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Metcalfe is now the official state embarrassment; J.D. Prose; Beaver County Times; June 29, 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.
“It’s not often you see the perfect mix of stupidity and hate on display as we did Wednesday on the floor of our own esteemed state House. To nobody’s surprise, though, Cranberry Township’s village idiot, GOP state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, was proudly at the center of it.”
[RWC] I guess Mr. Prose doesn’t read his own articles and forgot “Friend of the Column” and “good buddy” State Rep. Jesse White (D-46). It’s interesting to see the contrast of how Mr. Prose treated Messrs. Metcalfe and White. You may have noticed Mr. White escaped the name-calling Mr. Prose unleashed on Mr. Metcalfe.
As you read on, you’ll find Mr. Prose has his usual problems with the facts.
“OK. OK. That was unfair ... to village idiots.
“In case you’re unaware, openly gay Democratic state Rep. Brian Sims, Philadelphia, tried Wednesday to speak on the House floor about the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings on gay marriage only to have Metcalfe and another GOPer stop him.”
[RWC] The first use of “gay” means homosexual and the second means “same-sex.” I mention this because folks like Mr. Prose don’t seem able to keep straight (no pun intended) their redefinitions of “gay.” For the record, I don’t care about Mr. Sims’ sexual orientation.
“How? Well, apparently, there’s something called ‘unanimous consent’ where just one legislator can withhold permission — anonymously — to let another speak. A courageous rule there.”
[RWC] Once again Mr. Prose misrepresented a story. According to Philadelphia Weekly (PW), “At the end of the session, representatives can ask to be recognized to speak under unanimous consent of the House, in which legislators can speak of uncontroversial issues. Often, representatives will wish each other happy birthday or speak of something important that happened to them recently. Sims had called yesterday’s DOMA and Proposition 8 decisions ‘possibly the biggest news in LGBT civil rights in my lifetime’—so, that qualified as something of note for him. And not just as an openly-gay man, but a civil rights lawyer.” Regardless of where you stand on redefining marriage (aka same-sex “marriage”), I think most of us know the issue is anything but “uncontroversial.”
It’s fair to say Mr. Sims instigated the blowup – perhaps intentionally – and some House Republicans took the bait. Regardless of the rule, though, the Republicans who took the bait were wrong. Despite my aversion to name-calling, they were also stupid. As far as I’m concerned, the more a leftist speaks and writes, the easier it is to defeat him and his ideology.
For his part, Mr. Sims is every bit as “classy” as Mr. Prose. According to an AP story, Mr. Sims said “[Mr. Metcalfe] is a guy who hates women, he hates gay [I think he meant homosexual.] people, he hates minorities and he hates immigrants.”
“So if it’s anonymous, how do we know about Metcalfe? Because Daryl never met a microphone, camera or notepad he didn’t like if it helps solidify his virulent right-wing street cred with the neo-con media and voters back home.”
[RWC] Mr. Prose got it wrong yet again. According to the PW story, on the House floor “Metcalfe yelled out, ‘If you need a name, use my name.’” The “microphone, camera or notepad” came AFTER.
As for “virulent,” just about everything non-leftist is “virulent” to a “Surly progressive” like Mr. Prose.
FYI, a “neo-con” is a former full-blown leftist who now tends to be somewhere between the left of the right and the right of the left. “Neo-cons” are not “far right” by any stretch of the imagination unless you’re a “Surly progressive,” like Mr. Prose. I’m not a Metcalfe expert but I didn’t find anything to indicate he was ever a leftist. I suspect Mr. Prose used “neo-con” because he thinks it sounds sinister.
“Metcalfe told WHYY-FM radio station that Sims’ comments would have been ‘open rebellion against God’s law.’
“He then told The Associated Press that, ‘For me to allow him to say things that I believe are open rebellion against God are for me to participate in his open rebellion.’
“So, Metcalfe has appointed himself the arbiter of not only House remarks, but God’s enforcer, too. Heavy is the empty head that wears the crown, Daryl.”
[RWC] As I noted above, I believe the more you let a lefty speak the better.
You have to appreciate the chutzpah. You may recall lefties make themselves “arbiters” of speech by defining anything they don’t like to hear/read as “hate speech.” Lefties also routinely shout down – and occasionally physically attack – speakers they don’t like and they considerate it to be free speech. Ann Coulter (a conservative pundit) and Jim Gilchrist (founder of the Minuteman Project) are examples. Another version is making such a stink in advance the speaker cancels. Ann Coulter (University of Ottawa and Fordham), Ben Carson, MD (Johns Hopkins), and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (NAACP here and here) are examples. In fairness, Bill Ayers (a leftist bomber) has had some speeches cancelled, but then he is an unrepentant “co-founder of Weather Underground, a radical anti-war group that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, including explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol that didn’t kill anyone.” Members of Mr. Ayers’ crew accidentally killed themselves while building a bomb to set off at Fort Dix, NJ. Mr. Ayers’ wife, Bernardine Dohrn, was also a member of the Weather Underground.
In a recent development, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) wants the feds to be “the arbiter” of who is a journalist and who is not. That would effectively end the freedom of the press promised by the First Amendment. I wonder how Mr. Prose will weigh in.
“Sims’ comments would have been ‘ultimately offensive to the majority of my constituents, and myself,’ Metcalfe said. Guess what, Daryl? There’s no law against being offended.”
[RWC] Oops, Mr. Prose could be in deep doo-doo with his fellow travelers. As noted above, one of the left’s primary tactics is to feign offense at anything lefties don’t like and label it “hate speech.” Actually, there are laws “against being offended.” Why do you think we have laws banning smoking on private property? I am not a smoker and never have been.
“The rest of us are all too aware of that because your warped, sick brand of theocratic bigotry and its role in our state government offends us everyday [sic].”
[RWC] He rails against Mr. Metcalfe for being “God’s enforcer,” then Mr. Prose believes he speaks for “the rest of us.” Do you think Mr. Prose recognizes the hypocrisy?
“SUPREME ARROGANCE
“Speaking of the Supreme Court, the day before it paved the way for gay marriage it savaged the Voting Rights Act paving the way for Southern GOP-controlled states with a history of Jim Crow laws to go right on disenfranchising millions of voters.”
[RWC] In case you missed it, Mr. Prose just tried to blame Jim Crow laws on Republicans. Jim Crow laws were enacted by Democrats after they regained local and state power after Reconstruction. In many cases, these laws endured into the 1960s.
Please read “Lefty race baiters,” “Democrats – The party of civil rights – not,” and “Republicans – Civil Rights.”
“Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the law’s restrictions were ‘based on 40-year-old facts having no logical relationship to the present day.’
“Hmmm. We went on the Common Ground Project’s annual civil rights bus tour of the South organized by our friend/Geneva College professor Todd Allen and the civil rights veterans we met were pretty adamant that those pesky old facts were still relevant.”
[RWC] Mr. Prose sure has nerve to write about “pesky old facts.” Throughout, Mr. Prose omits “the pesky old fact” the perpetrators he describes were his ideological ancestors, Democrats. Who writes the history books used in Maryland schools?
“We didn’t meet him, but Georgia Democratic U.S. Rep. John Lewis was at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement. Literally. He led marchers in Selma when they were viciously attacked by police. Think he has something relevant to say about Roberts & Co.?
“‘These men never stood in unmovable lines. They were never denied the right to participate in the democratic process,’ Lewis tweeted. ‘They were never beaten, jailed, run off their farms or fired from their jobs. No one they knew died simply trying to register to vote.’”
[RWC] Of course these guys don’t like the ruling. After all, the 1960s were their glory days and they’re worried about becoming irrelevant. They want people to think we’re still living in the 1960s and racist Democrats still run things in the South.
As for being “viciously attacked by police,” Mr. Prose failed to note it was Democrats who manned the fire hoses, set dogs on protestors, and used the National Guard to enforce school segregation. It was Republican President Eisenhower who sent the U.S. Army to enforce the kids’ constitutional rights.
“Let’s all remember those words when the GOP is passing Voter ID laws, gerrymandering maps to dilute the minority vote and restricting voter registration efforts. ‘No logical relationship’ indeed.”
[RWC] President Obama is all for voter ID, in Kenya. Why not in the U.S.?
As for “gerrymandering maps to dilute the minority vote and restricting voter registration efforts,” it appears to be projection on Mr. Prose’s part. Mr. Prose also didn’t mention the gerrymandering done to contrive majority-minority districts.
If you know lefty tactics and were paying close attention, you know what Mr. Prose omitted from his rant. Justice Clarence Thomas joined in the majority opinion and wrote a separate concurring opinion. Just an honest oversight, I’m sure. (Note: I can’t wait to read Lonzie Cox’s inevitable letter-to-the-editor on this topic.)
“SEEN & HUGGED
“Erin McClelland, 12th Congressional District Democratic candidate, became the first congressional candidate to ever give us a hug when we ran into her Tuesday at the the Heritage Valley Beaver nurses rally at the courthouse.”
[RWC] Did Mr. Prose attend as a pundit or as a rally participant?
“Don’t get any funny ideas, GOP U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus. A handshake will do.”
[RWC] If he will accept “a hug” from a female politician but not a male, this sounds like homophobic behavior – or at least bigotry – on the part of Mr. Prose.
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