Since when are we in Albany?

Keeping to my policy of putting any extended e-mail exchange on my blog so it reaches a wider audience, I share this one from this evening. It begins with my receipt of this:

Mr. Warthen,
I would like to know whyThe State has not ran anything as far as I know, regarding NY Governor Elliott Spitzer’s decision to demand that illegal immigrants be issued NY drivers licenses? I  have noticed that The State ran several articles about a variety of other issues in NY but seemed to have chosen to ignore a major story in which the governor is suing defiant DMV employees who have refused to issue the licenses and they in turn are suing him for alledgedly breaking federal law and a possible recall could even be in the works.I for one believe that since his decision could directly impact not only NY residents but the entire nation since the illegals could obtain a "valid" license in NY and exchange it for a "valid" SC license. It also has the potential for massive voter fraud since it is connected with "motor voter" states which I do believe SC is one. It is also important because a potential Presidential candidate and Senator from NY , Hillary Clinton, has been conspicuously quiet on this matter and the public should be made aware of her stance on this very important issue.
Remember, "homeland security?" (LOL) Well, what about it Mr. Warthen?

I responded as follows:

Well, first of all, you’re asking the wrong guy. I have zero, zip, nada to do with what appears in The State‘s news pages.

Second, in spite of that, I’ll venture a guess as to why precious news hole wouldn’t be devoted to this: This Spitzer guy is the governor of New York, and we’re in South Carolina. I appreciate your effort to draw a line of relevance to S.C., but compared to all the stuff that affects S.C. directly that it would be good to have more news on, it seems thin.

Third, since like all such inquiries, this is no doubt one of those ridiculous "you’re suppressing news in accordance with your political views on the matter" things, I should tell you that personally, I don’t have an opinion on the matter. I say that despite having thought about it a great deal back when I was a member of the S.C. Hispanic Leadership Council. I can see the advantage of having a way to keep track of an "underground" portion of our population, but I can also see the disadvantages of issuing such licenses. One thing I DID decide: Anybody who quickly arrives at a clear preference on this issue is somebody who isn’t thinking.

Fourth, there’s no way on Earth I or anyone else could suppress news of this. I just started working out again the last couple of days, which means I’ve been exposed to Cable TV down in our gym (I don’t have it at home). Both nights, I heard some doofus named Lou Dobbs who would not shut up about this. To him, it seemed to be the only thing worth talking about in the known universe. I say "doofus" because he had an uncanny ability to respond to anything anybody else said in a way that lowered the intellectual tenor of the discussion another notch or two. His main mode of communication seemed to be the repetition of childishly unimaginative insults and name-calling, mostly aimed at Spitzer for being a spoiled rich boy or some such. Even for TV, it was remarkable.

Finally, as I do with all such extended responses, I’m going to post this one on my blog. If you’d like to respond, please do so there.

4 thoughts on “Since when are we in Albany?”

  1. Brad Warthen

    More from our gentle reader, Dwight Arrington (who seems to have some aversion to commenting on the blog, and keeps sending me e-mails):

        Well, Brad I knew you were going to try to spin this. Your paper had no problem with reporting a story about New York attempting to put calorie counts on fast food menus. Wow, is that not an earth shattering piece of news! In fact it was your "editors pick."
    Yes ,the "mainstream" news media IS suppressing news every day and Lou Dobbs is most assuredly NOT  one who is doing it no matter how much I loathe CNN as a media outlet  Maybe, you would like to compare resumes with Mr. Dobbs. Read below:

      Dobbs has won nearly every major award for television journalism. He received the George Foster Peabody Award for his coverage of the 1987 stock market crash. In 1990, he was given the Luminary Award by the Business Journalism Review for his "visionary work, which changed the landscape of business journalism in the 1980s." In 1999, he received the Horatio Alger Association Award for Distinguished Americans and Dobbs was named "Father of the Year" by the National Father’s Day Committee in 1993.

    He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in economics. Dobbs serves on the boards of the Society of Professional Journalists Foundation, the Horatio Alger Association, the National Space Foundation and SPACE Holdings, Inc., in which he owns a minority stake, as he does in Integrity Bank. He is also a member of the Planetary Society, the Overseas Press Club, the American Economic Association and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

    Still think he is a "doofus?" If so, may the news media be inundated with more of them!

    Lastly, maybe you need to get of the office more often and take trips to far away places like Saluda County where they are inundated with Hispanics and I dare say that more than a few are illegals and illegals are the ones that Spitzer and others of like mind are pandering to while they are asking Americans to cough up billions for "homeland security" and more money for health insurance for "the children." Also, please don’t tell me that you don’t have an opinion on this issue when you just expressed it to me.  Remember, you just stated that you were not interested. Disinterest is an opinion Mr. Warthen.

    My last point, you said Dobbs "lowered the intellectual tenor." Well, maybe that is exactly what we need- a little more common sense and a lot less "intellectual" BS!

    Truth be told, I don’t so much think of him as a "doofus;" the word that initially came to mind was "idiot," and I changed it because I figure I trash the TV cowboys enough, and I thought I’d be a little kinder and gentler.

    Anyway, this was my response to our correspondent:

    "Spin" it? You’re joking, right?

    And as a reply regarding Mr. Dobbs, I refer you to any footage you can find of him talking about this issue. (Amazingly, this clip I found on YouTube is actually one of the two I recently saw live while working out.) It’s on the level of a third-grader, whenever I’ve heard it.

    I’ll post this on the blog. As I’ve tried to make clear, I want to have exchanges about issues there, not via e-mail.

  3. Dwight Arrington

    Well Mr. Warthen, if Mr. Dobb’s response was on the level of a third-grader, what description would you use assign the governors actions – maybe that of Al Capone?

    (Posted for Mr. Arrington by Brad.)

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