Today the Inquirer editorial board endorsed Senator Barack Obama, sort of. For reasons that remain unclear, the editorial board saw fit to issue a dissenting opinion, as if it were the Supreme Court. What the Inquirer editorial board is supposed to be is the conscience of a newspaper — in this case, a newspaper that is struggling to maintain relevance in a city that is overwhelmingly pro-Obama. On the day that lifelong Republican Colin Powell put country over party, reached across the aisle and endorsed the Democratic candidate for president, the Inquirer couldn’t even throw a bone to the dogs in its own back yard. Newspaper editorial boards are supposed to lead. Colin Powell — and all the other newspapers around the country that actually took a stand and endorsed one candidate or the other — showed leadership while the Inquirer showed appeasement. Appease who, you ask? Well, judging by the odd, penultimate passage of the McCain endorsement we can only surmise that publisher Brian Tierney was appeased:
And McCain didn’t hire as a strategist David Axelrod, who helped lead Mayor John Street’s race-baiting reelection campaign.
After all, it was Tierney who went head-to-head against David Axelrod as Sam Katz’s campaign strategist in the 2003. And it could only be Tierney who would suggest it as a reason to vote for John McCain in 2008. Which would be fine if it was included with the Inquirer’s Obama endorsement package as a Letter From The Publisher and signed by Tierney. But to hide behind the robes of the editorial board seems disingenuous, if not altogether dissembling and weasel-like. Not to mention the Obama endorsement reads like it was written by a writer while the McCain endorsement reads like it was written by a campaign manager. Notice how Ayers gets robocalled in near the end of a litany of the very same cheap shots and sleazy innuendo General Powell batted down today.
Ask people to describe McCain and the first response often is, “He’s honest.”1 What you see is what you get. There are no mysterious associations to dance around.2 No 20-year attendance of a church whose pastor preached anti-American sermons.3 No serving on an education reform panel with a domestic terrorist.4 No financial support from a convicted felon.5 No ties to a group currently under investigation for possible voter-registration fraud.6
To be clear, this is just speculation at this point. In the interest of clarity and transparency, we will be putting the following
questions to Harold Jackson, editor of the editorial page: Who on the editorial board voted to endorse Obama, and who voted to endorse McCain? Who wrote the McCain endorsement? Was there in fact a split decision or was the dissenting endorsement an edict from on high? Stay tuned…
1. Objection, your Honor, that is just hearsay, there is no study or poll cited, please strike from the record
2. Hello? Vicki Iseman? Raffaello Follieri? Charles Keating?
3. Two Words: John Hagee, he of the infamous ‘God sent Hitler to kill the Jews’ declaration
4. G. Gordon Liddy much?
5. Again, Charles Keating
6. Exhibit A & B : Young Political Majors & Nathan Sproul
[PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Tierney photo by BILL CRAMER]
JOHN MCCAIN: Defends Hiring The Same Robocall Firm That Slimed Him In 2000
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TALKING POINTS MEMO: In his ringing endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, Colin Powell took particular issue with attacks on Obama based on rumors that he is a secret Muslim. Noting that Obama is in fact a lifelong Christian, Powell said further that it shouldn’t matter even if Obama really were a Muslim. Powell then went on to describe a picture from a New Yorker photo essay showing a grieving mother resting her head on the gravestone of her son, a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq and buried at Arlington National Cemetery. MORE
