. He could also draw a reasonable stipend for living expenses, in lieu of income forgone in his usual trade while he campaigns.
When a candidate DROPS OUT, he’s no longer able to draw on the campaign account … but Wilson still wants to travel the state and devote full time effort to the Senate cmapaign. Unless he’s independently wealthy [doubtful] it is reasonable to put him on paid retainer as a valuable campaign operative [undoubtedly, unless he veers off-message] who is loses earning potential by devoting time exclusively to the campaign [acknowledged by all concerned].
As to the “secret salary”, that’ll come out sooner or later, and probably sooner, and no biggie.
Damn right Goldy.
Joel @4,
Yes, I got the abortion quote from you… in a column on the inside politics of the campaign. That’s fine, you’re column made some good points, and I hope the Cantwell people took it to heart. But then comes Jamieson’s piece and then the editorial, and it’s ALL inside politics.
What we’re not getting is an aggressive effort to hold both candidate’s feet to the fire on the issues. Page’s and page’s have been written about Cantwell’s inability to satisfy the anti-war folks in her own party on an issue that she has spoken and written volumes. Yet McGavick gets by with hardly saying anything.
BOSTON – Gov. Mitt Romney announced Thursday he was filing emergency legislation to seize control over inspections and any decisions on reopening a highway tunnel where 12 tons of falling cement ceiling panels killed a woman. Romney also started legal proceedings to oust the chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which oversaw the troubled $14.6 billion Big Dig highway project through downtown Boston.
This is what you get when you mix Kerry, Kennedy, and Tip O’Neil MASS Democrats and Democrat controlled unions together with 14.6 billion dollars; you have a roof of a tunnel falling on you head; but hey, the liberal Democrat politicians bought plenty of votes and the union hacks and thugs are happy.
The only incident in Washington state of political vandalism during the 2004 campaign that I’m aware of involved a car with a Kerry sticker:
“RENTON – A local woman claims someone vandalized her car because of a Kerry-Edwards campaign sticker in her back window.
“Joni Job told KOMO 4 News someone put a confederate flag alongside her sticker. They also used red paint to write “Bush in 2004” on her passenger side door.
“Job says the vandals also dented her car, causing hundreds of dollars in damage.”
http://www.komotv.com/news/story.asp?ID=32534
JCH dip shit at 9:
do you have proof of all your allegations?
How about another one to think on:
During the 2004 Presidential Election, the whole damn election was stolen!
9
And let’s not overlook the violence and assaults committed by Republican thugs:
“At the RNC, there was a young republican kicking a protester as she lay on the ground being held by 3 Secret Service Agents. …
“And now there’s this:
(photo and caption)
“A member of the audience pulls a demonstrator’s hair as he forces her out of an auditorium where President Bush was addressing a crowd of supporters …”
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/007851.html
Oil prices settled at a record above $76 a barrel Thursday in a market agitated by escalating violence in the Middle East and the threat of supply disruptions there and beyond. [……………………………………………………………OK……………How to bring oil price down, Democrat style: add another 50 cents a gallon gas tax! No drilling in ANWR! No drilling off any coasts, unless your are Cuba! No nukes! No new refinerers! Tax oil companies more! Tax anyone who invests in oil companies more! Tax everyone more! Add more regulations! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…. Did I miss any great “ideas” from Democrats????? hehe, JCH]
9 (continued)
… And remember the women who were ejected from a Bush “town hall” meeting on Social Security for having an anti-war bumper sticker on their car?
“Bush staffers ejected 3 at speech
“Secret Service not responsible. A federal report shows a White House employee ousted the trio from the president’s talk in Denver.
“By Howard Pankratz
“Denver Post Staff Writer
“A White House staff member was responsible for asking three people to leave President Bush’s town-hall meeting in Denver a year ago, a U.S. Secret Service agent said during an internal investigation of the event.
“The Secret Service was investigating the complaints of the three people, who said they were ousted from the Bush event last March because their car’s bumper sticker criticized his foreign policy. …
“The three were asked to leave because the staffers had identified them as ‘potential protesters,’ the report said.
“The report quoted one agent as saying he was told ‘by a White House staff member that three individuals had been asked to leave the event, and they did so without incident or protest.’ …
“Weise and Young … said they were removed from the town-hall discussion last March 21 because of a “No more blood for oil” bumper sticker on their car.
“Although Weise and Young had tickets to the event, which focused on Social Security reform, they said they had no intention of disrupting it. They were ejected, they said, because the White House had a policy of not letting people attend such events if their views differed from the president’s. …
“All three had obtained tickets through the office of U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, who supported Bush’s plan for private Social Security accounts.”
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3619779
9 (continued)
That incident was hardly unique:
“The exclusion of the three Bush critics from the Denver event is by no means an aberration. On February 3, in Fargo, 42 people were on a list to be barred from Bush’s talk on Social Security at the Bison Sports Arena. The Forum reported that a Fargo city commissioner, a liberal radio producer, a Democratic deputy campaign manager and a number of university professors were among those on the blacklist drawn up for the event.”
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2.....-a02.shtml
9 (continued)
And, of course, there was Republicans’ staged riot in Miami-Dade County during the 2000 recount by paid GOP staffers who were bused in to disrupt the governmental functioning of the duly appointed canvassing board by threatening, intimidating, and disrupting the board members and their work.
And JCH is bitching about a few slashed tires?
Uhhh…seems just a few short years ago, while Slick Willie was enjoying his last few months in office, oil was bottoming out at around $10 a barrell.
There was also a big debate going on about what to do with a $300 billion annual budget surplus.
Oh, yeah…those twin towers were still standing in NYC, and we didn’t have 150,000 troops losing wars in two desert shitholes.
Boy oh boy, you righties have sure made things better.
Wilson called me last night, while driving home from Bellingham (note to Mark … cellphones and driving don’t mix). I’d been a vociferous critic of his quixotic campaign from the start, while simultaneously agreeing with him that Cantwell needed to listen — really listen — to what her constituents were saying.
Mark mentioned the phony flap about his salary, indicating that he was a bit amused that that was what the media were concentrating on, instead of the demonstrated movement in the Senator’s positions with respect to Iraq and some other issues he had concentrated on. As noted here and elsewhere, if anyone still cares about it by the time of the next FEC filings (my guess … there will be no stories on it), they’ll see it then.
In the meantime, he’s happy to be making a living wage. Not that it’ll make much of a dent in the loan he made to his own campaign.
The problem with Democrats is we’ve gone soft. The problem is Democrats aren’t slashing too many tires — we’re not slashing enough of them! Why should Republicans have a monopoly on political violence? Republicans want a monopoly on every fucking thing!
Maybe we should bust some heads open, too — like the old time liberals did … it might knock some civility into them. Hey, just kidding! If Coulter can crack bad jokes about killing people, why can’t I make bad jokes about cracking people over the skull who, after all, have it coming? Why should Nazis like Coulter have a monopoly on bad jokes? Republicans want a monopoly on every fucking thing!
18
I certainly recall the righties mocking Al Gore for suggesting a 50-cent gas tax. But you know what? We’d be paying a lot less for gas today if that conservation measure had been adopted.
Instead, people rushed out and bought gas guzzlers — tons of ’em. And U.S. oil consumption went through the roof. Then the Republicans started an unnecessary war in Iraq that (a) consumes lots of petroleum and (b) shut off Iraq’s oil supplies and guess what … world demand exceeded world supply and prices went through the roof, too.
It costs $2.5 a barrel to get oil out of the ground in Saudi Arabia, and even less to pump Iraqi oil. Even the world’s most expensive oil — the stuff that comes from deep sea and arctic drilling, and Canadian tar sands — costs only $15 to $20 a barrel to produce. Prices are over $70 a barrel because consumption has spiked — rising from 77 million bpd in 2000 to over 85 million bpd in 2005, and still climbing.
Laugh all you want at Gore, because he was right, and you’re wrong. A 50-cent gas tax, timely enacted, would have encouraged people to buy economy cars instead of gas guzzlers. (Bush even gave people a tax credit for buying Hummers, for chrissakes … what kind of policy is that??) If we had gone into the current supply constriction with a nationwide fleet of private vehicles that get better gas mileage, it would be neither necessary nor possible for oil companies to ration gasoline by raising pump prices.
Yes, rationing. That’s what we have. Price is nothing but a rationing method the market uses when it can’t supply enough of a commodity to meet demand. It takes years to bring new oil supplies on line, and increasing production may not even be possible — we may already have hit the oil peak. So the only way to deal with demand outstripping supply is to ration the available supplies. And since we’re unwilling to do it with formal rationing (think long lines at pumps and “out of gas” signs), the market is doing it with high prices.
How do you righties like paying over $3 for gas? Once again, you idiots have kicked yourselves in the balls! You did this to yourselves with your typical wingnut stupidity. Gore knew what was coming; if his 50-cent tax proposal had been taken seriously, as it should have been, you would be paying $2 for gas instead of $3. As usual, the righties had their heads up their asses.
Gore also knows what’s coming with global warning, and here too, the wingnut crowd that considers its ignorance and lack of ignorance a badge of honor, is making fun of him.
I have a suggestion for you idiots. Since you don’t believe in physics or any other science, why don’t you stand in the middle of the highway in front of an 18-wheeler? Hey, if you don’t believe it can hurt you, then it won’t hurt you, right?
Fools.
Let’s hope and pray that when Mt. Rainier erupts, Orting is a solidly Republican town. That won’t save them, of course — and neither will their $12 million TAXPAYER SUBSIDIZED bridge — but it might save the rest of us from the Republicans if they’re all buried under a thousand feet of pyroclastic mud.
I’ll bet old Harry Truman up at Spirit Lake Lodge on Mt. Saint Helens was a Republican. He’s still up there, somewhere under all that lava, but he ain’t voting anymore.
Yep, old Harry knew what was what. No government bureaucrat was gonna tell HIM to come down off his mountain!!! Hell, no! Property rights! Nobody’s gonna interfere with his property rights! He can build his lodge anyplace he wants to, and if he wants to stay put on an erupting volcano, by gum that’s what he’s gonna do!!!
Too bad Harry isn’t around to act as a spokesman for the property rights initiative.
JCH @ 7:
You point out that Democrats are held to a higher standard, even by their own party.
Care to tell us what happened to Willam Jefferson?
Want to talk about DeLay? Frist? Scooter? Ney? Cheney? Rove? 750 signing statements? And what the Republicans, or should I say the traitors in congress have done with their own party members?
No Republican is an honest, patriotic American any longer. You are all traitors to the constitution, America, and the ideals of democoracy set forth by our Liberal Founding Fathers.
Fuck you. You and your conservative ilk are the true enemies of America and our freedoms. All conservatives are worse than Osama bin Laden. No exceptions. You are the enemies “foreign and domestic” that I swore to denfend America from.
The only good conservative is a dead conservative. I’m praying that all of you die from natural causes today. Or, by horrific accidents if nothing else.
Now now RR. It’s not polite to constantly bitch slap the kuckle-dragging right wing turds with truth. They’re not used to facts or truth or anything like that. You’ve probably taken the 13-year old mind of JCH and turned it to more mush than it already is. Let the poor little inbred bastard wallow in the notion that LimpDickLimbaugh is always right and be done with him.
@15 The only incident in Washington state of political vandalism during the 2004 campaign that I’m aware of involved a car with a Kerry sticker:
Rabbit, are you a liar or just fucking stupid?
Bush’s campaign office in Spokane burglarized, vandalized
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....ice11.html
Conservation is the quickest way protect against both high gasoline prices and begin reduction of greenhouse gases. Proper tire iflation would cut fuel consumption equal to the total amount of ethanol federally mandated for production in 2012. There is no source of fuel on the horizon that would match raising energy-efficiency standards for cars, homes, industries and new buildings.
Instead of complaining about labor costs, Detroit should get busy producing innovative cars using light weight composite materials and hybrid drivetrains to get to the 80 MPG they promised in 1993 and higher.
Maybe these guys are crazy, maybe not, but a car like they are proposing would meet my needs.
34.
From the article you linked to:
There are no suspects in the burglaries or shootings and no injuries were reported.
Karl Rove is famous for bugging his own office to get a police report and a story in the media at a critical time in a campaign.
You guys cry “wolf” too much.
N in Seattle – I was wondering about that – if he was deep enough in debt to fund his campaign, he might have not been in a position to abandon it without receiving some way to pay off those expenses.
It’s not a problem the “professional” politicians face, because they know how to work the game to make sure others are funding the campaign. It’s also something which well-off politicians don’t have to worry about too much, since both Cantwell and McGavick will still be able to live well even if they abandoned their campaigns before the primary. But for the rest of us, financing a campaign would be a daunting, if not impossible, venture.
@36 I think you have confused “bugging” with “burglarized, vandalized.”
!!! Prophecy Fulfilled in Out Time !!!
(See RonK @ 10)
Wilson is to receive $8K/month (for 4 months, I presume).
Postman has it up firstest and fastest, as is becoming the norm.
$8,000 per month for Mark Wilson? That’s more than State Democrat Party Chair Dwight Pelz gets paid. More than Paul Berendt or Chris Vance got paid. Pelz, Berendt and Vance are all more or less competent political strategists. Wilson is a flake. Cantwell clearly bought Wilson off. That is all there is to it.
Let’s look at Mark Wilson’s political skills:
09/2002 1st Dist US Cong Primary — 3,025 votes (2.60%)
11/2002 1st Dist US Cong General — 6,251 votes (3.05%)
11/2004 Wash US Senate General — 30,304 votes (1.0751%)
Total votes ever for Mark Wilson — 39,580 votes
Wilson sounds like a real political heavyweight. His services certainly are worth a whopping $8,000 per month.
Maria Cantwell should hire me and pay me a lot more than Mark Wilson.
Even in my most lopsided political defeat — my 2005 Port of Seattle race, in which I got the lowest percentage of any of my nine campaigns for elective office — I did far better than Wilson among the same pool of voters.
09/2005 Port of Seattle Pos 4 (all of King County) — Richard Pope 35,268 votes or 14.45%
11/2004 Wash US Senate General (King County only) — Mark Wilson 9,746 votes or 1.1079%
Hell, even Joel Connelly would do far better in any election than Mark Wilson ever could dream of doing.
Nice example of “Their payoffs are evil, ours are of no consequence.” The deal about Wilson is that there is a strong appearance that he was bought off by Cantwell and that Cantwell also made an attempt to buy off her other Democratic competition, too. That’s called corruption, period. No point in decrying corruption in the Republican Party if we’re willing to tolerate in our own just because it isn’t as big or because it’s ours.
Great piece, Mr. Goldstein. After your spell of self-doubt and wondering if the fight-club nature of your blog wasn’t sophisticated enough for a serious comentator, you’re back to your feisty self. That’s what drew the feisty liberals and conservatives here, and that’s why you emerged from the pack to become an important blog.
As for your point on the oldline media,you know as well as I do that the oldline media would tear into McGavick twice as hard if he was the one who bought off an opponent. Do you really think the press would be doing its job if they didn’t look into it?
REP Pat @ 9- tell me about Republican phnoe jamming. Your allegations, where there is any support, are individual acts. The phone jamming was coordinated.
REP Pat @ 14- the construction was done by Bechtel, hardly a Democratic company. They were certainly closer to and more able to prevent any problems.
Funny how the government is always to blame and the contractor is innocent.
33
“Now now RR. It’s not polite to constantly bitch slap the kuckle-dragging right wing turds …” Commentby LeftTurn— 7/13/06@ 2:08 pm
Why should I be polite? They aren’t.
34
How do you know they didn’t do it themselves? Don’t you think it strange that GOP offices all over the country were burglarized by the same M.O., and nobody got caught? The whole thing reeks of “inside job.”
41
Vance is an incompetent boob. Rove had to send lawyers from D.C. to keep an eye on him, Tebelius, and the rest of the WSGOP, but the local Republicans blew the election lawsuit anyway.
Richard Pope is all over the bloggers’ map. Doesn’t the poor man have any clients?
42
Wilson is worth whatever someone is willing to pay him. I’ll bet you’re not making $8,000 a month.
Richard Pope can’t even get hired for a job paying $5,000 a year.
52
“Richard Pope is all over the bloggers’ map. Doesn’t the poor man have any clients?” Commentby joel connelly— 7/13/06@ 6:38 pm
No, and it’s not hard to figure out why — if you needed a lawyer, would YOU hire him?
ROGER RABBIT POLL
If you were arrested and jailed for a crime you didn’t commit, and you had to choose one of the following lawyers to defend you, who would you hire?
[ ] 1. Richard Pope
[ ] 2. Dino Rossi’s lawyers
[ ] 3. Stefan’s lawyer
[ ] 4. Ken Lay’s lawyer
[ ] 5. Roger Rabbit
I would chose Ken Lay’s lawyer. None of the other folks have a lot of experience defending criminal cases.
Well Jamieson is a boob for one so what do you expect.
25 Rabbit, you’ve finally figured it out. Dems have gone soft. You went soft on crime, and crime exploded. It took tough measures like mandatory sentencing, which Dems opposed (and still do, as I recall the State Dem platform called for getting rid of three strikes, I can’t double-check because the chickenshit Dems took their 06 platform off the web because it was so nutty).
You wanted Reagan to give in to Gorby on SDI, Reagan held firm and the Soviets went under.
When NK threatened to build nukes Clinton gave them nuclear reactors and oil in return for their worthless promise not to build nukes, now we have to clean up that mess. If it were up to you libs we’d have no SDI, just as NK is testing longrange missiles. As I recall (but can’t double-check) the 06 State Dem platform even called for dismantling SDI and spending the money on welfare.
You Dems think that you can talk your way out of all problems, N.Korea, Iran, doesn’t matter, your solution is always to negotiate and never to fight. The enemy has figured you out. No wonder Al Queda thinks that we’ll fold if they keep hitting us.
Sometimes you have to fight, you libs don’t understand that.
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JCH dip shit at 9:
do you have proof of all your allegations?
How about another one to think on:
During the 2004 Presidential Election, the whole damn election was stolen!
Commentby rwb— 7/13/06@ 1:08 pm
We’ve provided time and again proof positive to those allegations from John Herman. Don’t you read or are you new?
Where is credible proof the election was stolen except from some blog?
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