J. D. Prose – 9/12/09

This page was last updated on September 15, 2009.

You lie: Far Right’s coup de (dis)grace; J. D. Prose; Beaver County Times; September 12, 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?

The column is another of Mr. Prose’s rants so I decided to comment on only three points.

“Somewhere in the last eight months, the idea of reasonable political opposition went off the rails.” That’s right. Oh wait, wasn’t it 2005 when Congressional Democrats booed and heckled then-President Bush during his State of the Union address? I’m sure that was an exception. Oh wait, again in 2005 during a civics discussion, then-Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told a gathering of high school students, “I think this guy is a loser” in reference to Mr. Bush. Another exception I’m sure. Oh wait, in 2004 Mr. Reid said “President Bush is a liar. He betrayed Nevada and he betrayed the country.” Over the last few days I’ve also seen videos of Democrats on the floor of the House and or Senate referring to then-President Bush as a liar. The videos also showed all these folks got was a reminder from the presiding representative or senator that calling the President a liar violated the rules of Congress. Boy, wasn’t political opposition “reasonable” before this year? Perhaps “eight months” was a typo and Mr. Prose meant “eight years,” though even that would be wishful thinking.

Regarding signs “comparing Obama to Adolf Hitler,” that’s objectionable but I believe you’ll find those are from Lyndon LaRouche, part of Mr. Obama’s lefty opposition that wants Mr. Obama to be true to his historical positions and campaign promises. A search of Mr. Prose’s columns found he didn’t object when lefties constantly referred to then-President Bush as the socialist Hitler.

Regarding the comment “U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-Big Mouth,” in his column [“Political Prose: We’re back!” (There’s no link because the Times changed its website since then and the column is no longer accessible there.)] of Aug 10th, Mr. Prose admonished former State Rep. (and convicted felon) Frank LaGrotta (D-Ellwood City), “We did notice one thing, Fearless Frank. House Minority Leader Sam Smith is ‘R-Please Pay Attention to Me?’ Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is ‘D-Had-to-Quit?’ Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is ‘R-How’d-My-Dumb-Brother-Get-to-be-President-Before-Me? We’ve seen that shtick done elsewhere ... and better. Should someone be ‘D-Copycat’ from now on?” Perhaps Mr. Prose should read his column follow his own advice.