Roy Rivenburg, who writes the “Recall Madness” column for the Los Angeles Dog Trainer (known by some as the Los Angeles Times), passed along this observation in an e-mail to me:

I wish my paper had a pro-recall columnist or two to balance out the predictable Lopez/King/Morrison/Skelton blather. This is a point that laobserved.com made more cogently, but I absolutely agree with him. I think the best coverage of the recall has come from Dan Weintraub’s blog at sacbee.com. . . . I wish he were helping to direct our coverage.

(Emphasis mine.) One wonders how many other good people working for this paper feel similarly, but don’t have Rivenburg’s courage to say so publicly. (I asked Rivenburg if I could quote him, and he said yes.)

The L.A. Observed comment to which Rivenburg refers is this comment from September 9:

The L.A. Times’ columnist lineup on the recall, meanwhile, looks more like a glaring mistake every day. They each got the gig because of their style or expertise and not their views, but the more they write the clearer it is they inhabit a fairly narrow range of the political spectrum. King, Lopez, Morrison, Skelton and Hiltzik are all recall disbelievers with only nuances of difference in the details. It already feels way old. Wouldn’t one or two of those voices suffice, especially if complemented with a newly vigorous exchange of ideas on the op-ed page? Unfortunately that’s not happening either, yet.

(Emphasis mine.)

The unilateral opposition of Dog Trainer columnists to the recall contributes to the impression held by many: that the paper is a partisan organ that is simply shilling for Davis. Even for those who don’t reach that cynical conclusion, it’s still fair to ask: where’s the balance?

P.S. It’s only fair to note that Rivenburg (whose “Recall Madness” column runs here) has hinted at this criticism in his columns before. In his September 9 column, quoted in L.A. Observed, he noted the following summary of major themes propounded by the Dog Trainer political columnists:

Attack Schwarzenegger for not taking a position on the issues or, when he does take a position, attack that.

Tweak the Terminator for agreeing to just one candidate debate while conveniently not mentioning that Davis did the same thing when running against Bill Simon last November.

Criticize Schwarzenegger for having no political experience. Or, for a change of pace, criticize him for being just like every other politician.

If any reader of this newspaper spots an opinion column that breaks the pattern (i.e., the writer praises Schwarzenegger), be the first to e-mail us and you can choose a gift from our box of prizes.

Not bad. This paper needs more folks like Rivenburg.