Readers, please post your comments below in reaction to the UT San Diego’s story about “Bring Down DeMaio-Gate” or our Storify post of the resulting Twitter discussion.
Reader comments on “Investigate DeMaio” story
Readers, please post your comments below in reaction to the UT San Diego’s story about “Bring Down DeMaio-Gate” or our Storify post of the resulting Twitter discussion.
Comments 11
That political operatives say one thing and do the other is hardly a revelation. And that former journalists turn into political operatives is hardly unprecedented (David Axelrod is one example). Moreover, there is nothing inherently wrong with opposition research, as long as it’s factual and not misleading.
But Caitlin Rother’s role was wrong, because it was inherently deceptive. While putatively still an impartial journalist, Rother was privately a paid opposition researcher. She hid the latter role from the public to preserve the appearance of impartiality.
I suspect Rother will have a hard time living down her slur of those busy or “lazy reporters” who didn’t take the bait. The next time Rother tries to shop around a hit piece, it would be interesting to hear their reaction.
On a related note, the $19K Rother got was trivial. Someone selling their journalistic soul should get a lot more. If only she had gone to the Koch Brothers …
Disappointed in Caitlin Rother’s role in this crap. Shepard and Braun are known bozos, but Caitlin stooped to a new low, an unheard-of low, with her involvement. Fred Maas, on the other hand, is, was, and will always be an ASS!
She made $23,000 for one media placement in a 37,000 circulation outlet? I gotta change up my business model.
Afraid of a Background Search? Hey kids, Politics is a Blood Sport. I am a retired badge, with 30 years of investigative work. During those 30 years I have slammed all too many a felon into our CDC system.
In 1984, took the the Californian State exam for Private Investigator. I loved the Rockford files. The PI logo was a real chick magnate.
Following retirement (conflict issues), I took up opp research as a sport. All political backgrounding was always Pro Bono. I don’t need the money, it is my avocation.
Dusty Foggo, Wade Sanders, Newt Gingrich, Craig Robinson. The beat goes on. Donna Fry, Dick Murphy, and other local small fry. When you get dirty in politics, you will be exposed. I free lance and have no tolerance for violating the public trust.
As usual, Michael Erl doesn’t get it — the man is at least consistent.
“Dirty research” is indeed common, but what made this slimy effort stand out is that they used political dollars but didn’t report it as mandated by the law — pretending that it was a journalistic effort without political purpose — using ex-journos to mask the scam.
The effort was partially funded by a labor union and not reported. Michael Erl (a retired career cop now on the dole — he paid a pittance for his pension) is fine with that. To him, unions should not have to report their spending on candidates and props. And no fine should be levied after they get caught.
Sickening mentality, but S.O.P. for the left. The height of hypocrisy.
Author
Voice notes the Rostra compilation of the Twitter reaction in the Morning Report…
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/morning-report/article_408ede3e-94cd-11e2-a2ed-001a4bcf887a.html
Richard,
You hit the nail on the head. We should have instant on-line reporting of all political contributions.
Where you you missed the boat (at least half of it) is when you refer to this case as SOP for the left. You would have been a little more intellectually honest if you called this SOP for all of politics. In fact, since Citizen’s United, I would argue that it is the right that has taken the art of hiding large political contributions to a new level.
Citizens United makes it all a free-for-all when it comes to this sort of stuff. Back in my day (which really wasn’t that long ago but is fun to say), only state and local level party orgs, and labor unions, had enough cover on their soft dollars to be able to run these sorts of operations. They usually found their way onto disclosure forms as general consulting or member comm fees. With CU having extended those soft money privileges to other types of orgs, this is going to become much more common. In short, this is all the same BS, just with a little dispute and/or confusion over some changed reporting rules.
But on a bright note, those Twitter comments were ripe with hilarity for anyone who knows the inside baseball game.
Author
D Morton..
We agree on the hilarity of the Twitter discussion, at least to insiders. Thanks to Greg for putting it together.
FlashReport picks Nathan Fletcher as “Idiot of the Week” as a result…
http://www.flashreport.org/blog/2013/03/26/the-flashreport-idiot-of-the-week-award-and-the-winner-is/
This is indeed an impressive “honor” for Nathan. FlashReport’s “Idiot of the Week” is a HIGHLY competitive (though perhaps not highly sought after) award.