McCain Gets a Pass From Arizona News Media – Update

Posted by: AzBlueMeanie

The Arizona Daily Star published a letter to the editor on April 29, 2008 regarding the New York Times article "A Developer, His Deals and His Ties to McCain."  Brian Sowle wrote:

"I was certainly expecting to see the story the following morning in the Star. But no, the Times of New York thought it merited front page coverage, while the local yokels are afraid to report the news about our senior never-there-to-vote senator or "the Donald," as Diamond is referred to in the Times article. Another pathetic example of how the Star’s journalism is little more than chamber of commerce boosterism."

In response to Mr. Sowle’s letter, the Arizona Daily Star published the following Editors note:

Editor’s note: Because the relationship between Don Diamond and John McCain has been reported in the Star over the years, we chose not to reprint the Times piece.

An alert reader pointed out that an advanced Google search for the terms Arizona Daily Star, John McCain and Donald Diamond produced no matches.  I can confirm.  A search on the Azstarnet search engine also produced no matches.

It would appear that the editor responsible for this note is being "disingenuous," to be generous.  Other less forgiving souls would say "liar!"

More to the point, why is a current and topical news story that describes John McCain’s special favors for a real estate mogul who also happens to be one of his biggest fund raisers, which merited a front page lead article in the New York Times, considered not newsworthy by the Arizona Daily Star?  That is seriously questionable editorial judgment in my opinion.

McCain’s favors for his campaign contributors and conflicts of interest with lobbyists reflect a pattern of behavior, from Donald Diamond to Paxson Communications Corporation, previously documented by the New York Times For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk – New York Times, to Charles Keating and the "Keating Five" years ago. The Keating Five (The Arizona Republic, Mar. 1, 2007).  Despite his claim that he learned from his errors in the Keating Five scandal, John McCain continues to repeat a pattern of what he himself  has termed his "poor judgment."

Despite McCain’s media created image of being a saint, he ain’t.

Cronyism, special favors, conflicts of interest, and poor judgment are character flaws the public has a right to know, and the media has an obligation to report, especially regarding a presidential nominee.

The Tucson Weekly, the leader in political news coverage in Southern Arizona, reported on the New York Times article.

Blake Morlock over at the Tucson Citizen at least mentioned the New York Times article in his blog "Is This Thing On?"  Although I must say that Morlock’s attempt to beatify Donald Diamond as a sainted "environmentalist" demonstrates a lack of knowledge and understanding of the long history of "The Donald" in land speculation and development in this region.