Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Herald-Times Columnist Condemns Sodrel For Imaginary Vote

A congressman has a tough enough time defending himself for the votes he actually makes in Congress, but when he gets criticized for a vote that only happened in the imagination of a biased reporter, it's time to scream for "fair and balanced" reporting. That's exactly what Bloomington Herald-Times columnist Mike Leonard did to Rep. Mike Sodrel on October 3 in a column he wrote on the Mark Foley page scandal. Leonard wrote the following about Sodrel:

And when the worst smoking-gun instant messages became public, and Democrat Nancy Pelosi called for an immediate preliminary investigation, as provided for in House rules, Republican Congress members voted against the investigation, effectively delaying the matter until after the November elections . . .

If it was inadequate, Rep. Sodrel, then why did you vote with your fellow Republicans to ignore the request for an immediate investigation? . . .

There's one big problem with Leonard's complaint: there was no vote on Pelosi's call for an investigation. A few days later, the Herald-Times got around to writing this correction:

Rep. Mike Sodrel did not vote against a motion made by Rep. Nancy Pelosi as implied in a Tuesday opinion column. There was no vote taken on the Pelosi initiative. The Herald-Times regrets the errors.

And what really happened on this matter? Not less than 10 hours after Foley resigned from the House, Sodrel voted to refer the matter to the House Committee on Standards and Official Conduct. (Roll Call #514, 9/29/2006). No link is provided to the Herald-Times. The newspaper doesn't allow online access to its website unless you are a subscriber.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

AI, the media does this kind of scew up all the time. At least Sodrel apparently got a correction printed.

But, the more important issue is, as a gay man, whether you think Sodrel is the better man to serve that district or not.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's early, but I don't get it.


I can't stand Sodrel. But it looks like this reporter was fed a line by Hill's people or some other Sodrel hater, and he ran with it without checking facts.

If so, he should be fired.

Wilson46201 said...

The National Republicans are slamming Baron Hill for voting against those gay marriage constitutional amendments. Sodrel voted for them.

Mike Sodrel is no friend of the LGBT community and should be rejected at the polls !

Gary R. Welsh said...

Neither Hill nor Sodrel have any record of support for gays on key issues. Hill has an even longer record, having served in the Indiana House for a number of years, in addition to 6 years in Congress. Hill supports some issues around the edges just enough so he can get some support from the Stonewall Democrats. He does not support a federal, non-discrimination law.

Gary R. Welsh said...

John Hostettler voted against the federal marriage amendment as well. You think Ellsworth will hit him on that vote?

Gary R. Welsh said...

In Hill's 2002 HRC rating, he declined to support federal hate crimes legislation or the federal non-discrimination legislation. He also declined to adopt a non-discrimination policy for his own staff.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm lesser of two evils is Baron.

But what about that Bloomington reporter?

He needs to explain himself or hit the bricks.

Anonymous said...

Lies makes the headlines. Retractions are in fine print on page 9.

Overt bias. Considering this is the same Herald Times that suggested we gut the US Constitution it does not suprise me.

An extereme liberal newspaper is a liberal groupthink town.

Anonymous said...

Hailstone I used to work at the B-ton newspaper...it's not a liberal bastion. And when did they advocate gutting the US Constitution? Really, you've got to stop getting your news from Sean Hannity and CCN.

But, the reporter who was "fed" this line bit. The paper needs to show why he "bit" and apologize.

And he probably needs to look for another job. It's relaly Reporting 101...and he failed.

Anonymous said...

Uh-huh. So what was that article a few weeks ago on the cover of the Sunday H-T that had the revolver and going on about how it's too easy for people to exercise their constitutional rights and perhaps it should be changed?

Sounds to me like a liberal call designed to get the 2nd Amendment repealed.

Anonymous said...

Got some grassny knoll stuff for us, too, Hail?