Friday, May 25, 2007

LOCAL PAPER PLUMBS BARREL'S BOTTOM

Being provocative is one thing. Pandering to haters is quite another.

Robert Crowe of Ozark typed a letter to the editor that appears in Friday's News-Leader. In it, Crowe likens Hillary Clinton -- the U.S. senator and former First Lady -- to a rabid dog and calls her a "self-serving, power hungry mad woman."

For evidence, Crowe cites a book by Edward Klein, The Truth about Hillary. Actually, the book's title is The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President. Those 15 extra words give the reader a better idea of Klein's agenda.

If the paper's bosses had bothered to read anything about Klein's book, they would have recognized it as nothing more than a smear job, a la the Swift Boat stunt pulled by conservatives against John Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign. And we're not using the Swift Boat language to inflame; it's how the book's publisher described Klein's work when the book was released two years ago.

You'll want to know that Klein drops heavy hints that Hillary Clinton can't be trusted because she has friends who are gay:
"She surrounded herself with many women who were either openly lesbian or suspected of being lesbian or appear to be masculine .. What kind of woman is purposefully surrounding herself as a public figure with women known to be lesbians?"
In his letter to the newspaper, Crowe radically spasms from Clinton bashing to fearmongering about war, bringing up Japan and Pearl Harbor before declaring that if "we do not win the war on terror over there we will be fighting them on our streets here."

Crowe insists he would have had "more respect" for Hillary Clinton if she had slapped her husband for being a cheater. But we all know better than that. Crowe and his ilk have never had any respect for Bill or Hillary Clinton, and letters like the one in Friday's News-Leader are aimed at only one thing -- keeping a qualified candidate out of the White House.

Hillary Clinton, like every other candidate for president, deserves critical scrutiny of her policies, her voting record and her plans for the country, if elected. Like every other candidate, she does not deserve to be compared to a rabid dog. No one does.

We don't expect any better from a guy like Robert Crowe; he's only regurgitating the hate that others have fed him. We do expect better from a daily newspaper that claims an interest in thoughtful, intelligent debate.

8 comments:

Betty B. said...

This is the influence of the Karl Rove syle of campaign smear. He helped get Bush elected governor of Texas by starting rumours that Ann Richards was gay, then blanketing church parking lots in east Texas with lurid leaflets the Sunday before the election. For the first time in over a century, east Texas voted Republican and Ann Richards lost. Should we doubt that they will use that winning strategy on Hillary?

Anonymous said...

Couldn't agree more Ron. The letter from Crowe and the one from Mike Hall a couple of weeks ago seem to me to be part of the NL reaction to complaints that conservative letters are NOT being published. Tony M is caving in.
How is it that name calling and hypothetical crap makes it to the pages of the News Leader? Having an opinion is fine, but shouldn't that opinion and the letter to the editor have at least a little credibility, a little truth, a few facts to back it up?
My daily routine has been to read the NL online in the AM, then purchase the hard copy later in the day to read over dinner and talk about with my wife.
I'll still spend 75 cents a day on the USA TODAY, but my 54 cents 6 days a week will be better spent on gasoline I guess.
And by the way Mr. Crowe, I have seen with my own eyes our Vice President and his wife hanging around with Lesbians too. What do you think of that?

Anonymous said...

I salivate over the prospect of a Hillary! nomination.

Because she hasn't got a chance in hell of winning.

Anonymous said...

well who the hell are you tough guy?

Anonymous said...

You salivate over politics. Get a date.

Desdinova said...

Yes, but Robert Crowe signed his name. He is better THAN me. According to the News Leader, my blog isn't worth reading.

Anonymous said...

"openly lesbian?" He'd hate me. I'm openly black.

Anonymous said...

That Roveian-style was first perpetrated against Barry Goldwater by minions of the Johnson re-election team... among their members: Bill Moyers, PBS goon/paid hack.