Key Question: Just two days after publishing an accurately critical quote by Republican Senator Jeff Wentworth about Republican Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, why did the Statesman publish an entire fluff piece on Dewhurst on the front page of its paper that not only ignored the original story, but was co-written by Dewhurst himself?
Is this what a wink and a nod between failed elected officials and yellow newspaper editors looks like in the 21st century? Here's what happened:- Monday, June 29: The Statesman reports that Republican Senator Jeff Wentworth says that the Senate is "not going to put up with" Dewhurst trampling the will of the Senate for his own partisan favors for Governor Rick Perry any longer.
- Wednesday, July 1: David Dewhurst co-writes 1/3 of a front page story for the Austin American-Statesman, where he is the only one quoted and the original Monday story is completely ignored
And I'm not joking about Dewhurst writing 1/3 of the front page story. Mike Ward's love letter to David Dewhurst that appeared on the front page of the Austin American-Statesman on Wednesday July 1 was disgusting. The report story profile promotional flyer -- titled, "Dewhurst: Senate could conclude business in two days" -- was written largely by the Republican official that was the subject of the story.Don't believe me? Let's look at some facts: - 804 words are in the story, total
- 270 words are direct quotes of David Dewhurst
- 0 words are quotes from anyone other than Dewhurst
- 0 words challenge anything Dewhurst says
Dewhurst claims the session was a huge success -- and there is not a single word to challenge that. Not one. Really, Statesman? No one who works for the Statesman thought that it might be responsible journalism to follow up with Dewhurst about the fact that a leading Republican State Senator from Central Texas, -- the area the Statesman covers -- declared, "We're not going to put up with this any longer" about Dewhurst? Dewhurst was the sole subject of the entire article -- and you couldn't ask him one question about the remarks you'd reported only two days before? Really? Am I, as a reader of your publication, supposed to somehow forget this other piece of news you published, titled: ‘We’re not going to put up with this any longer,’ Wentworth says [Republican State Senator Jeff Wentworth] added, “We’re not going to put up with this any longer. There are a number of senators that I’ve already spoken to that agree with me. It only takes 16 senators to adopt rules.”Wentworth said Dewhurst told him that Gov. Rick Perry talked to him 20 times about stopping the legislation. And he said former Sen. Ken Armbrister, who works for Perry, “cajoled and threatened” six senators into opposing the measure, giving Dewhurst the cover he needed to not bring up the bill. (Asked about all this, Dewhurst spokesman Rich Parsons said only that the bill did not have the votes necessary to be called up). Wentworth said there is an unwritten understanding between senators and the lieutenant governor that if 21 senators are willing to debate a bill, Dewhurst will recognize the appropriate senator to bring it up. “The lieutenant governor should not abuse that power that we give him,” Wentworth said. “He should not have given his word to Perry that he would kill that bill.” Pretty heavy accusations from one of Central Texas' State Senators. But was there any follow-up about that in the front page story on Wednesday? Nope. Instead, David Dewhurst got an 804-word direct mail piece sent to the door of thousands upon thousands of Texans, bought and paid for by the Austin American-Statesman. And it's not like Senator Wentworth's critiques of Dewhurst were without company. A few weeks before, Harvey Kronberg -- owner of Quorum Report and writing a piece of political commentary for News 8 Austin -- took Dewhurst to task: His denials notwithstanding, most in the Capitol now believe that Dewhurst conspired with Sen. Tommy Williams to trick the other senators on the first day of the session. Williams surprised his colleagues by proposing a new rule mandating the Senate take up voter ID, a bill that Democrats otherwise had the votes to block. The Williams play ultimately led to a session-killing filibuster in the House, by a handful of Democrats. But if Dewhurst was blindsided by Williams as he said, why did he reward him with one of the most important chairmanships at his disposal – Senate Administration? Perhaps it was because of his upcoming wedding in June and the preparations were distracting. But Dewhurst's erraticism, lack of concentration and inability to keep a schedule were the talk of almost every senator. He was rarely in the chair. By most reports, he was inconsistent and dismissive in his dealings with Speaker Joe Straus.
Rick Casey of the Houston Chronicle had noted some of Dewhursts' failures, as well, in a piece that ran at the end of session correctly identifying Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst as failing a test of character in playing his part in letting CHIP legislation die: Dewhurst told reporters Wednesday afternoon that he was “looking for a vehicle” for CHIP expansion, he received some help.
- 804 words are in the story, total
- 270 words are direct quotes of David Dewhurst
- 0 words are quotes from anyone other than Dewhurst
- 0 words challenge anything Dewhurst says
Oh, and by the way -- this just puts the icing on the cake. Statesman writer Mike Ward, following the fluff piece that ran Wednesday morning, followed it up with not one, but two blog posts about Dewhurst's wedding the previous weekend. Even Ward, thinking it was cute and recognizing his fan-boy obsession with Dewhurst, closes his final love letter to The Dew with the following: You asked Statesman.com for more details. We asked Dewhurst. “What are you, TMZ?” quipped a staffer standing nearby.
Don't flatter yourself, Mike. TMZ would be a welcome change of professionalism.
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