Posted on 02/28/2007 7:15:26 AM PST by WayneLusvardi
The Palm Reading Newspaper Journalism about Republican Congressman Gary Miller
The Pasadena Pundit - Feb. 28, 2007
Why Does Local Newspaper Skip Over Adam Schiff's Pork Barrel Funding Potentially Benefiting His Contributors?
The Pasadena Star News has been running a series of so-called news stories about U.S. Republic Congressman Gary Miller's funding of road improvements in his 42nd Congressional District which purportedly benefited his campaign contributors. http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/search/ci_5231078
Despite Congressman Miller's refutation of any wrong doing, the newspaper states that it stands by its prior story.
To indicate how selective (biased) this is let's compare Pasadena Congressman Adam Schiff's campaign contributors and the list of pork barrel road improvement projects he has funded. His major campaign contributors are shown as:
Parsons Corporation
O'Melveny and Meyers law firm
Operating Engineers Association
Carpenters and Joiners Union
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
See here: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Adam_Schiff
The list of his $12.9 million in pork barrel funding for local road projects for 2005 is shown here: http://schiff.house.gov/HoR/CA29/Newsroom/Press+Releases/2005/07-29-2005trans.htm
Parsons Engineering and the Operating Engineers Association could potentially have benefited from such road projects. So could the Carpenters and Electrical Workers Unions as well as the law firm of O'Melveny and Meyers. Did they? Well, there's no way to tell for sure without some sort of audit trail or documentable quid pro quo. And neither is there for Congressman Miller. The newspaper media coverage of the Congressman Miller non-story is like a speculative Michael Moore movie in which the connection of dots is totally in the prejudicial eye of the beholder.
It is widely believed that it is the duty of politicians to bring home the bacon to their local constituents. Congressmen Schiff and Miller both did that. But apparently Congressman Miller got stung by the local newspaper media for funding a road project that is not even in his Congressional District but is in Democratic Congresswoman Linda Sanchez's 39th District. http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/opinions/ci_5310878
To the local media it's "Miller Time" - time to besmirch the records of Republicans by making those that have committed no documented corruption appear as corrupt in newspaper headlines. This may also help the anti-war effort with the inference that the war has been fought for the benefit of "Republican" Halliburton and Parsons Engineering.
But there is no more evidence that Congressman Miller committed any more corruptible acts than Congressman Schiff -- both of whom have been for the Iraq War but only Miller was selected out for the appearance of corruption. Absent better evidence, neither the record of Congressman Miller or Schiff have any more of an appearance of impropriety with respect to benefiting their campaign contributors than the other. So why was Miller singled out?
The next time you read or view a media story about Republican corruption, or the Iraq War, remember to consider the source. This is not to say that there is no Republican (or Democrat) corruption. Nor is it to say that the Iraq War should not be questioned. It is to say that you should avoid being duped.
Which reminds this writer that such yellow journalism as described above is no more credible than palm reading in judging the character of politicians. As Ambrose Bierce defined it in The Devil's Dictionary:
"Palmistry, n. It consists of "reading character" in the wrinkles made by closing the hand. The pretence is not altogether false; character can really be read very accurately in this way, for the wrinkles in every hand submitted plainly spell the word 'dupe.'"
Did Congressman Gary Miller commit wrongdoing which benefited his campaign contributors? To answer that question you might as well read the horoscope section of the newspaper to find out
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