J.D. Prose – 12/26/10

This page was last updated on January 3, 2011.

What a year … for felony convictions; J.D. Prose; Beaver County Times; December 26, 2010.

As you read this opinion column, keep in mind Mr. Prose wears at least one other hat for the Times. In addition to being an entertainer/pundit, Mr. Prose is a part-time 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? Does he have a “Chinese wall” in his head to keep his opinions from bleeding into his reporting? (You may recall NPR claimed it fired Juan Williams for doing exactly what Mr. Prose does.) If it can get worse than that, Mr. Prose has made name-calling and personal attacks a foundation of his columns. If pushed, I’d be willing to bet Mr. Prose would try to excuse his writing by claiming he’s paid to be controversial and stir debate. The problem is, you don’t need to get into name-calling and personal attacks to accomplish those goals.

You can find the archive of my Prose column critiques here.

Much of what is in this “column” is another exercise in name-calling so forgive me for not highlighting every occurrence.

Below is a detailed critique of a portion of this column.

“Gov.-in-Waiting Tom Corbett pandered to the Teapublicans by joining the wasteful lawsuit against health-care reform, then subpoenaed Twitter for information on two anonymous critics. The subpoena died, as did Corbett’s chances of appearing remotely moderate.”

[RWC] Regarding “the wasteful lawsuit against” Obamacare (It’s not “health-care reform.”), Mr. Prose failed to note U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson ruled the central portion of Obamacare – the individual mandate - is unconstitutional. Judge Hudson wrote, “The unchecked expansion of congressional power to the limits suggested by the Minimum Essential Coverage Provision would invite unbridled exercise of federal police powers. At its core, this dispute is not simply about regulating the business of insurance – or crafting a scheme of universal health insurance coverage – it’s about an individual’s right to choose to participate. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution confers upon Congress only discrete enumerated governmental powers. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. [The previous sentence is the 10th Amendment.] On careful review, this Court must conclude that Section 1501 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – specifically the Minimum Essential Coverage Provision – exceeds the constitutional boundaries of congressional power.” Then again, other judges ruled Obamacare is constitutional. In any case, the U.S. Supreme Court will make the final call.

Who wants Mr. Corbett to “appear remotely moderate?” Remember, “moderate” is leftyspeak for RINOs and leftists. Previous Times op-ed pieces described representatives/senators with Americans for Democratic Action Liberal Quotients in excess of 90% to be moderate.

“Teabaggers, birthers, Lunatic Fringers, all of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Toomey, Gov. Hockey Mom, and Right-Wing Nutjobs out there who are doing their best to systematically make this country stupid, mean and cruel. Please go away.”

[RWC] “stupid, mean and cruel?” Does Mr. Prose read his own columns? I guess Mr. Prose doesn’t consider his name-calling and personal attacks to be “stupid, mean and cruel.” More do as I say, not as I do.