My View
By Don Sorchych | January 13, 2010
The Arizona RepublicIf you read the Arizona Republic, and I do, since it is almost a job requirement, you wouldn’t be surprised by its unending left wing so-called news. The editorial staff had a couple of relatively conservative writers that have caught the left-leaning infection too.
The targets? Anyone who thinks the border should be closed or is against amnesty for illegal aliens, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andy Thomas for starters. There is more.
I was once interviewed by Daniel Gonzalez, their illegal alien sympathizer and crying towel for border busting illegals. In the Jan. 3, 2010 issue of the Republic, above the fold, a headline read “Advocate strikes back on sweeps.” It was all about a woman who made it her business to journey to any sweep and see if she could get the goods on Arpaio. My, my, we mustn’t profile.
In the same editions, in the Valley and State section in the same position, the headline was, “City pushes census participation.” The author, Scott Wong, made it clear each person not captured by the census may cost Phoenix $400. So they printed 200,000 brochures in Spanish and English. How quaint is that?
In the same issue the ever snarky E.J. Montini held court on Jimmy. I mean Janet, Napolitano. He agreed she was wrong to say “the system worked” about the Muslim fanatic who tried to blow up an airliner on final approach to the Detroit airport.
The crew and passengers took down the nutcase terrorist, not any federal “system.”
Montini noted that both our senators joined the criticism of Napolitano, but suggested her statement may have been taken out of context. And further he suggested, as an apologist, she was speaking of the whole process not the incident on the plane.
Then he wrote Senator Jon Kyl and other Napolitano critics “voted against a bill a few years back that was meant to fund better screening devices for airports.”
So? The details of that vote could well be part of a much larger issue; so is the statement taken out of context, like he accuses others of doing about Napolitano’s statement.
Then he quoted Kyl as saying, “She (Napolitano) will bring a wealth of experience to the department.”
And then the too loquacious John McCain said, “She has a no nonsense attitude, remarkable stamina, and unlimited energy. Arizona’s loss is the nation’s gain.”
Gag and gag again. This is political talk and Montini knows it. Obviously, they should have told the truth that she is a liberal demagogue who broke the state before retreating to Obama’s administration. But that isn’t politically correct is it?
On the editorial side, Robert Robb and Doug MacEachern have been revered conservatives in an otherwise bigoted leftist newspaper. But current readings reveal a leftward drift in their opinions.
First of all, both news and editorial space has been devoted to killing the political strength of Joe Arpaio and Andy Thomas. Seldom does an issue arrive without multiple stories aiding illegal alien activists, damning Arpaio and Thomas, praising Napolitano, publicizing support for affirmative action by praising “diversity,” and giving left wing advice to cities and towns.
Sonoran News has outed Arpaio many times for what we perceived as corruption.
Evaluating anyone is concluded after winnowing through negatives and positives, a work in progress over a span of time.
But today, we view Arpaio as a net positive of major proportions due to his continued assault on illegal aliens. Thomas is a strong supporter also. They are the only law enforcement men in the nation to fight that battle and that is special.
Their tandem battle with the County Board of Supervisors is years overdue. Time will tell whether Arpaio and Thomas took political action or whether the supervisors are that corrupt, but an investigation is warranted, no doubt about that. The actions taken by the supervisors, their choice of legal council and their interference with law enforcement and the county attorney’s office is unjustified and may be illegal.
One of the supervisors laughingly told me that Mary Rose Wilcox’s vote depended on what was in it for her. Don Stapley has been suspected before, and anyone who does business with Conley Wolfswinkel is automatically suspect based on his record, and deserving of a serious investigation – which raises the question where is the Republic’s investigative reporting?
The Republic’s love affair with Napolitano has tainted MacEachern’s editorial writing. In the Jan. 4 edition he went to bat for Napolitano by writing he always respected her judgment. He wrote, “Now in the Washington meat grinder, she is being judged an idiot for uttering one foolish phrase (“the system worked” in the Detroit airplane near disaster). That is just wrong.”
It is not wrong, it is an idiotic statement, and nowhere near the smear of Sarah Palin.
This is not to say that the Republic doesn’t print the other view. Certainly, printing the columns of Charles Krauthammer gives a thirsty public a conservative view. And pro and con articles are appreciated as are letters which cover an almost fair spectrum of political opinions.
But on balance, the Arizona Republic carries all the liberal baggage a Gannett newspaper is expected to have. And as Gannett is nationwide, in other dailies, conservatives aren’t fairly represented. Read the Washington Times and even the Wall Street Journal and compare to the Gannett papers.
The biggest beef I have is the failure of the media, print, TV and the Internet to evaluate Barack Obama during the election. Why is Obama hiding his credentials – his life? History says he is a radical, inexperienced but fluent and will destroy this country if he isn’t controlled. I could write a book about that.
The Republic has always been fond of “diversity.” So fond in fact, they took the center of the Scottsdale Republic to celebrate, “Champions of diversity.” Then they devoted page three to former head of Scottsdale Diversity Dan Logan and the current “diversity champion” Joe Baca.
Logan, who survived a bomb sent by two Illinois white boneheads, got two thirds of the page while Baca got a third.
Baca is a maintenance guy so I assume he works for a living and is not paid by taxpayers as Logan was.
Diversity is PC for affirmative action and it is a paid position in many cities and some schools. This is another way to suck the brains out of schoolchildren.