The Funny Paper's hatchet job on Matt Wingard

Dave Hogan wrote the most obviously slanted hatchet job on Matt Wingard yesterday. I have not ever met nor dealt with Hogan, nor will I ever. He proved by this article that he is not in fact a serious journalist, but rather has an axe to grind.

Why do I say that?

He "reported" on the recent mailer sent out by Matt Wingard's opponent that slams Wingard for his conviction of misdemeanor abuse of his son. The news of his conviction, of course, is old. The Funny Paper already wrote about it months ago. So they had to concoct another story line so they could bring it up again - so the mail piece the Democrats sent is the big news.

OK fine. Use the mailer as a pretext to bring it up again. But one would think that a serious reporter would just write the story. Not Dave Hogan. He had more to prove.

He printed the allegations the mother of Matt's child made in court in 2004 in the middle of a child custody fight. We all know, of course, how charges and countercharges fly in these cases. But Hogan printed them up wholesale, even though the court obviously discounted them entirely, since Wingard did indeed win visitation rights with his son.

Nowhere in the story does Hogan mention that Wingard won visitation in that very court proceeding in which the mother made these allegations. One might surmise that if the judge thought they were credible, the last think he would do is grant visitation.

Hogan so much wants to hide this fact that he so helpfully writes: "But when told that Wingard said none of her allegations were true, she [the boy's mother] noted that the abusive treatment was documented by her son's pediatrician at the time."

Which is to say that the pediatrician records note that she made these allegations. That's all. Not that the doctor confirmed the abuse, which is what Hogan is trying to imply here. No, the doctor records simply note the allegation.

Here's the final proof that Hogan is a complete hack: You think that perhaps the fact that the courts have completely expunged ths conviction from Wingard's record might be a salient fact to report in a story like this?

Nowhere to be found.

Dave Hogan - I haven't ever met you, but I can assure you this: I will never deal with you in any way on any story. I only deal with journalists.

Columbia Riverkeepers consorts with terrorists

Over at NWRepublican there's a shocking post showing a connection between Columbia Riverkeepers, a local enviro group that opposes any productive use of the river, and convicted enviro-terrorists.

The connection is informal, to be sure, but it is a connection nonetheless. Which brings up the important questions:


The head of Columbia Riverkeepers, Brent Foster, is closely associated with the Democrat power structure in Oregon. He is a pal of Gov. Kulongoski, and also of soon-to-be Attorney General John Kroger.

Why do our statewide officials hang out with (and support the policies of) people who associate with terrorists? Why does a group like Columbia RiverKeepers even have a shred of credibility?

People should start asking both Kulongoski and Kroger (as well as any other pol who hangs out with Foster) why they associate with a friend of terrorists.

Gibson takes Palin quote totally out of context

It was an amazing moment in this campaign. Charlie Gibson got caught on national TV distorting Sarah Palin's quote in order to make it appear as if she is some kind of kookie religious fanatic.

Here is the exchange:

Gibson: "You said recently, in your old church, "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God." Are we fighting a holy war? "

Palin: "You know, I don't know if that was my exact quote."

Gibson: "Exact quote."

Sorry, Charlie, not good enough. You don't get to choose which part of the sentence you quote in order to change the meaning of the words.

Here is what Palin said at her church:

"Pray for our military men and women, who are striving to do what is right also for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending them out on a task that is from God--that's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan. So bless them with your prayers, your prayers of protection for our soldiers."

This couldn't be more clear. She is obviously saying "Pray that our leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God." That is just a tad different from saying "They are on a task from God."

Typical mainstream media treatment of religious politicians. Try to make them seem like religious fanatics.

I hope Gibson loses even more credibility from this, because what he did is essentially a bald-faced lie dressed up in an out of context quote.

Outrageous.

This guy has it exactly right

I've never heard of this columnist before, no doubt because Financial Times is a European publication. But his column analyzing the liberal response to Palin is right on the money.

Meanwhile, Democrats are no doubt puzzled why McCain is now in the lead.

Subbing for Lars today

Lars is on his way back to Portland from the RNC, so I will be subbing for him today. I'll be talking, of course, about the convention, McCain's speech, and the Palin phenomenon.

I will take a bow for my predicition on how the Palin choice would play out. In my posts this week I begged the left to keep up the attacks. I knew that the more they went overboard with their condescending elitism, the more regular folks would come to her defense.

They did, and they did.

Palin gave an incredible speech, and now she's off on the campaign trail. Polling this morning by Rasmussen has the race basically tied, and that poll was done over three days - two of which were before Palin's speech.

Rasmussen also polled Palin. She has 58% positives - higher than Obama! More than half of people say that the media is trying to hurt her candidacy - an astounding result. That is the first time I have seen any poll in which more than half the people said the media was definitely biased.

In other words, Sarah Palin has taken on the media, and beat the crap out of them.

Double the buy

There is an adage in political campaigning I learned long ago: When you are pushing a message on radio, TV or elsewhere, and your opponents and their supporters are screaming bloody murder about it, it is time to "double the buy."

In other words, boos on the road are like cheers at home. If your opponents are screaming at you, that means you are onto something. That is why all the screaming about Sarah Palin is music to my ears. I hope it continues.

And it will. Expect the attacks on Sarah Palin to ratchet up from here. The mainstream media, columnists, editorial boards, bloggers - they think they are hurting Palin and McCain by their breathless attacks, but they aren't. They so misunderstand "the folks!"

Remember how they ridiculed Dan Quayle? He was the laughingstock of the chattering class for years. Who won that election? The truth was, middle America never disdained Dan Quayle, despite being told what a lightweight he was by everyone from the New York Times to Jay Leno.

The same is true here. Maureen Dowd and her like minded east coast elitists actually think middle America listens to them. They are pulling out all the stops trying to create a narrative around Sarah Palin, but it is not going to work.

"The folks" see Sarah Palin as a very interesting, accomplished, likeable woman who is under attack by the elitists who cannot abide a woman who doesn't share their liberal values being considered for higher office. The more hysterical the attacks get, the more the folks will like Palin.

Tonight's speech will be so much fun. I can't wait to hear the commentary afterwards. You think the attacks are shrill now? Just wait until they have to "analyze" what Palin says in 20 minutes of a well crafted message to cheering throngs. It will drive them (further) around the bend.

Hang tough. The left has written the narrative they want to be true, and one thing we learned from the Dan Quayle experience is that they will never ever give up the narrative. They continued to call Quayle a lightweight even while he quietly ran circles around the left with his "Council on Competitiveness."

It'll be even worse for Sarah Palin. If McCain/Palin wins, the left will forever call her the "Trophy VP," and other dismissive names.

Just ignore it. Let Sarah be Sarah. People like her. The left is going to go crazy, which just means it is time to double the buy. Let's feed them all Sarah all the time!

Come Watch Sarah Palin's Speech

Watch Sarah Palin's acceptance speech for the Republican VP nomination with all the other political junkies Wednesday night at the Executive Club!

Whatever the regularly scheduled presentations (which includes me as a speaker) we will truncate, shorten, interrupt and/or do whatever needed to watch the live feed of Palin's speech from the convention floor.

So come and watch the historic speech at the Executive Club! Shilo Inn, Airport, at 6:00 PM.

Their contempt for us is palpable

Maureen Dowd's column in the New York Time on Sunday. A must read, if you want a good example of the utter contempt the east coast liberals have for all of us in "Flyover country."

A Reagan quote I want to keep

(One reason for my blog is entirely self-serving - a place to post stuff I want to keep around where I can get it.)

"I have always believed that there was some divine plan that placed this great continent between two oceans to be sought out by those who were possessed of an abiding love of freedom and a special kind of courage."

Sarah Palin sends the left over the edge

This has been amazing to watch - the left is going absolutely unhinged over the choice of Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate.

Ironically, Republicans almost universally hailed the choice. But the left seems hell bent on destroying her quickly, and are pulling out all the stops to do it.

Over at Jack Bog's Blog, there are multiple threads presenting the most outrageous and scurrilous rumors, each with dozens of comments. Jack Bogdanski, usually a very rational, even tempered guy, latched on to the conspiracy theory of Sarah Palin actually being Trig's grandmother, and simply would not let it go. Even after it was pretty soundly debunked.

I saw James Carville argue that she was unqualified because she was mayor of a "tiny" Alaska town. He actually held up a picture of the Wassila City Hall, and said "this is the city hall where she was mayor. It looks more like a tackle shop."

Oh, my. Could there be a better example of middle America detesting left coast elitism? Please please I hope they keep this up. An awful lot of people would see Carville hold up that picture and think: "yep, that is pretty much what my city hall looks like."

What Carville apparently thought was ipso-facto proof that Palin wasn't ready for prime time was actually just more evidence (as if we need it) that the Carville Gucci-loafer crowd holds middle American values in contempt.

I'm telling you - this is going to shape up to be the narrative of this race. The reaction of the left to Palin has made it inevitable. The more the left attacks Palin, the more voters will perceive they are attacking the very values she embodies and they share.

The left can't help it. A woman with Palin's views and record can't be allowed to exist any more than a black with Clarence Thomas's views. They will try to destroy her, just as they did him. Remember Biden's performance in the Thomas hearings?

The left just doesn't understand middle America, because in their heart of hearts they hate it. I heard commentators this weekend say things such as: "Well, a woman who is pro-life will certainly be unpopular among women." And "Bristol's pregnancy will hurt Palin with the family values crowd."

How little they understand. How fortunate we are that they don't. There is a reason that the Democrats keep losing presidential elections, and that the only times they won was with a candidate who was not of their ilk.

I have never been more positive about the McCain campaign than I am at this moment. The hue and cry we are seeing from the left is music to my ears. The more Jack Bogdanski screams that Palin choice is a horror show, the more positive I get.

Sarah Palin is an incredibly accomplished woman. She is tough and she has guts.

To paraphrase something I read this weekend (I can't find it to link to it):

Obama shinnied up the greasy pole by ingratiating himself to a corrupt political machine in Chicago, carefully avoiding controversy by refusing to challenge any of the corruption. Then he used the favors he gained from the machine to support his rise to national prominence.

Palin, on the other hand, rose by taking on the corrupt old boy's network in Alaska, and got elected without any of their support, taking on the most powerful politician in the state and beating him in a primary. Then, when she got power she used it to root corruption out.

That is a HUGE difference.

Barack Obama isn't even remotely as qualified as Palin.