J. D. Prose – 1/17/09

This page was last updated on January 18, 2009.

Transplant this Bush back to Texas; J. D. Prose; Beaver County Times; January 17, 2009.

As you read this opinion column, keep in mind Mr. Prose wears at least one other hat for the Times. Mr. Prose is also a reporter covering political stories. Ask yourself this. When a pundit gives his political opinions in one part of the paper, can he be trusted to report politics objectively elsewhere in the paper? After all, would a person whose opinion is 1+1 equals 3 report 1+1 really equals 2?

Rather than subject you to the whole column, I’ll focus on the section dealing with President Bush and VP Cheney.

The portion of the “column” dealing with Messrs. Bush and Cheney is nothing more than 279 words of name-calling, personal attacks, and unsupported allegations. The piece is a nonstop list of assertions with no attempt to back up any of them with facts and sources. I believe I’ve refuted all of Mr. Prose’s allegations in my critiques of editorials and letters to the editor over the past 4+ years, so I’ll save you (and myself) the time of repeating the effort.

Contrast the Bush/Cheney section of the piece with the “Twisted sister” section. In an attempt to defend himself and the signer of his paycheck against the allegations of letter writer Robyn Petrella-Tsudis, Mr. Prose actually presented facts (I don’t know if they’re correct.) to support his defense. Unfortunately, Mr. Prose also engaged in his typical name-calling, et cetera.

If Mr. Prose could present facts to defend himself and his employer against the allegations of a sister upset about the perceived treatment of her brother, why didn’t he do the same regarding his Bush/Cheney assertions? This isn’t just about the treatment of Messrs. Bush and Cheney; this is SOP for most of Mr. Prose’s targets regardless of where they are on the political spectrum.

It’s a shame Mr. Prose feels he needs to go down the well-traveled road of people like Lynn Cullen, Jim Quinn, and so on.