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One man’s ‘reform’ is another man’s humiliation; J.D. Prose; Beaver County Times; June 23, 2013.
In the print edition, this column appeared in the op-ed section labeled “ON THE LEFT.” Given Mr. Prose’s body of work and the BCT’s left-leaning positions, did the BCT really think readers didn’t know he’s a “Surly progressive?”
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.
“We’re going to cover some stuff today that got put on the shelf in our absence and tackle more recent news, like the U.S. House voting down the ridiculous farm bill that slashed spending on food stamps by $20 BILLION.
“GOP Rep. Keith Rothfus voted against the GOP-backed bill on agriculture and food stamp spending, but maybe not for the same reasons we would have. Randy Shannon of the Progressive Democrats of America, 12th Congressional District chapter, tracked the bill and said Rothfus was one of 58 Teapublicans who backed amendments that would have implemented wonderful reforms such as drug testing for food stamp recipients, yet he still voted against it. Probably, Shannon suggested, because it didn’t go far enough.”
[RWC] The BCT appears to have an unhealthy relationship with Beaver County Reds (aka “Progressive Democrats of America, 12th Congressional District chapter”). BCT pieces routinely mention South Heights’ Bob Schmetzer yet his position as VP of BCR escapes mention. Examples include “Corbett’s re-election chances on orange alert!” and “Questions abound on Seitel seismic testing.” I suspect this piece’s mention of Mr. Shannon’s association (He’s treasurer and his wife is chairman.) with BCR was a boo-boo.
I wonder who initiated contact, Mr. Prose or Mr. Shannon.
“What did Rothfus say? Well, he said the bill had ‘good reforms,’ but given the $17 trillion national debt, ‘it did not go far enough to control spending and reform these programs.’
“Hmmm. Sounds like Shannon’s getting to know Keith really well.”
[RWC] Mr. Shannon doesn’t need to know Mr. Rothfus at all. Those of you familiar with Mr. Shannon know it would be difficult to be left of him on any issue. In a 2005 speech in front of the Beaver County Courthouse, Mr. Shannon claimed the U.S. is too democratic. Mr. Shannon was (is?) a member of the Communist Party USA along with his wife, and another BCR fellow traveler, Carl Davidson, was a leader of the now-defunct Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist). Heck, Mr. Shannon once wrote a letter to the BCT entitled “The Times is a tool of the GOP” and likely views Mr. Prose – a self-described “surly progressive” – to be a right-winger.
Here’s the bottom line Messrs. Prose, Rothfus, and Shannon failed to mention. The Tenth Amendment states, “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 U.S. Constitution gives the feds no role to play regarding farming or food stamps. Therefore, any federal involvement in farming is unconstitutional. Please, don’t tell me about the Constitution’s Commerce Clause [Article I, Section 8 (Powers of Congress), clause three]. This provision states, “[The Congress shall have Power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.” Article I, Section 9 (Limits on Congress), clauses five and six state, respectively, “No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State” and “No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.” I think it’s fairly obvious the intent of these provisions is to keep the states from getting into interstate trade wars, not to insinuate the federal government into every aspect of commerce. The sole intent of federal involvement in agriculture is to increase federal power at the expense of the states and the people.
“POTPOURRI
“l The right-wing Heritage Action group gave Rothfus an 85 percent conservative score for his votes so far, but that was only good enough for second-place in the state’s House delegation.
“PoliticsPa.com said the top conservative dog was U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, York County, with a 92 percent score. C’mon, Keith, step it up. Perry’s making you look like a raging liberal!”
[RWC] It’s not all bad news for Mr. Prose. Americans for Democratic Action named reps. Bob Brady [D-1 (portions of Philadelphia and its suburbs)] and Mike Doyle [D-14 (Pittsburgh and portions of its suburbs)] “ADA Heroes” because of their 100% 2012 ADA voting records.
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