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Barber-Kelly article in the Star: Textbook false equivalence
May 13, 2012
by
by David Safier
Before carefully and accurately taking apart Brady McCombs' front page article in the Sunday Star, "Seniors' benefits dominate CD 8 race" (print edition only), AZ Blue Meanie accuses me of being a soft old teacher, always looking for the good in people. Guilty as charged. See, the high school English teacher in me saw a marked improvement in McCombs' article on the Kelly press conference in the print edition over the earlier online version. It went from a C- online to a B+ in print. But then he didn't write a similar article, online or in the print edition, covering the Barber press conference the next week even though he was there taking notes. That's a double F for failure to turn in required work. And as the Meanie demonstrates in detail, today's article creates a false equivalence between the truth and falsehood of a number of assertions made by the Barber and Kelly campaigns.
Grading today's article is bit of a stumper for this old teacher. I'll have give it a B+ for style and readability over a D for giving readers the information they need to separate fact from fiction. Since I prize content over style, the overall grade is a C-.
Eight paragraphs into the article, there's nothing but a simplistic "He said, He said" recitation of the way the two sides portray each other on Social Security and Medicare. Since most readers won't get much farther than that, the takeaway is: Both sides are spinning equally, so when you vote, choose the guy whose looks you like the best.
[Note: I understand this is how articles are structured, moving from the general to the specific. But instead of wasting the sidebar with a list of mind-numbing figures, the space could have been used to summarize the arguments on both sides and to rate their validity.]
Jeff Flake’s anti-science amendment
May 13, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The anti-science agenda of the GOP now extends to political science as well. Ezra Klein writes at his WonkBlog, Jeff Flake’s plan to politicize the National Science Foundation: On Thursday, on a mostly party-line vote, the House passed an amendment by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to prohibit the National Science Foundation from … Read more
Statistical literacy
May 13, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Kathleen Geier at the Political Animal blog has this important post for anyone who has ever had to suffer through analyzing the "research" (sic) produced by right-wing billionaire-funded think tanks like the Goldwater Institute. On the importance of statistical literacy: Over at Ten Miles Square, my blogging colleague Kevin Carey recently argued … Read more
The Star’s Brady McCombs: ‘You’re Fired!’
May 13, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Arizona Daily Star's replacement political reporter for veteran political report Rhonda Bodfield, who had the good sense to jump a sinking ship, is Brady McCombs.
McCombs' political reporting during the GOP Special Election primary was pure stenography. He never asked a penetrating question, and never got the "balance" quote from the Barber campaign in response to the GOP. And fact checking? Fuhgettaboutit!
David Safier, whose patience as a classroom teacher shows, has bent over backwards for this guy, arguing that McCombs was thrown into a difficult situation having to take over the political reporting assignment just as Congresswoman Giffords resigned and a Special Election was getting under way. David has argued that McCombs was in over his head and just needed some time and encouragement to catch up and to do a better job of reporting — always the teacher, that David.
Well school's out, son. Welcome to the real world of work. I have done employment law for over 20 years. I have reviewed the hiring and firing and disciplinary actions of well over a thousand employees (I've lost count) during that time. Your probationary period is over, Mr. McCombs. Time for your performance review.
In today's print edition only exclusive in the Sunday Star captioned 'Senior's benefits dominate CD 8 race," Brady McCombs ventures outside of his comfort zone of "strictly stenography" and into political commentary in what is supposed to be a hard news story — a sin common in the modern corporate media. When he ventures into commentary, it exposes the fact that he is either: (a) incompetent, or (b) uninformed, or (c) purposefully misleading. McCombs demonstrates that he lacks the knowledge and experience in policy matters and politics necessary to be a good political reporter. Probation is over. As Donald Trump would say, "You''re fired!"
In his opening lede, McCombs asserts "The race to replace Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Congress has been hijacked by Social Security and Medicare" to the detriment of other pressing issues. This is because the NRCC has chosen to run the same campaign that it ran in 2010 against Democratic candidates across the country. This is a deliberate strategy by the NRCC, nothing has been "hijacked" — the NRCC wants to narrow the issues down to a single issue and pound home its $500 billion lie that will not die. Fact Check: The NRCC's 'pants on fire' – the $500 billion lie that will not die and Fact Check: Jesse Kelly's 'pants on fire' – the $500 billion lie that will not die.
Reminder: PCDP Hello / Goodbye Party
May 13, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Event announcement from the Pima County Democratic Party: Hello / Goodbye Party SPECIAL EVENT! Pima Dems Invites you to say… Hello / Goodbye Thursday, May 17, 20125:00pmLobby at Hotel Congress311 East Congress(Public Parking Garage Available at Congress and 4th Ave.) Join the Pima County Democratic Party as we say “Goodbye” to our … Read more
It’s official: In Arizona corporations enjoy preferential rights and liberties superior to individuals
May 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
In another remarkable moment this week, Governor Jan Brewer signed HB 2625 into law on Friday. Brewer signs Arizona bill on contraception coverage:
Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law Friday a measure allowing some religious employers to opt out of covering prescription contraceptives as part of their health-care plans.
House Bill 2625 applies only to "religiously affiliated" employers, which are defined as non-profit groups that primarily employ and serve individuals of the same religion or religiously motivated organizations with articles of incorporation clearly stating that religious beliefs are central to the organization's operating principles.
* * *
"Mandating that a religious institution provide a service in direct contradiction with its faith would represent an obvious encroachment upon the First Amendment," she said in a news release.
Just… wow. First of all, religious institutions (churches) are already exempt from providing such coverage so that last statement from Gov. Brewer is a solution in search of a problem that did not exist.
The key to HB 2625 is how it amends A.R.S. Sec. 20-1057.08 (G) to define "religiously affiliated employer." Subsection 1 is unchanged from previous law and describes religious institutions (nonprofit entities for tax purposes) which are already exempt from providing such coverage under existing federal and state law.
A new subection 2, however, adds: "An entity whose articles of incorporation clearly state that it is a religiously motivated organization and whose religious beliefs are central to the organization's operating principles."
Got that? The legal fiction of a corporation now possesses constitutional rights and liberties under HB 2625, and Arizona says corporations enjoy preferential rights and liberties superior to individuals under this law.
Just… wow.
Dr. Richard Carmona: Governor Brewer and Arizona’s Legislature Got It Wrong
May 12, 2012
BlogForArizona Exclusive: By Dr. Richard Carmona The Arizona legislature pushed bad health policy throughout its session, and Governor Brewer just compounded those mistakes by signing a bill blocking access to contraception. This new law doesn't make any sense — and the harm it will cause the women of our state is startling. There is absolutely … Read more
A remarkable week in American politics
May 12, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
This has been a rather remarkable week in American politics. It began last Sunday when Vice President Joe Biden said that he believes in marriage equality for same-sex couples. A couple of days later, President Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to say that he too believes in marriage equality for same-sex couples.
The following day we learned that his presumptive opponent this fall, Willard "Mittens" Romney, is not the squeaky-clean "got milk" aw shucks dullard he projects, but rather has a dark side of mean-spirited intolerance and abuse epitomized by a high school "prank" (bullying) in which he organized a posse of preppies to hunt down a classmate, sit on top of him and cut off his hair. Mitt Romney's prep school classmates recall pranks but also troubling incidents. The article suggests the classmate was perceived to be gay.
Romney at first tried to laugh it off, then denied any knowledge of the incident — which begs the question, were there similar incidents of such "pranks" that now blend together in his memories that he can no longer remember which incident is which, so he is exercising extreme caution in his comments?
The right-wing noise machine predictably attacked the Post story, but it checks out. Romney story holds up to scrutiny. This story only lends credibility to the "Mr. Potter" image of Romney as the ruthless vulture capitalist at Bain Capitol who likes to fire people and to force businesses into bankruptcy to make money. And that's not a good thing.
But this week also ends remarkably. Willard "Mittens" Romney is delivering a commencement address at televangelist Jerry Falwell's ironically named Liberty University. These are the culture warrior Christian Reconstructionists and Dominionists who view Mormonism as a cult and even satanic (look it up).
And yet they are now willing to make league "with the devil" to support him against that falsely defamed "secret secular-socialist-Muslim from Kenya," Barack Obama. This is equally a remarkable moment in American politics, and should not go unnoticed.
McKay Coppins writes at BuzzFeed Cultist for President:
On page 173 of the course catalog for Liberty University, the country's largest Evangelical Christian college, there's a graduate course labeled Theology 678—Western and New Religions.
Its innocuous title belies the description of its curriculum:
"The history, doctrines, and present state of the major cults such as Mormonism, Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventism. The course will also include a study of the Occult Movement. Emphasis is placed on the errors of these groups and on methods and materials for confronting them effectively."
The course is just one reminder that when Mitt Romney takes the stand on Saturday to deliver the commencement speech at Liberty U, he will be addressing more than 2,000 evangelical students who have been taught that his Mormon faith is a cult that must be defeated.
But that doesn't mean they won't vote for him. As the Republican Party sits poised, for the first time in modern history, to nominate a presidential candidate who's not a protestant Christian, conservative Evangelicals across campus — and, indeed, across the country — are struggling to reconcile their theology with their politics. Can they really support a heretic for president?
