Patterico's Pontifications

9/23/2008

Lopez Travels Out of State to Tell the Same Falsehoods That His Buddies Tell Right Here at Home

Filed under: 2008 Election,Dog Trainer,General — Patterico @ 10:03 pm



Steve Lopez is in Chicago this week, intensely researching the record of Barack Obama, who is running for President of the United States.

Ha, ha! Just kidding! Of course, Lopez is not in Chicago, silly. He is following in the footsteps of Maureen Dowd and traipsing to Alaska to use his “inimitable blend of righteous indignation and rapier wit” (to use Roy Rivenburg’s memorable phrase) in the service of an investigation of Sarah Palin, who is running for Vice-President.

By which I mean to say, he mocks a local hick, swallows whole some patent crapola from a local lefty, and recycles a couple of moldy and discredited canards.

All in a day’s work.

Edwards said she believes, as does Palin, that creationism ought to be taught in schools along with evolution . . . .

No, she doesn’t.

Munger, who writes the Progressive Alaska blog, told me Palin is not just a creationist, but a “young Earth” creationist who believes that man and dinosaurs once shared the planet, and that the world will end in her lifetime.

If a lefty says it, it must be true!

If true, that’s a little scary. But no more so than her view that a woman who’s pregnant because of a rape shouldn’t be allowed to have an abortion, or that the Iraq war is “a task that is from God.”

She didn’t say that either.

Jesus Christ, Lopez, don’t you read your own goddamned paper? And I quote:

A video shows Palin asking a group to pray that the nation’s leaders were sending troops to Iraq “on a task that is from God.”

Gibson, however, mischaracterized her as simply asserting that the nation’s leaders were sending troops to Iraq on a task from God.

And so did Steve Lopez.

How can this newspaper say in a news article that it’s a mischaracterization to say Palin asserted that, and yet allow Lopez to repeat that exact mischaracterization in a column?

Apparently the editors haven’t ever heard the phrase: you’re entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts.

But, you know, it’s OK. Because everything Lopez said is the Conventional Wisdom. Just like John McCain praised our economy without reservation the day after the financial crisis hit. And Palin said she can see Russia from her house. And Palin said the Iraq war is a task from God. And Palin wants creationism taught in schools. And she supports abstinence-only education.

On and on and on. Every single one of these things is false, but you see them repeated again and again and again and again and again.

As I said about Maureen Dowd, does a newspaper really have to pay for a plane ticket to Alaska so a columnist can repeat discredited falsehoods? Can’t they do that from their own office in the big city, just like they always do?

48 Responses to “Lopez Travels Out of State to Tell the Same Falsehoods That His Buddies Tell Right Here at Home”

  1. They don’t have to pay for it, but it makes the piece a lot more credible on the surface if they do.

    Do they care about journalistic integrity? Don’t know. However, I am pretty sure they do care about selling ads.

    Does that credibility sell more ads? Again: don’t know. But, the powers that be over there were willing a bet a plane ticket to Alaska that it does

    rfp (f4c1e0)

  2. Lopez is just another bitter clingerer who will adopt any half-truth or slander in order to maintain a narrative.

    I wonder how he would react if someone were to do a similar hatchet job on his beloved Nathaniel, the once-homeless “musician.”

    Ed (f35a20)

  3. Having led Lopez to a couple of his stories – including an occaisional ongoing saga – and hosted him in my home, I am very, very disappointed.

    The man is entitled to his opinions indeed. But the arrogance and falsehoods, intentional or hoodwinked, are really not what I’ve come to expect.

    Steve: You’re better than this.

    Robert C. J. Parry (50a453)

  4. You know, Patterico, every time you post another Dog Trainer piece, I end up reading it thoroughly, going to the paper itself and everything re the post, thoroughly, and inevitably end up writing the editors – yet again.

    I’m getting pretty darn tired of it because the only response I ever get back in my inbox is yet one more offer of a great deal on a subscription. Meh.

    Dana (4d3ea0)

  5. Steve: You’re better than this.

    Comment by Robert C. J. Parry — 9/23/2008 @ 10:18 pm

    No Robert, he’s not.

    Richard Reese (afbdcb)

  6. So…..if that homeless bi-polar musician Steve “discovered” happened to be a republican…. the article would’ve been entitled: “Get these Godd**n Lunatics off our streets” by Steve Lopez.

    Californio (2c8c91)

  7. Steve Lopez is spreading lies and half truths in the middle of a democratic Presidential election in the most powerful country the world has ever seen. Don’t they teach anything of value in journalism school?

    tyree (0ef814)

  8. Every single one of these things is false, but you see them repeated again and again and again and again and again.

    The Obama campaign’s playbook. Copied from the left.

    I was going to email you regarding this series, but the work was so sloppy that I decided that it wasn’t important enough to bother you. It is simply partisan crap, and it shows.

    Apogee (366e8b)

  9. I know that a prima donna columnist like Lopez pretty much gets carte blanche to write about whatever he wants to, but isn’t he officially a columnist on the California pages, and wasn’t his original charge really supposed to be writing stories with local flavor? You see this more and more with someone like Paul Krugman, who was supposed to be writing a center-left economics column on the NYT opinion pages, but instead decided that his readership deserved to hear him expound upon his hard left political philosophy ad nauseam. The Tim Rutten’s of the world have also discovered this neat little trick. No matter what you are hired to write about, make sure you deliver your 1000 words on your own leftist ideology.

    JVW (6c4300)

  10. JVW – It’s also a means of self-preservation. To continue to throw out lefty talking points becomes boring if you’re constrained to the same format day in and day out.

    It’s similar to actors who wish to be celebrities without doing the work of learning to act. It’s about ego, not craft.

    Rutten and Lopez wish to be seen as great journalists without, you know, having to do the journalism part.

    Apogee (366e8b)

  11. Does Steve Lopez lie more when he is in California, or when he is out of California?
    BTW, what is his Per Diem?

    Perfect Sense (9d1b08)

  12. Apparently the citizens of Wasilla have closed their eyes to, or do not wish to acknowledge, the caliber of disaster indicated by the presence of a gun store in their community.

    Person of Choler (c1a59e)

  13. 11. He was pretty good at calling it well when he was in Philly, but he stuck mostly to commenting on local affairs.

    There’s very little to defend or spin positively in the local politics there no matter what side of the aisle you are on. Just the other day the local Fox Station caught a City Councilman’s $90K/yr “aide” entering his house with a case of beer while on the clock and leaving the next morning. When the camera caught her and her bad weave the next day she held up a crudely written sign with the reporter’s name and “KKK” written under it.

    So I haven’t read Lopez since he left the Philadelphia Inquirer aka All Obama Love, All Palin Hate, All the Time.

    Jack Klompus (cf3660)

  14. “On and on and on. Every single one of these things is false,”
    (Patterico)

    It’s the seed and fertilizer of the “Big Lie”. It’s what “journalists” do, and have done, since before cave paintings.

    C. Norris (e5e86f)

  15. Wake up. Newspapers are in the business of converting opinion into fact.

    That’s what they do. That’s all they do. And they are very good at it.

    Amphipolis (fdbc48)

  16. It’s not surprising. And the Obama campaign is using this bias. Glenn Reynolds pointed out this interesting example here:

    http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2008/09/dubious-poll-conducted-by-democrat.html

    Yep. Quoting a poll from an organization with Michelle Obama on the board. Read the link.

    The “change and hope” is far more the former than the latter, but the change is toward Chicago style corruption on a national level.

    Eric Blair (81e599)

  17. Patrick, cut out the middle man and go right to the source. There are all the rumors, 91 at present count, with the refutations already done for you.

    Mike K (2cf494)

  18. Steve Lopez contradicted a news story from his own paper? But the Los Angeles Times has four layers of editors!

    Official Internet Data Office (bfbe14)

  19. They just say the HAVE them.

    Not once did they ever say they USED them…

    Scott Jacobs (a1c284)

  20. Spot on, Scott. It is clear that the 4 layers of editorial control are deadwood.

    JD (41e64f)

  21. One of those layers appears to be the Obama campaign.

    Amphipolis (fdbc48)

  22. He has to fly there, because that lends authenticity to the lies story, which was probably prompted by the discovery of the one progressive blog/Palin hater in the STate.

    All in all, I don’t worry. After all, nobody reads that paper anymore.

    Patricia (ee5c9d)

  23. From the link in the previous post at Patco, defending Palin

    Palin was answering a question from the moderator near the conclusion of Wednesday night’s televised debate on KAKM Channel 7 when she said, “Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.”

    “Does 1+1=2 or 3? Teach the conflict!”
    She’s a creationist. It’s a goddamn joke. On some of the others Lopez is no more sloppy than he would be if he were writing here. Liberals are sinking to your level and having a laugh now and then.

    Lopez
    “She’s doing her part for the McCain-Palin ticket by selling a $4.95 bumper sticker she and her husband designed, complete with a depiction of a blond who looks like a hooker to me. The sticker reads:

    “I Thinc Im Gunna Vote Four Oboma Cuz Thems Hollywood Peoples Like Him.”

    Such nice people.

    Readnek (105b91)

  24. After all, nobody reads that paper anymore.

    At least, no one I know… 🙂

    Scott Jacobs (a1c284)

  25. Such nice people.

    At least they aren’t calling you retarded for not thinking as they do.

    That’s the left’s job, apparently.

    Scott Jacobs (a1c284)

  26. Just the other day the local Fox Station caught a City Councilman’s $90K/yr “aide” entering his house with a case of beer while on the clock and leaving the next morning. When the camera caught her and her bad weave the next day she held up a crudely written sign with the reporter’s name and “KKK” written under it.

    So I haven’t read Lopez since he left the Philadelphia Inquirer aka All Obama Love, All Palin Hate, All the Time.

    Remarkable..

    Vermont Neighbor (a066ed)

  27. Alaska, the Left’s new flyover country.

    Except that it takes a lot more time and gas to get there and fly over.

    daleyrocks (d9ec17)

  28. She’s a creationist.

    Evidence coming in…………….

    daleyrocks (d9ec17)

  29. Sarah Palin being a creationist and a young earth one at that, is somehow news worthy, but when the Obama claims there are 60 States in the US and the excuse is ‘he is just really tired’ and its obvious to all those who lack the ability to reason, that being President is like being on vacation when compared to campaigning for the position.

    A real journalist would do a little research before ridiculing their subject, but we know that Steve Lopez is not a real journalist.

    ML (14488c)

  30. That Sarah Palin, she’s an evil person, she’s not even a real woman, she’s an anti-feminist, a Franken Barbie, a Trojan Vagina.

    RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!!!!!

    daleyrocks (d9ec17)

  31. I am still waiting for the troll’s evidence that Palin is a Creationist.

    JD (41e64f)

  32. They mean she’s a cartoonist. Details have always been a sticky widget for the loons. (see: Dan Rather)

    Vermont Neighbor (a066ed)

  33. If Dan Rather, in the wake of Rathergate, could spend the year after getting canned crisscrossing the country picking up achievment awards and then get hired to be the anchor at another network then the left can also make up their own facts. The MSM: some charges are too good to bother with evidence.

    Bel Aire (2fd7f7)

  34. Is the world flat or round?
    Do you take antibiotics?

    And no, there’s no such thing as creation “science”

    Palin said she thought there was value in discussing alternatives.
    “It’s OK to let kids know that there are theories out there,” she said in the interview. “They gain information just by being in a discussion.”
    That was how she was brought up, she said. Her father was a public school science teacher.
    “My dad did talk a lot about his theories of evolution,” she said. “He would show us fossils and say, ‘How old do you think these are?’ ”
    Asked for her personal views on evolution, Palin said, “I believe we have a creator.”
    She would not say whether her belief also allowed her to accept the theory of evolution as fact.

    There are theories concerning evolution, but evolution itself is a fact.

    You’re right, we have it only on the words of others, whether or not Palin is or is not “a creationist.” But we do know that she wants to add theology into the science curriculum.

    Does 1+1=2 or 3?

    Readnek (105b91)

  35. “But we do know that she wants to add theology into the science curriculum.”

    Readnek – ?Exactly how? Evolution does not address the beginning of life if I am not mistake. Read the various notable atheist on the subject and their wacky spaceship theories for the biginning of life on earth. Do you like those theories?

    Do you ever comment honestly?

    daleyrocks (d9ec17)

  36. Readnek – But we do know that she wants to add theology into the science curriculum.

    No. That’s another lefty lie. From the AP:

    Palin’s children attend public schools and Palin has made no push to have creationism taught in them.

    Neither have Palin’s socially conservative personal views on issues like abortion and gay marriage been translated into policies during her 20 months as Alaska’s chief executive. It reflects a hands-off attitude toward mixing government and religion by most Alaskans.

    If Barack Obama wasn’t such an incredibly weak candidate with so many problems, trolls like you wouldn’t be worried about the VP choice of the opposing party.

    Apogee (366e8b)

  37. #13 Jack Klompus
    Has Philly gone totally over to the dark side? Bring back Frank Rizzo from the Hereafter. Tell me someone was offended by that NWA Chaka Obamawhore’s column promising riots, looting and pillaging if Obama is stymied in his POTUS quest.

    I thought Michael Smercomish (sp.) used to have sense. Always enjoyed Pete Dexter’s books and used to catch his columns from the Sacramento Bee after he left Inquirer. Wonder what his take on Obama might be.

    madmax333 (0c6cfc)

  38. 38. max – FYI another cop got slaughtered in North Philadelphia the other day. Violent parolee wanted on warrants shot it out with cops, hit one, then stepped up to him while he was on the ground and executed him on the street. The cops eventually shot the POS dead in a gun battle. Read the Daily News article in philly.com and notice the part about some of the neighbors who were quoted saying the cops don’t “respect them and there’s another black man dead. Oh and a cop too.” Another person couldn’t believe the cops would be so callous as to kill this guy because “he was a Muslim.” So glad to be out of that festering shithole of a city.

    Jack Klompus (cf3660)

  39. 38-
    Does not surprise me one bit.
    I thought the cops did a decent job under the stewardship of Police Commish Rizzo so many years ago. At least you didn’t see Philly suffering same consequences as other hellholes in wake of MLK assassination. I was in Norristown at the time and stern-looking cops were on corners with shotguns. I can imagine how racial affairs will “improve” under an Obama douchebag Presidency. So Obama voted against cracking down on repeat violent juvie offenders while in Ill. Senate. How long before various “brothers” get pardoned? I’d assume pal Rezko was promised relief from any long incarceration if he keeps his mouth shut.

    madmax333 (0c6cfc)

  40. I want to know where Maureen Dowd is going to find snow shoes big enough to fit her feet.

    Tom (d0d7d8)

  41. I have not yet read one comment in this thread.

    I have purposely scrolled right down to the “Leave a comment” section to predict what I will see when I scroll up.

    1. I will find logic-challenged remote-controlled Obamatrolls who will not only ignore the fact that most of the damning stories about Governor Palin, Commissioner Palin, former Mayor Palin, Mrs. Sarah Palin the mother, Todd Palin, and the members of the Palin and Heath families are either a) exaggerated, b) poorly-sourced, c) the result of a game of “Telephone” played by people who love what they know is probably a lie so much, they don’t want to ruin the fun with a search for the truth, or d) outright lies, slander, and libel instigated and forwarded by Moulitsas’ Mendacious Morons, Winner & Asshociates, David Astroturf, and BOMOCO himself (Barack Obama, Messiah Or Community Organizer).

    2. Said O-trolls will continue to repeat slightly altered versions of long-debunked accounts (again, see Winner & Ass.), passing along the lessons taught by Alinsky and his mentor, Lucifer.

    If these predictions prove to be inaccurate, I’ll acknowledge that I was wrong (something that the Wacky Barackys don’t like to do). But I don’t think it will be necessary.

    L.N. Smithee (a0b21b)

  42. Jack Klompus wrote:

    There’s very little to defend or spin positively in the local politics there no matter what side of the aisle you are on. Just the other day the local Fox Station caught a City Councilman’s $90K/yr “aide” entering his house with a case of beer while on the clock and leaving the next morning. When the camera caught her and her bad weave the next day she held up a crudely written sign with the reporter’s name and “KKK” written under it.

    That’s precious! Gotta link to video of that?

    L.N. Smithee (a0b21b)

  43. New really classy quote about Palin, “Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much what they do with Jews and blacks.” Alcee Hastings is such a perceptive man and hits it dead on, at least talking to Jewish liberals. I’m sure Joooos and AAs will be headed for a new gulag here in Amerikkka under a McCain-Palin Bush 3rd term…and far worse than what FDR ever did with Japanese-Americans.

    madmax333 (0c6cfc)

  44. Alcee has done a great job rehabilitating himself after he was impeached as a federal judge. How did he do that ? Run for Congress.

    Mike K (f89cb3)

  45. Do you take antibiotics?

    Good question – now here’s one for you: do you have a giant tapeworm currently residing in your orifice? Your thinking patterns suggest the presence of one – better get that pesky problem checked out, if I were you.

    Dmac (e639cc)

  46. Wow!

    Lopez. Moron.

    Philip (6846fb)

  47. 42. Linky to story with pic. 90 grand a year.

    http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/28641804.html

    Jack Klompus (b0e238)

  48. 47 Jack Klompus-
    Would that w.wilson goode jr. be the prodigal son of the brilliant ex-Mayor from N.C. who talked like he had a mouthful of crap? Amused me how just about everyone else in his administration was sued in the Jack and Jill Africa MOVE inferno BS. Why couldn’t Street be running for Potus, he’s about as dirty and connected at Obama?

    madmax333 (0c6cfc)


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