On its Facebook page, The Union is touting “Patty Meckler’s voting troubles” for Friday’s newspaper.
It is a story already being promoted by Mark Meckler and George Rebane in the blogosphere. The details, and George’s and Mark’s very own spin, is here.
The Union’s editor/publisher has long given Tea Party Patriot’s co-leader Mark Meckler an ear, and in my mind and many others, favorable treatment, as I have reported here previously. Yet it has not reported the controversies surrounding Mark and the Tea Party.
When I raise this to some people in the community, I’m told, “Oh, Jeff. That’s for political reasons.” Huh? The county went for Charlie Brown, not Tom McClintock, in the last Congressional election here. More people would pick up The Union if they felt it was more balanced.
In the clerk-recorder’s race, The Union’s reporting was biased toward challenger Barry Pruett, as I’ve reported previously. Examples abound, and the details are here.
As you can see from the posts on Thursday, the nonpartisan clerk-recorder race is over — but the opponents can’t seem to accept that. Or The Union, I suppose. It is a sad commentary on our community — for elections and for journalism.
But memories are long, so it will be interesting to see the fallout in the future.
As somebody commented on George’s blog: “I think Meckler is being coy. TPP de facto endorsed Pruett, Spencer, McClintock, et al. They say they’re not a political party when it suits their purposes, but also want to march into a poll station wearing their Red Shirts. Give me a break. Yes, Mark is a lawyer and can finesse the law to the letter, but what is the intent? I believe the idea is to remove politics from the polls. And TPP is political as can be. Any claims that they are not hard right wing need to reconcile with their anti-Obama inflamatory behaviors.”
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JeffP, is this typical for Swift newspapers? i.e. is it a chain-wide pattern, or just ours?
The Union is more the exception than the rule in the Swift chain. The bias goes back to the Conklin era, people will tell you. Bart Smith, a Swift longtimer, stands out as doing more watchdog columns than most at the Roseberg, Oregon, paper — at least back in 2007, where he won some state-wide awards. (He’s a publisher in Greeley, now). But watchdog journalism was never a forté of Swift — or a priority. It is more about “celebratory” journalism, which I support. But you need both because of the media monopoly in many rural towns. It’s a new landscape, though, so the “MO” of Swift matters less and less.
The article is now posted here:
http://www.theunion.com/article/20100611/NEWS/100619960/1001&parentprofile=1053
I found this reader comment enlightening, and it would have been a good question for the reporter to ask of the spouse of the TPP founder, “Why did you decide to wear this T-shirt to a polling place”:
“I would be willing to bet that Ms. Meckler knew exactly what she was doing. She wanted to present a challenge, and she did just that. The law states that there be no political advertising, slogans, clothing with political content, or signs within 100 feet of the voting booth. If Ms. Meckler is politically active, then she knew exactly what she was doing.
It only worked to get her cause further negative attention. The tea party is losing support daily and this seems a rather desperate attempt for attention. If Ms. Mecker thought this was a ‘wretched experience’ she has only herself to blame. I feel ashamed of her for this blatant display and attempt for attention.”
“Ms. Meckler knew exactly what she was doing. She wanted to present a challenge”
That about covers it Jeff… that’s the real story.
Sad that The Union turned into the Tea Party Gazette, will Swift Media wake up?
The poll worker did the right thing. Meckler’s complaint would not stand up in court should she take it that far. If wearing a T P shirt to the polling station is not electioneering, after all the free publicity given to the Mecklers, Pruett, and the Tea Party for months by The Union and KNCO, and the Diaz/Pruett saga, isn’t electioneering, what is? The article in the Union touting Mecker’s complaint is just more exibitionism, a last gasp to gain credibility from this clan and their promoters. Doesn’t a 69% super majority vote for Diaz tell them anything? The people have spoken. The self-aggrandizing Tea Party “patriots” and the publisher of the Tea Party Gazette should listen. Talk about being out of sync with the community!
Think about this for a minute. The specific calculations required by the Mecklers before deciding to produce this psycho-drama.
Once you’re a political operative for the GOP (the Tea Party BS is just a potential pool of uninformed voters to manipulate) one’s shame and integrity goes out the window for the sake of “the game”. In any other venue it would be seen as sociopathic (the lack of conscience and forethought in relation to “others”). Anything is ok. The end justifies the means. Dishonesty and hypocrisy are the “tools” of the trade. And the sheep sit there nodding their collective heads waiting for their next meal of sawdust impregnated food pellets.
And if Ms. Meckler was NOT stopped by the staff, she could have raised hell anyway, that they were not doing their job or weren’t trained properly. Win-win. It’s nauseating.
In yet another example of how damaging to the Republican party the Tea Party really is, Republican Nevada first lady and former State Assembly member Dawn Gibbons, and Republican Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, have endorsed Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid for US Senate in Nevada. I am hearing rumors that defeated pary chairwoman Sue Lowden is seriously considering endorsing Harry Reid as well, due to Tea Party endorsed candidate Sharron Angle’s extreme positions.
You think the Union will reprint this story?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/11/AR2010061105726.html?hpid=topnews
I bet not!
I read this yesterday too. No way The Union reprints this. Great article. More than 50 top Nevada Republicans have endorsed Reid.
Good points about the Nevada race from the LAT/WP news wire (of which The Union is a subscriber). No, it won’t run there, but the cover of the Sunday Express is a press release for the second week in a row. No byline but “special to The Union.”
I would hope that people who exercise their right to vote also do their homework in regards to candidates/ballot issues.
I am really happy to say that after all the political bantering going on in the community at least I can wake up in the morning and go have a bagel at Bubba’s and not have to be inundated with Tea Party politics. Thank you Stan Meckler! lol