J.D. Prose – 2/2/13

This page was last updated on February 4, 2013.

Corbett’s trying, but the hits keep coming; J.D. Prose; Beaver County Times; February 2, 2013.

According to his Twitter page, Mr. Prose is a self-described “Surly progressive.” As you read this opinion column and his Twitter “tweets,” keep in mind Mr. Prose wears at least one other hat for the BCT. 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.

Below is a critique of portions of this column.

“It seems Rothfus has opened his county office in downtown Beaver, 250 Insurance St., Suite 203, (724) 359-1626, instead of moving into former Democratic U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire’s digs on McLean Street in Aliquippa.”

[RWC] In the interest of disclosure, my maternal grandparents lived in Aliquippa (Main Street in Plan 12) for 40 years, my mother lived there (Main & McLean Streets and Franklin Avenue) for 34 years, my father lived there (McLean Street and Franklin Avenue) for 14 years, and I lived on McLean Street until I was six years old. Translation: According to leftist guidelines, I can say whatever I want about my former neighborhood without challenge/criticism and, unless he lived there, Mr. Prose has no standing to say anything.

“Oh, the symbolism! Leaving shot-and-a-beer Aliquippa for shot-of-French-vanilla-in-my-latte Beaver might not play well with some, but, hey, Keith’s sharing the spoils of victory with his GOP base.”

[RWC] Aliquippa hasn’t been “shot-and-a-beer Aliquippa” for a long time.

“We’d also note that Aliquippa’s a whole lot more, um, racially diverse than Beaver, but that would be pointing out the painfully obvious and possibly making people uncomfortable, wouldn’t it? Now, now. We’re not attributing motives, we’re just saying appearances send a message whether it’s accurate or not.”

[RWC] Since Mr. Prose wants readers to think he’s concerned about “racial diversity,” let’s look at what he didn’t mention. Mr. Prose failed to note Mr. Altmire’s former office was in Plan 12 – Sheffield, among the whitest neighborhoods and just barely in Aliquippa. The office building is less than two blocks from Brodhead Road, the border between Aliquippa and Hopewell Township at that point. Even I could hit a golf ball into Hopewell from Mr. Altmire’s former office. According to the 2010 census, the Hopewell population is 94.6% white.

According to his columns, Mr. Prose lives in Moon Township where, according to the 2010 census, the population is 89.8% white. And what’s the location of Mr. Prose’s employer? “Oh, the symbolism!”

“Unfair? Let’s ask a Democratic Insider who has toiled in district offices about the move. ‘PR-wise, it’s a disaster.’ Well, then.

“DI said Rothfus will soon learn that the constituents visiting the office aren’t ‘a bunch of rich guys asking for tax breaks,’ but ‘the poorest of the poor’ seeking help. ‘He’s going to find out.’ (We’ll go with ominous trombone here.)”

[RWC] Gee, Mr. Prose’s imaginary friend (Harvey?) agrees with him and thinks the move to Beaver is “a disaster.” Who would have guessed? If Rep. Rothfus had decided to use Mr. Altmire’s old office, does anyone doubt Mr. Prose and his imaginary friend would have found a reason to call the decision “a disaster?” If the party affiliations were reversed, does anyone doubt Mr. Prose and his imaginary friend would have deemed the location change a shrewd move designed to help “the poorest of the poor?”

Why on Earth would “the poorest of the poor” look to government for help?