John McIntire has been fighting the good fight against the Rush Limbaugh / Fox News / Drudge Report machine for over a decade, and it appears he has finally been corrupted by it.
His latest post includes an open plea for more Ravenstahl dirt from his readers, with the vague suggestion that he's heard something juicy. He is not asking for criticism of the Ravenstahl budget, of city services, or of development projects. He wants evidence of frat boy behavior, an overload of testosterone, and immaturity.
Also, since he is done misrepresenting the original Ravenstahl incident -- remember, his claim that Regan was involved? -- he has gone on to misrepresent Ravenstahl's clear misjudgement in denying that incident, once again backed by just enough "truthiness" to inflate the issue. We believe, as most do, that McIntire's account of the denial is shamelessly exaggerated and inaccurate.
McIntire has come to the conclusion that in order for the best candidate to win, that candidate needs to have media surrogates doing the campaign's dirty work: promoting poorly sourced and exaggerated rumors, smearing character, and low name-calling.
He may tell us he's just engaging in "snarkery," but that's what all the Limbaughs and Hannities and Savages of our world do: excuse themselves from fair and civil discourse when it serves their needs.
We believe candidate Bill Peduto when he denies any connection to McIntire's odious campaign. Johnny Mac's not doing his man any favors. If he keeps this up, people will have to start asking Mr. Peduto if he condemns McIntire's ugly, classist rhetoric.
Mr. McIntire, righteous statesmen don't win the way the charlatans do, by taking the Rush / Fox / Drudge path of dirt and distortion. Real statesmen, like the first President Clinton, win by elevating the debate, while making the issues personally relevant to the voters.
I can sense the good left in you, John McIntire. Let go your anger.
I think McIntire is out to promote himself as some sort of "extrem" radio host. He's Peduto's worst enemy at the moment if you consider the effects of his actions.
ReplyDeleteClearly he isn't doing Peduto any favors. If anything, he took what could have been a legitimate story if researched properly and made it seem un-credible by messing up the facts.
B/C of his "truthiness" any story he pimps -- even if important -- the news will be ignored by the MSM.
If Peduto wanted to get opposition research out, he could just have campaign aide make a few calls and it wouldn't have the taint of McIntire's self promotion and abrasive style.
I think there's more to it than that. McIntire is much closer to Bill than he has stated. Bill was at his wedding. I've heard rumors that if Bill wins, McIntire will be his press secretary. Bill needs to get out ahead of this train wreck.
ReplyDeleteI've heard rumors that if Bill wins, McIntire will be his press secretary.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Peduto wants a controversial talk radio host as his spokesperson. Nothing like hiring a wise ass with a penchant for dirty jokes as the face of your administration. That makes a lot of sense Did you hear he might hire Jim Quinn, too?
What train wreck?
Guilt by distant association. Luke goes on Marty Griffin's show all the time, does he have to disavow Marty's causing a clergyman to kill himself? No.
"...does he have to disavow Marty's causing a clergyman to kill himself?"
ReplyDeleteYes!
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
"...a wise ass with a penchant for dirty jokes..." I'm sorry - you could also be referring to the current PR guy, Dick Skrinjar - whose spin on the former Mayor's medical condition was anything but "truthful" or "truthi".
ReplyDeleteOnce again, everyone seems to have fallen for his spin on Luke's embarrassing Steelers episode - Honsberger and Griffith had no problem quoting anonymous sources as their gospel truth. Also, I'm perplexed by the willingness of the media and bloggers alike to accept Luke's description of the event at face value, simply because officers opted to refrain from being interviewed - and if you accept Luke's version, why isn't there more outrage at the fact that he failed to register a complaint with the police, OMI or the Civilian Review Board? You can't have it both ways.