Did an Editor of a Major Newspaper Threaten to “Crush” Rick Perry?
Via Hot Air Headlines, a fellow named Douglas MacKinnon says:
With exactly that mission in mind, an editor of a major newspaper told me: “We plan to declare war on Rick Perry and do all in our power to crush him.”
There you have it. No pretense of integrity, professionalism or of unbiased news-gathering. This particular newspaper plans to use its very considerable resources to destroy the Perry campaign before it gains momentum. Period.
This is a very serious allegation. While it is easy to believe that a Big Media editor might say something like that to someone s/he trusted, it seems to me that if this quote is accurate, we should be told who the editor is. Or, at the very least, shouldn’t Mr. MacKinnon explain why he is not telling us?
If we had a need to know, I’m confident that “our betters” would share it with us.
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (985f21) — 8/26/2011 @ 1:15 pmWhich one is it? Take your pick of most any paper in any large market. If there are 10-15 major markets, I can’t think of one paper that it could not be.
Charles Curran (631a0d) — 8/26/2011 @ 1:24 pmThe Chicago Tribune has already doen BO’s dirty work in 2004 in outing Jack Ryan. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was some moron from one of the Chicago papers. Remember every journalist laid off between now and Nov 2012 is one less BO campaign worker.
BT (74cbec) — 8/26/2011 @ 1:27 pmHaven’t they already had 11 years to do that? And haven’t we all? Why do they need time now to “vet” his 11-year-long public record, and why do we need them to do it for us when we’ve all seen it ourselves? I’d think the special skills of journalists would be more needed to vet someone who didn’t have much of a public record, someone such as, oh, just to reach for a random example, a senator from Illinois who rose from obscurity just four years ago.
Milhouse (ea66e3) — 8/26/2011 @ 1:33 pmI suppose he can say that because Palin is not officially a candidate for president.
Milhouse (ea66e3) — 8/26/2011 @ 1:34 pmI’m still waiting for the vaunted mainstream media to vet the Dem’s Nominee in 2008!
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (985f21) — 8/26/2011 @ 1:38 pmPatrick
i agree, this quote smells funny. why would this liberal tell an avowed conservative a thing like that?
Yes, i think some of them might actually think that way, but it strains credibility to believe they told him that.
So let’s at least hear why he didn’t share the name. and did he at least share the name with his superiors and get verification?
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 8/26/2011 @ 1:49 pmThe left just isn’t as scared of Palin as they are of Perry. They surely do loathe her more, which is sad, but they see Perry as a huge challenge. Whether they are right or not, they do not think Palin can beat Obama.
Perry just has that one key argument that the left cannot do anything about. So if he’s out nominee, they will have to do all they can to keep America off the real topic.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 8/26/2011 @ 1:53 pmGot to ignore all those “Yobs, mon”.
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (985f21) — 8/26/2011 @ 1:58 pmI don’t know if the editor said that to Douglas MacKinnon but, if s/he did, perhaps it was because MacKinnon seems to have similar concerns about religion in public service, especially a certain type of Christian President.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 8/26/2011 @ 2:21 pmDRJ
okay, i could buy that, maybe… but i still don’t like anonymous sourcing and think need to back that up a little more.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 8/26/2011 @ 2:34 pmI agree, Aaron. I don’t know if MacKinnon’s claim is true and it’s hard to give it credence without details. However, I was looking for reasons why a liberal editor might feel comfortable saying something like that to a conservative such as MacKinnon. Perhaps the editor felt in sync with MacKinnon when it comes to Christian politicians similar to President George W. Bush.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 8/26/2011 @ 2:46 pmSomeone could compile a very long, very detailed post comprising only quotes (with links) from past opponents who’ve vowed to do all in their power to crush Rick Perry.
And yet somehow, he’s never lost an election, and has now served longer as Texas’ chief executive than anyone else, going back to Republic of Texas days.
The path behind him is littered with the (metaphorical) corpses of fools who misunderestimated him. There’s been no lack of funding, and certainly no lack of effort, from those would-be “crushers,” yet they keep ending up as “crushees.”
Beldar (8e755e) — 8/26/2011 @ 4:17 pmthese media yeggs oughta try vetting Barack Hussein Obama and all the BLT/Marxists who shaped his impressionable melon.
ColonelHaiku (8211ab) — 8/26/2011 @ 4:22 pmThe only thing that I would doubt about this is that it was said out loud.
JD (318f81) — 8/26/2011 @ 4:37 pmThe evil of anonymous sources again. I’m extremely skeptical.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (a18ddc) — 8/26/2011 @ 4:48 pmBeldar,
The September 2011 edition of Texas Monthly doesn’t do what you suggest, but it’s similar — Rick Perry, the Great Campaigner:
Perry’s most recent opponents: Jim Hightower, John Sharp, Tony Sanchez, Chris Bell, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Bill White. Note that only subscribers can read the whole article.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 8/26/2011 @ 4:56 pmThere is no politician that hasnt been constantly attacked more than Perry, and he really couldnt care less
EricPWJohnson (4380b4) — 8/26/2011 @ 5:10 pm_______________________________________________
However, I was looking for reasons why a liberal editor might feel comfortable saying something like that to a conservative such as MacKinnon.
It’s possible the editor isn’t an ultra-liberal like his or her boss probably is, or is one of those uncommon leftists who has a bit of integrity and sense of decency.
I try to reverse positions and imagine a conservative editor telling a liberal that “we plan to declare war on Barack Obama and do all in our power to crush him.” Even as a rightist and someone who strongly dislikes the current president, I would feel queasy about a member of the media saying something like that. And that’s in spite of Obama being shadowed by an extremist “goddamn America” background since well before the election of 2008. Or unflattering facts about him that were ripe for investigations by the press.
Mark (411533) — 8/26/2011 @ 5:20 pmHe’s an old schooler (worked for Dole, Reagan, George HW Bush) and MacKinnon does have some ties with the NYT which he apparently saw in the past as being sort of liberally biased– soo…that’s my guess. It may be meant as a shot across the bow, too, to let that editor and publisher know people will be watching. I suspect the Issa attack was just a warm-up for the Republican nominee.
http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/contributor-douglas-mackinnon/
elissa (4904b3) — 8/26/2011 @ 5:38 pmIf the source didn’t want to be quoted by name, I’m sure MacKinnon would respect that preference. That’s just how journalist-types roll.
As for why the editor in question would make the remark at all, he/she probably figures (correctly) it won’t have any impact on this election, or even on anyone’s perceptions of media bias.
Does anyone think this will move the needle at all?
cnh (8e8c48) — 8/26/2011 @ 5:50 pmBelieve you me, the MSM is gearing up the ammo they had been compiling in the case of a Palin run for Perry because unlike either Palin or Bachmann — the other so-called “dominionists” in the race — Perry is running on the history of the Texas economy, which has held up well in the Bush-Obama Great Recession. They know if people vote their pocketbooks the way they did in the G.H.W. Bush recession, Obama’s a ghost, a one-termer, a failure. If that happens, it will be (in their minds) their failure as well. The MSM have already demonstrated once that they will en masse gladly sacrifice their professionalism and objectivity to accomplish getting him into the Oval Office.
With every utterance by Perry, there will be an opposition researcher, an unfriendly reporter, a Harvard grad student/education industry hack trying to catch him saying something exploitable. Remember how George Allen said “macaca” one time, and how it was repeated on a daily basis by the Washington Post, who cited the controversy they manufactured as being the reason why Allen ‘can’t get his message out”?
L.N. Smithee (d7ed67) — 8/26/2011 @ 6:05 pm…says the guy who lives to post the same comments on every Palin piece.
L.N. Smithee (d7ed67) — 8/26/2011 @ 6:08 pmhe’s becoming more and more the white trash candidate every day with his silly pledges I think
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 8/26/2011 @ 6:30 pmThe test for Perry will be how he handles the abuse. Reagan’s gift was that he didn’t back down but he didn’t let it bother him. My favorite line, “There you go again,” says it all.
AZ Bob (1dc34f) — 8/26/2011 @ 6:49 pmFrankly, if Perry shows this ability, he will get the nomination and win.
AZ Bob (1dc34f) — 8/26/2011 @ 6:50 pmBeat Obama in 2012.
AZ Bob (1dc34f) — 8/26/2011 @ 6:51 pmEver heard of push polls Patterico?
I believe this ‘story’ is a variant.
Spartacvs (b94d40) — 8/26/2011 @ 6:57 pmI know a varmint
ColonelHaiku (8211ab) — 8/26/2011 @ 7:00 pmwhen I see one, and spurty
you do qualify
No, we’ve never heard of a “push poll”.
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (985f21) — 8/26/2011 @ 7:00 pmPlease explain how that works.
A GOPer never heard of a pus poll, yeah good one.
Spartacvs (b94d40) — 8/26/2011 @ 7:05 pmYou are kind of an imbecile, spurty. Did you ever apologize for all your lies?
JD (318f81) — 8/26/2011 @ 7:11 pmFIFY, Colonel.
Darth Venomous (c8614a) — 8/26/2011 @ 7:13 pmThey won’t be able to help themselves, even as their professional inner voice counsels caution.
I’ll be watching the early morning ladies: Mika Brizinski, the two on CNN’s American Morning, and Mike Barnicle. One of those four will surely break down on the air before Nov 2012.
East Bay Jay (19f566) — 8/26/2011 @ 8:49 pmActually, she is the least do unionist, of the three, yes that injunction against I’ll will, came in handier than she ever imagined. They cut Perry, a whole lot of slack, for his outburst on QE 2, which apparently caught his staff of guard and made the usual suspects ‘ run for the tall grass’ Meanwhile, do we really think the media will not turn up ; say certain investments by the Texas Enterprise funds , in certain firms like Countrywide and Washington Mutual: then you really are naive .
Ian cormac (6e0a60) — 8/26/2011 @ 9:33 pmWhats a pus poll?
A poll full of pus?
DohBiden (d54602) — 8/26/2011 @ 9:57 pm“Ever heard of push polls Patterico? I believe this ‘story’ is a variant.”
Jack Klompus (07a5ab) — 8/27/2011 @ 12:48 amYou are so obviously a virgin it’s hilarious. Seriously, have you ever had an intimate relationship in your life?
Easy…
Pure hubris.
‘We can do whatever we want – and even tell you about it – and there is nothing you can do about it.’
Such thinking always works out well, btw… Ask any Bond villain.
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/27/2011 @ 1:31 amWhen the media wing of the Democrat Party start getting fined for their in-kind contributions to the Democrat Party, perhaps, they will start to be “objective” though more then likely they will just pay the fine.
JadedByPolitics (91e088) — 8/27/2011 @ 3:43 am#33…thank you, Darth Venomous.
spurt you can kiss the
ColonelHaiku (8211ab) — 8/27/2011 @ 6:48 amfattest part of my white ass
all lefties can too
Jaded your damn right.
DohBiden (d54602) — 8/27/2011 @ 7:07 amWhen the media wing of the Democrat Party start getting fined for their in-kind contributions to the Democrat Party, perhaps, they will start to be “objective” though more then likely they will just pay the fine.
Comment by JadedByPolitics — 8/27/2011 @ 3:43 am
That’s what George Soros and Warren Buffet are for.
AZ Bob (0e8e75) — 8/27/2011 @ 7:39 amSoros perhaps, Buffet doesn’t tend to waste his (or B-H’s) money that way.
Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (3370e1) — 8/27/2011 @ 8:13 amThe irony is that if the quote is a lie, it’s actually fake but accurate.
Dustin (b2fb78) — 8/27/2011 @ 8:36 am