Thursday, February 16, 2012

Local Media Takes Potshot at Legislator Serving in War Zone

Last night, WSOC-TV aired a piece that went after Charlotte area legislators who have missed votes.  See the clip here.

Some legislators undoubtedly deserved the uncomfortable spotlight, but pointing out that South Charlotte legislator (and US NC-09 candidate) Ric Killian has missed a number of votes without providing more detail as to why is a classic example of a media hit piece that biases the story by leaving out some important details.

So, as Paul Harvey used to say..."and now, for the rest of the story."

One has to wonder, but not very hard, if this type of slack reporting would have accompanied a politician who was not someone receiving an A rating from the conservative group, Civitas Action - someone who in the fall of 2009 received its #2 ranking for conservative effectiveness.
Rep Killian may have in fact missed several votes. What was left out were the reasons why.

After returning from a tour of duty in Iraq in 2010, Rep Killian underwent a hip replacement operation in May of the 2011 session missing several votes during the recovery period.  However, this allowed him time to recover before being deployed again - this time to Afghanistan- in the fall of 2011.  He should be returning next month.

Adding insult to injury, some of the votes missed are only being taken due to the record (and ridiculous) number of vetoes cast by Governor Perdue.  The Republican caucus could have named a temporary replacement for Rep Killian due to his deployment and made any overrides easier. However, they chose not to out of a spirit of fairness and to not take advantage of a Democratic fellow legislator who suffered a car accident and has also been unable to vote.  

That of course has not gotten much press. You're shocked, I'm sure.

5 comments:

  1. The MSM is working for the Socialist Party. Does Killian support the RED LINE?

    ReplyDelete
  2. While I'm not a fan of throwing around the word "Socialist", I do think support for the Red Line is a question everyone should ask of all candidates at the local level, State and Federal levels.

    The project will ultimately receive funding from all three with Federal dollars likely paying for operating costs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rick, you won't see any funding coming from Iredell County. The Red Line is DOA up here, died at the southern county line, just below Lowe's.....
      Troy Reed

      Delete
  3. Ric was active in trying to not fund more light rail boondoggles. He gets major props for that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am going to be working for Killian. This race will more than likely conclude with a two candidate runoff election. Killian and former Democratic (and GOPer this week, at least- just kidding) Sheriff Jim P.

    ReplyDelete