Congratulations to Bill White and The Morning Call for Bill having written on something different. The paper celebrated Bill's new topic, the first in fifteen years, by placing his column on the front page with a different color background. White said it was exhausting, and is looking forward to a prolonged vocation, during which time repeats of rehashed columns will appear. His new theme, Traitors, deals with local representatives who voted for the redistricting. Never mind the vote was 136 to 61, and their votes didn't matter anyway. Bill promises us that he will revisit this topic every election, and for us captured readers, that's a good thing; It will force him to know at least who is running for office.
Dec 23, 2011
Christmas Lights, Musikfest Food and Traitors
Congratulations to Bill White and The Morning Call for Bill having written on something different. The paper celebrated Bill's new topic, the first in fifteen years, by placing his column on the front page with a different color background. White said it was exhausting, and is looking forward to a prolonged vocation, during which time repeats of rehashed columns will appear. His new theme, Traitors, deals with local representatives who voted for the redistricting. Never mind the vote was 136 to 61, and their votes didn't matter anyway. Bill promises us that he will revisit this topic every election, and for us captured readers, that's a good thing; It will force him to know at least who is running for office.
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Care to discuss your opinion on the particular vote? Do you agree with the redistricting and those who voted for it?
ReplyDeleteDidn't see your opinion on the topic at hand; just you slamming Bill White.
dear anonymous, redistricting is mandated, and always susceptible to accusations and realities of gerrymandering. much like the electoral college vs. popular vote, our systems are not perfect. i have not studied the particulars of this years redistricting, but probably neither has bill white. i have read white's columns for many years, and his heavy use of repetitive themes is the topic of this post.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly seems odd to me that you attack a journalist for his repetitive (yet popular) themes, yet defend (by not "studying the particulars") a plan that would clearly benefit the Republican party.
ReplyDeleteBut I know this isn't a partisan blog, right?
What a joke...keep crying about the arena. It suits you better.
actually, i don't favor the redistricting plan(s) for either congress or the state house. however. white's article doesn't even make that much sense. the internet version has a picture of reichley, who becomes a judge come january. if white had a series of columns, outlining the different proposals as they were made, i would be more inclined to think he really gives a damn. likewise, you're just using this topic to bash me. goodbye.
ReplyDeleteTaking White seriously! Food around the Festival and he's telling us about government! Ha
ReplyDeleteI remember when the front page of the newspaper had actual news, not just the silly opinions of some guy who likes to chronicle at length what food he eats at a local carnival.
ReplyDeleteGRINCH
this post, although taking a swipe at bill white, is meant to be taken light heartedly. bill doesn't write in a vacuum. his longevity indicates that his column pleases both the public and his employer.
ReplyDeletewhy does redistricting occur?
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteWhat would have been different if the Democrats controlled this process? Answer; they would have drawn boundaries that favored them. Would there be such hoopla then?
The press, media and Democrats need to stop acting like anything unseemly or unusual happened here. There is nothing new under the sun.
Scott Armstrong
I might point out that The Morning Call's bottom-line might beg to argue with the part about the public being enthused about Bill White's political opinions.
ReplyDelete:)
GRINCH
anon 7:43, from my limited understanding, redistricting is intended to reflect population shifts, determined by the census taking. gerrymandering is the process of the political parties attempting to make the redistricting to their advantage.
ReplyDeleteMM -
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem that White and others crying about redistricting seem to have is that the entire Valley (Allentown, Bethlehem & Easton) won't be represented by one Congressman.
I'm still trying to understand what grievous wrong will occur now that the Valley will be served by two Congressional representatives. It would seem to me that Valley residents now have twice the chance of getting a vote that they'll agree with. How is that a bad thing?
Maybe the real horror for some is that lazy reporters might have to get quotes from two Congressment to drop into their boilerplate articles on national issues.
Let me start by saying I disagree with the redistricting, which is actually an incumbent protection program. But the fault for that lies with us, and the media who has a responsibility to cover these issues before they become a fait accompli.
ReplyDeleteThere were three public hearings on the redistricting plan May 12 (Philadelphia), June 9 (Butler County), and June 14 (Harrisburg). A total of 22 people (combined) spoke at the three public hearings. The final hearing, in the state's capitol, lasted a scant 32 minutes.
Where was Bill White then? Writing about American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, eating his way through Musikfest and writing a column her and there about the Iron Pigs or the Phillies.
Where were we then? Watching American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, eating our way through Musikfest and going to the Iron Pigs or the Phillies.
Now that it is too late, Bill now wants us to rid the General Assembly of Republicans who are doing what Republicans do, just as Democrats would be doing if they were the party in power. But when this story was coming out, ALL of us - myself included - were otherwise engaged.
The time to have taken action was several years ago, when redistricting reform was possible. But instead of covering what we need to know, the media all to often spoon feeds us what they think we want to know. And we are lazy, when you come right down to it.
So the fault lies not in our redistricting, but in us, for not payng attention, and in the fifth estate, which increasingly is letting us down.
bernie, i think you meant to write the fourth estate, which usually refers to the press. i have taken to call the blogs the fifth estate, which can take the press to task, even if our audience is much smaller.
ReplyDeleteWill Bill White post the names on refrigerator magnats of the Allentown councilmen who voted to NOT allow local 'workers' to bid on city contracts unless they were governed by union thugs?
ReplyDeleteToday, the Morning Call is re-running this column of BW's that already appeared on the front page ...
ReplyDelete... oh how fortunate for any who many have missed it!
:)