Archive for the ‘examiner columns’ Category

My latest examiner article actually went up a few days ago but I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to promote it. The article talks about the difference between what my arch enemy friend Chris Lackey and what other people see:

Chris, whose critique didn’t touch much on speakers like Bill Campbell (r), was very unlucky, as a committed atheist he picked the only week that any presentation remotely touched on religion, If he had been covering other tea party events he perhaps would have understood the heart of the tea party, best exemplified by people like Kristine Abrams who is running for state rep on the Republican Ticket in the 11th Plymouth district.

Kristine is not a politician, she is a regular person who got sick and tired of what was going and an instead of deciding that there was nothing she could do; decided to do something herself. She had campaigned in her district with a message of fiscal responsibility and is making a difference by challenging the one party status quo in this state.

Remember that .0075 per hit is the only revenue I’m making other than the odd tech support job. So click on it and read this and my other examiner articles here.

There was a very good rebuttal at the Sentinel & Enterprise a few days ago:

No, what is clearly evident is that people who share Mr. Lackey’s views are terrified that their humanist/statist hold on government policy is being threatened. However, the philosophy of the tea party in the Twin Cities is nothing to fear. It is a view of smaller government, more local control, peaceful protest, and an inclusive environment where anyone is welcome. To accuse the Twin Cities Tea Party of being intolerant or rude is completely ridiculous and a terrible slight to the group of individuals who take the time out of their busy lives to make it possible for us to have our forum.

My own rebuttal didn’t make the papers I’ll throw it up later.

My latest for the Examiner touches on a sure sign of the resurgence of the GOP in the Bay state:

If you look at the tea parties the signs are they are healthy. Glenn Beck drew 300k plus to Washington, Candidates republican and democrat are attending Tea Party events and candidates they support are winning national races over sitting incumbents (Joe Miller).

These are the signs of a movement that is strong and relevant. Just as importantly the Mass. GOP is also showing such signs.

There was a time when calling the GOP strong and relevant in Massachusetts would have produced laughs and guffaws… no longer!

Is it any wonder that some continue to tpaint the tea party as extreme while in Michigan democrats and unions go so far as to run fake tea party candidates of their own to rescue endangered liberals?

As always you can find the rest of my examiner articles here.

One of the first principles of when you have something to hide is that sunlight tends to cause annoyance.

Nick Green is seriously annoyed:

Some believe you have a particular bias or agenda if you refuse to cover a story. Some people believe the fact that you decide to cover a story means you have some sort of bias.

In short, you can’t win either way.

So imagine my surprise today to find I’m the victim of an Andrew Beitbart wannabe, a blogger with a clear agenda of his own who has decided in his hypocrisy I have one of my own.

I had intended to leave comment there but as the page keeps erroring out I will post here something here instead.

Nick, you are a reporter who is paid to do this for a living, so perhaps you might be unaware of a few things, so allow me a mere blogger to educate you on a few things:

Robert Stacy McCain is a reporter who also blogs, he has been a reporter for a very long time. If you were familiar with his work you would know this. I on the other hand am a blogger who writes a few articles on occasion. If you want to call anyone an “Andrew Breitbart wannabe” it would be me not him. Oh an although he is a big boy Robert Stacy is a personal friend of mine so I take it ill if you wish to disparage him for telling the truth.

Oh and BTW “Andrew Breitbart Wanabee” is not a pejorative outside of your circle. He is successful, runs several sites with many writers working under him and manages to do that in the teeth of a media that hates him. Yeah I’d be Andrew Breitbart like a shot.

“Blogger” is not a pejorative term either, no matter how much you want it to be. Bloggers have been breaking stories that the Mainstream Media (that would be you) have ignored for the last decade. One prominent Example, John Edwards Story by Mickey Kaus, he was on it for a year when the rest of the media couldn’t care less. Bloggers with video camera have been covering stories that the MainStream media have ignored or spun for years. Another story that you guys never bothered to cover. The interesting procedures for verifying credit card donations by the Obama camp during the 2008 election.

What? You never heard of it? Neither did your readers because the MSM (that would be you) choose not to cover the story. The lawyers/bloggers did instead.

Yes Robert Stacy McCain is a conservative, I am a conservative, in fact I am a registered (gasp) republican! There is a long tradition of “partisian” journalism that has existed since day one of newspapers. Perhaps you missed that day in school or attended public schools. Either way I don’t keep my biases secret. People can choose to talk to me or not on that basis, and can judge my coverage of events such as the MayDay march in Boston accordingly, vs reporters who hold off the record lunches with the White house they are supposed to cover.

Now as to the e-mails, as Robert Stacy said there are occasions when people e-mail in anger but you must get a whole lot more e-mail than me. If I get an e-mail I don’t want I delete it. It’s real simple. I don’t have your experience but people you burn tend to no longer talk to you. When your primary job is to get people to talk to you, even if they don’t want to that would be “bad”.

Finally I actually should be grateful to you, thanks to your e-mail and torrid schedule I was not only able to get an excellent and popular post. But was able to score an interview with the candidate that you had no time for from 3000 miles away, get a second post and a column in the examiner out of it. Now I don’t know you as a person, you might be a nice guy and a hard worker, but if you want to keep dropping the ball on the Mattie Fein campaign, I’ll do what I can by phone to pick it up from the bay state.

…compares the two districts Ma-01 and Ca36 and their candidates Bill Gunn in Ma01 and Mattie Fein in CA36 and the respective coverage or lack thereof in the local papers in the communities they serve:

This year however there are some similarities. The economic slowdown is affecting the families of Southern California just as much as the workers of the Bay State and in both districts, indeed all over the country candidates are emerging to challenge the status quo.

In CA36 Republican Mattie Fein has taken up the mantle. In Ma01 Republican Bill Gunn is mounting the challenge. Their situations are similar.

But it is the differences that that tell the real story.

When local newspapers are less interested in reporting their local news then bloggers 3000 miles away you know you have a problem.

Stacy has a brief blub at the American Spectator and Ed Driscoll gives advice to A whopper jr Newsweek.