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July 15, 2005

Desperation time at the LA Times (what's new?)

Where's the beef?When a paper has the history of dropping the veil in its hatred of particular individuals, and such behavior (and articles) cause a drop in circulation, one would expect they might think once or twice about repeating that error.

Of course, if you're the LATimes, you'll go to that same poisoned well over and over again.

Patterico deems the LAT the "LA Dog Trainer". And today marks another dedicated effort to manufacturing a "scandal" where none exists in regards to Gov. Schwarzenegger.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dismissed criticism of his $8-million consulting deal with a magazine publisher Thursday, saying through a spokesman that the work takes up little time, poses no ethical conflicts and may even be saving taxpayers money.
The headline of the piece is Governor defends Magazine Deal. Also on the online page is a pic of the Governor with the tag Deflecting criticism. Also in the piece is:
Asked if the governor had any other outside deals, Stutzman said no. "He spends very little time on this," the spokesman said. "It's something he would essentially do in his spare time. These are magazines he's had a relationship with throughout his entire career in bodybuilding and fitness."

Stutzman's unwavering defense of the deal — revealed Wednesday afternoon through a corporate filing with federal regulators — came on a day when some ethics experts, watchdog groups and state legislators sharply criticized Schwarzenegger's moonlighting and demanded that it stop.

Why? Why are "they" demanding that the Gov. stop writing columns for health magazines? There is no LAW against it. Why are the nancies suddenly hysterical?
California law does not explicitly bar governors from holding outside employment. But that may be because legislators never anticipated that anything like that would happen, said Robert Stern of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles.

"Everybody assumes being governor is a 24/7 job and that a person devotes all their time to being governor," said Stern, a former general counsel for the California Fair Political Practices Commission and author of the state's Political Reform Act of 1974.

24/7? Huh? Really? Well that explains a LOT. So, are city council people also 24/7 careerists? Should they be barred from writing and editing? How about Jerry Brown, Mayor of Oakland who blogs? Of course, LAT trolls for the usual outraged comments
Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate) said the governor's arrangement was "outrageous not only in and of itself but in the context of his apologists, his staff, the arguments they present."
You may all recall that Hector, the pro-illegal alien assemblyman, was also livid with the Governor for his comments on the Minuteman Project. No wonder he never answered me. Spending that much time each day being properly OUTRAGED has got to take a lot out of a body.

I just don't see where the Governor spending some free time each month dictating some editorials, doing interviews and editing a fitness magazine is some sort of vapor-inducing scandal.

LAT spends a lot of column inches on a fluffy bun, a pile of lettuce, special spicy sauce, but, what the hell --

Where's the beef?

Posted by Darleen at July 15, 2005 12:45 PM

Comments

The Dallas Morning News is in decline, as well.
Free Sunday papers thrown on your lawn, people pimping for subscriptions in the grocery store, etc.It's bad when two huge cities like Dallas and Fort Worth have one major newspaper apiece and even sadder when they're in a nose-dive and can't seem to figure out why. I'm just not interested in a constant stream of snark posing as news.

Posted by: Sal at July 16, 2005 07:27 AM

You're right, Darlene. The LA Times should, instead, be focusing on that gap-toothed neanderthal pocketing literally twice the PAC money that Gray Davis ever did or slashing the nursing staffs at state hospitals or victimizing the poor like a good Republican or... well, it's not as if they don't have enough ammunition elsewhere in the armory.

Posted by: Yep, another goddamned blog at July 16, 2005 09:30 AM

Actually, I _like_ the idea of legislators having to hold down a "real" job. In theory, it might keep them a little more connected with the real world.

It could result in fewer Ted "Jabba" Kennedys running things without any concept of what their constituents' lives are like.

Oh, and to "Yep"... there's probably not much beef there, either. The Dems (and the media) have been running out of ammo for years. It's tough being the party whose only strategy is saying "No" to whatever the other guys come up with.

Posted by: Strider at July 25, 2005 08:30 AM