Fort Worth Star-Telegram endorses *, irate readers fire back!

[scarletwoman]

This past Sunday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorial page ran their bush* endorsement. I have been unable to find it online, but what I DID find was a great batch of LTTEs from upset readers calling the editorial board to task. Great reading!

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/local2/9957394.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Some samples:

I was flabbergasted by your Sunday editorial recommending the re-election of "the old George W. Bush." What a cop-out!

We have to live with the very real consequences of the incompetent government of the real George W. Bush -- a war, a huge deficit, secrecy and half-truths.

What on earth would make you think that Bush would propose a "clean policy for fiscal restraint coupled with compassion"? Everything he's done in the past four years reveals the shallowness of those convictions voiced oh-so-earnestly -- and hypocritically -- four years ago.

Judith Soriano, Fort Worth

•

You hope for a reincarnation of the "Bush we sent to Washington in the first place." That person no longer exists, and what has taken his place is frighteningly incompetent to lead this country any longer.

Jimmie N. Rushing, Irving

•

A posthumous endorsement of Calvin Coolidge would have been far more logical.

Bill Youngblood, North Richland Hills

•

What are we to make of an endorsement that devotes most of its space to the litany of failures, bad policy and outright deception that's the hallmark of the current administration?

And what are we to make of an argument that isn't damnation with faint praise, but rather faint praise with strong damnation? Just what are we to make of the conclusion that because Bush promised us something very different four years ago, he deserves our vote again today?

It would appear that you're trying to fool not only your readers but yourselves as well. Shame on you.

Biff Joslin, Benbrook

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There's more -- go to the link!

sw

(edited to correct the name of newspaper)

[Catt03]

1. Where there any FOR Bush

OMG

There really are patriots in Texas (other than those on DU I mean)

[scarletwoman]

7. Well, this particular page has ONLY anti-* letters.

The Star-Telegram isn't a news site that I normally frequent, so I don't know what their letters page looks like from day to day. I got the heads up for this batch of letters from one of the comments posted on Kevin Drum's blog at the Washington Monthly.

sw

[TexasChick]

2. I'm glad to see that Texans like me, on DU & readers of the Star Telegram

aren't stupid enough to endorse these fascist, criminal, imperialistic Nazis!

I think the Chimp will be surprised to see this year that Texas will be a dark shade of purple! Kerry probably won't get the electoral vote, but not everyone, even in Texas, are voting for the smirk!!!


Jennifer

[Doohickie]

3. Pardon me, but

...it is the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Dallas has no part in the name of our local, schizophrenic newspaper. They basically endorsed Bush then listed all the stuff he's done wrong. Must have been an interesting discussion in the editorial board room.

[fudge stripe cookays]

4. Yep, Paul's right.

Two cities, although close in proximity.

We in Dallas have the kitty box liner the Dallas Morning News to thank for our biased news.

FSC

[Doohickie]

8. As we like to say west of the county line,

"Life's too short to live in Dallas!"

;-)

[scarletwoman]

6. Oops! Sorry! I'll edit right away...

My bad :spank:

[Rose Siding]

5. I don't even see why anyone with access to TX data...

insurance, poverty or education standings would even want whoever they thought W was 4 yrs ago.

stats from a white paper: Texas on the Brink: How Texas Ranks Among the 50 States-
http://www.shapleigh.org/BrinkWeb.pdf

1. Education:
o Texas is 45th among the 50 states in high school completion rate.
o Texas is 47th among the 50 states in SAT scores.
o Texas is 30th among the 50 states in average teacher salaries.

2. Health Care:
o Texas is 1st among the 50 states in percentage of population without health insurance.
o Texas is 44th among the 50 states in percentage of poor covered by Medicaid.
o Texas is 40th among the 50 states in physicians per capita.
o Texas is 45th among the 50 states in number of women receiving prenatal care.

3. Children:
o Texas is 1st among the 50 states in percentage of uninsured children.
o Texas is 50th among the 50 states in percentage of fully immunized two-year olds.
o Texas is 9th among the 50 states in percentage of population under age 18
who are living in poverty.

4. Welfare and Workforce:
o Texas is 6th among the 50 states in poverty rate.
o Texas is 1st among the 50 states in percentage of population that goes hungry.
o Texas is 44th among the 50 states in hourly average earnings.

5. Environment:
o Texas is 1st among the 50 states in the amount of toxic emissions from manufacturing facilities.
o Texas is 1st among the 50 states in number of clean water permit violations.
o Texas is 1st among the 50 states in number of environmental civil rights complaints.
o Texas is 2nd among the 50 states in the amount of ozone pollution exposure.
o Texas is 49th among the 50 states in park spending and acreage.

6. Democracy (political involvement):
o Texas is 46th among the 50 states in percentage of eligible voters that are registered.
o Texas is 47th among the 50 states in percentage of eligible voters who go to the polls.

[Reciprocity]

9. Thanks so much for posting this list. It explains allot.

You can see a direct correlation between the environment and health here in Texas.

[hatrack]

10. I had begun to wonder where Molly Ivins' Texas had gone

And I'm downright delighted to see that it's alive and kicking, though certainly not in the Star-Telegram's boardroom.

The Indianapolis paper did almost the same thing, going on at great length about Bush's many failures, and then endorsing him with the caveat the he needed to "reach out" to the Democrats and "be more bipartisan".

Yes, sure, good idea! Maybe after that he can learn to levitate and acquire the power to toast English muffins between his butt cheeks, too.

[ladybugg33]

11. Just cancel subscriptions and move on!!

Folks, we must hit the opposition where it hurts...in their pocketbooks.
If Bush wins this election, Dems should not buy a damn thing at Christman time. Let the merchants and corporations feel the pinch. How much more can the US workforce be hurt anyway? Boycott, boycott, boycott!!

[MrTriumph]

12. More about the so-called endorsement"

First of all, the editorial board has been critical of the rush to war, the faulty reasons, the budget recklessness.

Instead of endorsing JK, the board endorsed the "old" (pre-2001)Geo. W. Bush.

The endorsement included scarcely a kind word for GWB. It concluded with the fantasy that once free of election concerns, GWB would 1) become a budget hawk and 2)fire his lousy advisers.

Very unusual to say the least!

Sadly, the FWST has, like many newspapers, become increasingly a mouthpiece for local rich people & big corporations wishing to fleece the public through tax abatements, TIFs, etc. The loss of the integrity of local news outlets is a subject deserving of attention.

[txindy]

13. The posthumous endorsement of Calvin Coolidge line was hysterical!

Hey, I'm in Texas, too. I feel their pain. An endorsement of the Maytag Repairman would make more sense than one for B*sh, as far as I'm concerned. That paper probably expects (as I do) that when Junior loses, he'll soon abandon the Crawford spread and take up residence again in Dallas (or Houston). They're probably trying to make nice-nice with him, just in case. :freak: They need to tell the truth and make some sense. Like that'll happen. :eyes: