Vince Avedon – 4/6/08

This page was last updated on April 6, 2008.

Clinton can do the job; Vince Avedon; Beaver County Times; April 6, 2008.

As you read this, remember Mr. Avedon once wrote that a high school student who showed interest in enlisting in the Marines “was probably brought up to be a two-faced traitor to his country.”

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“Conservative newspaper publisher Richard Scaife recently editorialized about his 90-minute meeting of March 18 with U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton.”

[RWC] You can read the full column at this link. FYI, the meeting was on March 25^th, not March 18^th as Mr. Avedon asserted.

I wonder why Mr. Avedon failed to mention Mr. Scaife is the owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review?

This letter is odd. If you’re familiar with Mr. Avedon’s body of work, you’re aware he consistently launches personal attacks against anyone who doesn’t support leftist dogma. Here, however, Mr. Avedon treats Mr. Scaife – definitely on the right – as an authoritative person regarding the Democrat nominee for president. Keep in mind that, according to leftist lore, Mr. Scaife was a central figure in the alleged “vast right-wing conspiracy” of the 1990s.

“Scaife said, ‘Walking into our conference room, not knowing what to expect, took courage and confidence. Her meeting and her remarks during the meeting changed my mind about her. Senator Clinton exhibited an impressive command of many of today’s most pressing domestic and international issues. Her answers were thoughtful, well stated, and often dead-on.’”

[RWC] Neither Mr. Scaife nor Mr. Avedon mentioned Mrs. Clinton has a habit of tailoring her comments to her audience. For example, in front of an anti-war crowd Mrs. Clinton talks about getting out of Iraq immediately without qualification. During at least one debate, however, Mrs. Clinton backed away from making a commitment saying that her actions would depend on circumstances at the time. (Mrs. Clinton’s two other opponents at the time made the same statement.)

“Scaife went on to say that both he and Clinton believe we must pull our troops out of Iraq and that it is time for Iraqis to handle their own destiny.”

[RWC] Mr. Avedon failed to note Mr. Scaife opposed the war from the beginning, unlike Mrs. Clinton. I disagree with the cut-and-run approach.

“Scaife also said they both agree that Hurricane Katrina was not just a national disgrace but an international disaster.”

[RWC] I know I’m nitpicking, but the actual comment was “not just a national disgrace (but) an international embarrassment.” Perhaps “disaster” and “embarrassment” are synonyms in Mr. Avedon’s dictionary or thesaurus.

Actually, I too agree with this comment. Of course, I recognize the primary responsibility falls on the governments of Louisiana and New Orleans.

“He said they disagreed on some unmentioned domestic issues.

“In summarizing his meeting, Scaife said he has a very different position of Clinton ‘and it’s a very favorable one indeed.’”

[RWC] I know I’m nitpicking, again, but the column said “very different impression of Hillary Clinton,” not “position.” Perhaps these two misstatements were intentional and I’m not nitpicking.

“Perhaps letter writer Paul Kahr (‘Clinton can’t handle the job’, Tuesday) can settle his nerves by reviewing Scaife’s opinion.

“No wonder Democratic voter registration is up 6 percent and Republican registration is down 1.5 percent.”

[RWC] Does Mr. Avedon believe Mr. Scaife with his alleged conservative credentials would actually vote for a leftist, especially one whose lifetime Senate voting record has never received an ADA liberal rating of less than 94%?

As I wrote above, this letter is odd. Does Mr. Avedon really believe positive comments from a conservative about a Democrat candidate would help that candidate in a Democrat primary? What’s next, quoting good words about Mrs. Clinton by Rush Limbaugh? If I were the suspicious type, I’d say this letter would be a subtle way for an Obama supporter to help torpedo Mrs. Clinton while appearing to be positive.