An editorial analysis piece in today’s Washington Times blasts The News & Observer for the manner in which it covered Gov. Bev Perdue’s gaffe regarding the suspension of elections:
As shocking as her treasonous plot is, even more disturbing was the sleepy reaction to it by the local media. Instead of alerting the public in a straight news story that the state’s highest elected official wants to cancel elections, a “reporter” from the Raleigh News & Observer immediately began covering for her as if she were just funnin’ around.
“File this in the random-things-politicians-say file,” the reporter spun in a blog post entitled, “Perdue: Hold off a bit on Congressional elections.”
In the first place, she never said anything about “holding off a bit” on congressional elections. She said she wanted to “suspend” them for “two years.”
Note to “reporter”: Congressional elections are held every two years. Suspending them for two years is canceling an entire election — you know, the kind of thing that happens in Third World dictatorships. And when a politician in a democracy announces her support for canceling an election, it is called a “big story.”
And there’s more:
In one apology titled “Perdue didn’t start Revolution,” the Raleigh paper explained how Mrs. Perdue has a history of offering “off-the-wall” ideas such as canceling elections.
Well, gee, how did such a danger to freedom and democracy get elected to public office in the first place? Oh, that’s right, the watchdogs are dead. Or, more accurately, sleeping in Beverly Perdue’s lap.
Ouch.
