The B&O Journalistic Railroad embarrasses the Arizona Daily Star

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Brodesky/O'Dell tag team (AKA, the B&O Journalistic Railroad at the Arizona Daily Star has been looking to claim a scalp in this year's Tucson City Council election, and they have settled upon Tucson City Council Member Shirley Scott in this ridiculously captioned editorial endorsement today:

Our view: Unlike Shirley Scott, the GOP political newcomer is untainted by Rio Nuevo

Tyler Vogt's cooperative approach needed

First, that ridiculous subcaption: a political neophyte who has never run for elective office or served in government obviously cannot be "tainted" by decisions made by an elected incumbent council member who has actually had to make those hard decisions. This is how the B&O Journalisitc Railroad spins the weakness of a candidate who lacks any experience and civic commitment into a "positive" (in their convoluted minds).

Second, that ridiculous caption Tyler Vogt's cooperative approach needed… "Cooperative approach"? Here are some inconvenient truths that the the B&O Journalisitc Railroad left out of this editorial in their haste to claim a scalp in this election.

This is how Tyler Vogt started his campaign back in May. Tyler Vogt: Not Exactly Running a Charm Offensive | The Range:

I enjoy political swagger and bravado probably more than anyone, but Ward 4 candidate Tyler Vogt might want to dial it down just a little.

* * *

[Tyler Vogt letter to Shirley Scott]

Dear Mrs. Scott:

I am writing to inform you that I have officially submitted my paperwork to run for City Council, Ward 4 in the 2011 Tucson City Election.

I offer you the opportunity to resign from this race with your dignity and your reputation intact . . .

Hmmm, that sounds like a threat and intimidation by a bully, not exactly what most people would consider a "cooperative approach."

In fact, Shirley Scott has told me that at candidate forums (at which Star reporters are never present) her opponent never discusses the issues but engages in personal atacks against her. "How do you debate someone who will not discuss the issues?" she asked me. You can't. If the Star actually attended these candidate forums, maybe this would have been reported (or not).

Tyler Vogt then got into hot water over a public records request for the purpose of "phishing" for the e-mail addresses of individuals who subscribe to council member Ward News letters for a commercial purpose, i.e., to spam that e-mail list to solicit campaign contributions, in violation of the City of Tucson Charter. The Phisher King was breaking the law as a candidate, not a smart move, but the Arizona Daily Star downplayed his lawbreaking, which did not merit even a mention in today's editorial. (Update) The Phisher King, Tyler Vogt, spams Tucson, breaks the law:

The Arizona Daily Star finally got around to telling its reader's about this troll's spamming activity yesterday. Tucson City Council candidate's use of emails stirs criticism:

Tucson City Clerk Roger Randolph said he isn't sure how a number of city employees ended up on the list, saying he also received an email from Vogt, even though he doesn't receive ward newsletter updates. He sent Vogt a letter reminding him that city employees can't be solicited for contributions and has already warned employees that they are not allowed to contribute money to any city candidate.

Of course, the Star downplayed the "illegal" aspect of Vogt's activities in the interest of being "fair and balanced" – a rule that does not seem to apply when the The Brodesky/O'Dell tag team (AKA, the B&O Journalistic Railroad) is flogging the dead horse of Rio Nuevo that is the bread and butter of this dying Star.

Even Republican City Coouncil Member Steve Kozachick took The Phisher King to task for his law breaking and complete disregard for the privacy rights of his constituents:

The Koz sent this e-mail to Vogt:

“When your campaign requested a list of our constituent e-mail addresses, I objected on the grounds of wanting to protect their privacy. I was told by the City Clerk and City Attorney that I could not withhold that information and therefore they turned over the list to your campaign.”

And by the way, the Koz wants his Ward’s e-mails off Vogt's list, too:

“I continue to believe your having accessed those e-mail addresses constitutes an invasion of the privacy of the people now receiving your campaign material. I request that you identify those e-mail addresses secured from the Ward 6 list and delete them from your list serve.”

It also violated the spirit if not the letter of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 which has exemptions for most political e-mails. Tyler Vogt, You Are Terrible at the Internet | The Range. "However, there's just a basic idea that when you send out an email representing yourself, you don't want to be an intrusive jack-ass. Saying that…congratulations, Tyler Vogt…you've managed to really screw up the whole email thing."

This even led to a FaceBook fan page: I've Been Spammed by Tyler Vogt! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/groups/245625745465082/

The Phisher King then copped an attitude shared by Southern Arizona's Tea-Publican caucus in the state legislature that they do not consent to interviews with the Arizona Daily Star. David Safier posted that City Council candidate Tyler Vogt won't interview with the Star:

Following in the footsteps of Al Melvin, Frank Antenori, Dave Gowan and David Stevens, Tyler Vogt has said uh-uh to sitting down for an interview with the Star staff. Which is interesting because, if he were elected, he would have to talk with the Star kinda regularly, since the Star is Tucson's daily, and it writes, you know, about the Tucson City Council a whole lot.

In fact, today's editorial admits that The Phisher King gave the Star the middle-finger salute to an interview but submitted written answers to a questionnaire: "In written responses to the Star (Vogt declined two invitations to meet with the editorial board)…" Newspaper editorial boards have a hard and fast rule: if you don't meet with the editorial board, you don't get an endorsement. Period. But not at the lame Star (it has done this in the past).

And here is a good point made by David Safier that the B&O Journalisitc Railroad probably never considered in its editorial today. How do they know for certain that it was actually The Phisher King who submitted written answers to their questionnaire:

Vogt says he's happy to answer written questions from the paper, in writing. I guess that way he won't have to really know the answers himself. He can ask, maybe his campaign advisors, or maybe his brother Ted.

That would be Rep. Ted Vogt, The Phisher King's "younger smarter brother" who is part of the Southern Arizona Tea-Publican caucus who do the bidding of our colonial overlords from the state of Maricopa who want to subjugate the renegade colony of the City of Tucson. Ted Vogt tries to dictate to the City of Tucson to benefit his brother Tyler (The bill in question is SB 1331 which now includes a provision to limit a city, town or school district’s ability to conduct a mail ballot election to any nonpartisan election held by that city, town or school district. Here is the authoritarian Vogt floor amendment).

Clearly, the B&O Journalisitc Railroad is not troubled by the subjugation of the City of Tucson to the control of Tea-Publicans from the state of Maricopa. That puts them at odds with the vast majority of residents of the City of Tucson.

The B&O Journalisitc Railroad has embarrased the Arizona Daily Star with today's editorial endorsement. It lays bare their flogging of the dead horse of Rio Nuevo that is the bread and butter of this dying Star.

If the B&O Journalisitc Railroad were subject to a vote on the ballot, I am confident that well over 60% of Tucson voters would vote them off this blue island in a red state.