Hat Tip To Burnt Orange Report
No, don’t do a double take, that title isn’t a mistake. I know you are at a loss right now, but let me explain.
One thing that you should know about Sam and I is that we feel you as our reader have an equal stake in this site along with us. After all, if it weren’t for you, we’d just be talking to ourselves. And on that note, your thoughts do matter, so please do not blink at sending them our way. I can’t promise that Sam or I will always agree with you, but I can promise that we will always give you due consideration.
The other day I received some tough love from my friend Jezebel (whom I have never met, but she seems cool) who thought that I was being childish when it came to how I handled my disagreements with Burnt Orange Report, arguably the most popular leftist blog in Texas. Having slept on it, I think she (Jez, I assume you are a she) may have been on to something. So I’m going to do things a little different with this, my latest commentary on BOR’s material.
First and foremost, legit hat tip to them for getting their perspective of the David Beckwith story on KVUE news. It kills a part of me to say this, but job well done.
But now that we have that out of the way, I would be remiss to not mention that there are some aspects to their perspective of the David Beckwith story that I will have to respectfully disagree with. And we were so close to full on bonding.
Mr. Mauro had some interesting questions to ask of David Beckwith yesterday, some that I would agree are legit concerns. For example, if Mr. Beckwith ever did use a state computer, any other state resource, or allow his comment posting to prevent him from putting in his agreed upon time each week with the taxpayers, then I agree with Mr. Mauro in that such behavior does require justification.
But here is where I take issue with what Mr. Mauro implies with his post. First, he asserts that Mr. Beckwith’s multiple posts in favor of Senator Cornyn without making it common knowledge that he has a vested interest in the Senator’s success is unethical. Perhaps, but I will submit to you that I find it no more unethical than the site for which Mr. Mauro writes for aggressively raising money for a political action committee without making it common knowledge that they were taking in advertising revenue from that same PAC.
Of course, neither Beckwith or BOR’s act are against the law, but if we are going to talk about full disclosure of vested interests here (which BOR likes to promote) then I think we should put all the cards on the table.
Lastly, whether he intended to or not, with the following comment Mr. Mauro seems to imply that it was also inappropriate for Mr. Beckwith to post comments in favor of Senator Cornyn while on the Senator’s “campaign time”:
Just a quick glance at the more than 80 comments that Beckwith wrote shows us that over 20 of them were during work hours (and we’re being generous, giving him 9 to 5, while everyone knows that people in senate offices and campaigns routinely work longer hours).
I would argue that while on the Senator’s campaign clock it was Mr. Beckwith’s job to respond to attacks on his boss and favorable coverage of their opponent. As BOR knows (in fact, as BOR has helped to create) blogs are a fast growing portion of the internet media, which is far out-pacing that of our more traditional forms of media. To overlook internet media would be an unwise choice for any candidate to make, at least in my opinion. I am sure this is why Mr. Beckwith put such a great emphasis on making sure the Senator’s perspective was represented on BOR, just as any campaign consultant would strive to achieve on our more traditional media outlets.
If I were reporting unfavorably on a Democrat candidate’s campaign for office, I would expect their camp to respond, which is why I think that we can agree that Mr. Beckwith’s responses on BOR were completely appropriate (if not necessary) activities to undertake while on paid campaign time.
That said, there is no excuse that comes to mind for him to post under a fake name that he deserved a raise and a promotion. That was just flat out stupid, and kind of funny also if you think about it.
So there you have it, the new and improved Jake Hatlin. I can’t say that my temper with BOR will never again flair up, but at least for today I was able to remain civil. How did I do, Jez? Any better?