Bogus Gold

How stupid does a writer have to be these days to take money from a politician to say nice things about him?

The answer: Chieppo stupid. As in Charles D. Chieppo, Boston Herald columnist (ahem... former Boston Herald columnist) and paid lackey of Massachussetts Governor Mitt Romney.

I read this story on Michelle Malkin's site last evening, and The Moderate Voice this morning. They both have slightly different takes on it, but both are worth hearing.

From Michelle Malkin:

"The issue, as I understand it, is disclosure," [Chieppo] said. "I have fully disclosed everything to everyone involved."

Disclosure is not the only issue. Perception matters, too. Do we really need another paid partisan hack to confirm what the liberal MSM already unfairly assumes of all conservatives in the media--that we're all on the payroll of the Republican Party and incapable of independent journalism?

This didn't bother me quite so personally until I joined Gary's effort at Kennedy v. The Machine. People accuse us of being secretly on the take fairly regularly (some can't fathom that three Republicans who like blogging might blog about their candidate of preference). This sort of stupidity gives those empty accusations more credence than they deserve. So thanks for nothing, esteemed columnist. I ought to kick you in the Chieppo. But I'm a gentleman.

Next, from Joe Gandelman at The Moderate Voice:

Can you notice — readers on the right and left — how a precedent once established becomes the norm?

This was a big scandal when it came out that the Bush administration was giving a columnist a nice, unpublicized side income to talk about how terrific the administration's education policies were. Then came the news that here in California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration was putting out one-sided state p.r. pieces misleadingly looking like news stories. Now we get this in Massachusetts.

The bottom line is that citizens throughout the country are letting the lines become blurred between news and propaganda. And we know that there are some on the left and right who will flippantly say: "News is propaganda!" Then, there are GRADATIONS of propaganda. Years ago Americans would look down their noses at this kind of thing when Communist countries did it and go "tsk, tsk — see how they try to brainwash their people?"

Anyone who writes about politics and wants to be taken seriously should be concerned over this. It's not about objectivity. Bloggers, myself included, are fiercely opinionated. It's about basic honesty. Can a reader trust that what you write is what you really believe? Or is it just like listening to some jock plug his favorite aftershave in a television commercial?

And for the love of Pete, would Republican politicos stop doing this?! It doesn't help you, it hurts. Because when it comes out - and in this case there doesn't even seem to have been an effort to disguise it - it just looks sleazy. I for one have no desire to defend the Romney administration's behavior here. If you think it stinks and decide you won't support Romney either as governor, nor as a prospective 2008 presidential candidate, I can't blame you.