Chronicle scolds Sen. Whitmire
The Chronicle editors decided to wag their fingers at state Sen. John Whitmire for his bill that would end $AFEclear, the way it is currently structured.
The editorial is vintage Chronicle editors, showing a lack of insight about the topic (maybe they only read the Chronicle; that's a problem). They say Sen. Whitmire hasn't offered up an alternative (he has -- MAP), they say he's acting hastily (one man is dead and blogHOUSTON thinks the draconian particulars of $AFEclear played a part), they say he's trampling on a local municipality's right to govern itself (yet another big city in Texas is looking into a $AFEclear-type program for its freeways), and then the editors give us their big finish:
Whitmire's opposition to the improved Safe Clear program isn't leadership. It's harmful demagoguery by an elected official who has shown the same traits before. Whitmire may know what plays well to his northside district in Houston, but he's doing a disservice to the city's freeway commuters in the process.
(This is interesting to read in light of that last paragraph.)
The editors love it when a Republican follows his or her conscience, especially if it's considered to be a break in the ranks. Remember when Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison voted against one of President Bush's judicial nominees? The editors wrote two editorials cheering on Hutchison. The first sentence of the editorial written before the vote said, "Loyalty to her party and its national leader, President Bush, should not dictate the vote of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, on the pending nomination of a man whose extreme opposition to reproductive rights and gender equality make him unfit to hold a lifetime federal judicial appointment." After Hutchison's vote, the editors wrote, "Although her vote was not decisive, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, displayed proper independence and due diligence in voting against the confirmation of J. Leon Holmes to a U.S. district court judgeship in Arkansas."
I wonder if today's editorial effort qualifies as an example of "the elegance, wit and insight one looks for in magazine commentary and editorial pages in their ideal state," according to interim editorial page editor James Howard Gibbons.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: I can't help but note that Sen. Whitmire seems officially to have joined the ranks of Chron "bad guys" (read: Republicans). How has he joined a group of "bad guys" that includes Chuck Rosenthal, Tom DeLay, and John Culberson, among others? I'll let the Chron editors explain:
Whitmire's reappointment to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee chairmanship by the Republican lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst, and his "of counsel" association with the well-connected law firm Locke, Liddell & Sapp raise suspicions among Democrats that Whitmire is serving the interests of GOP legislative leaders. The Republican leadership would like nothing better than to discredit Mayor White, a potential candidate for statewide office.
As Anne points out, it's vintage Chron editorializing indeed, with unsubstantiated gossip and shadowy conspiracy theories posing as reasoning! Recall that just last week, we blasted Kristen Mack for turning her municipal politics column into a gossip column that repeated the same unsubstantiated charges. It's the sort of thing I expect to see on partisan, fringe blogs, not on news or editorial pages in an "ideal state."
As for the bolded assertion that the GOP leadership would like nothing better than to discredit Mayor White -- the Chronicle editors really should be mindful of how silly they sound. Given the issues facing the state and the fact that voters will blame the party in charge if things go south, we suspect the GOP leadership has quite a bit on their minds, and that the favored politico of the Chronicle editorial board isn't chief among them. Indeed, it's worth flipping around the question and asking the Chronicle editorial board why they are already acting as cheerleaders for a potential statewide run by Houston's mayor when it would seem Houston's problems should be more than sufficient to occupy his and their attention. Maybe they'll answer that question on their editorial board blog? Oh wait, I've confused them for the Dallas Morning News. The Chronicle has no such blog, and the editorial board does not engage readers or bloggers.
Further, here's a misleading (to the point of being inaccurate) assertion in the editorial:
Then as now, Whitmire linked up with conservative talk radio, blasting the emissions testing program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
What does "linked up" mean precisely? Until his own overblown, whiplash-inducing turnaround on the issue last week, Dan Patrick (and his KSEV-700 crew) opposed Sen. Whitmire's threats to scuttle $AFEclear, to the point of engaging in a screaming match with him on air that prompted the Senator to hang up on Patrick back in January. In the last week or so, Patrick has thrown support Whitmire's way, but ratings leader Chris Baker of KTRH-740 has openly questioned Whitmire's actions in light of revisions to the original $AFEclear program. It's just not accurate to suggest (via the phrase "linked up") that Whitmire and conservative talk radio in this town have engaged in some monolithic effort on this issue. If anything, Whitmire has been more consistent in his opposition to this program than this town's big names in conservative talk radio. Perhaps the Chronicle opposes Whitmire taking his case to alt-media in this town, but in a one-newspaper town with a newspaper of poor quality, it's sometimes the only way to put an issue before the public. Indeed, one wonders if dinosaur print media isn't a little upset over not fully controlling the issue agenda these days thanks to blogs and talk radio, but that's another topic.
Sen. Whitmire has been steadfast in his opposition to this program from day one (we have as well). That may well anger some members in his own party, who may still harbor resentment over Whitmire's redistricting activities, but that's no reason for the city's only newspaper to attack his position based on inaccuracies, gossip, and conspiracy theories. I concur with Anne that such behavior is hardly editorializing in an ideal state.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/12/05 09:02 AM | Print |
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