[Vision2020] Postcardgate [The local print media]

Reggie Holmquist reggieholmquist at u.boisestate.edu
Mon Oct 25 14:07:21 PDT 2010


I agree *highly* with the sections labeled "Hoax" and "Poor Kneer."  I, too,
was very disappointed with the traditional media's coverage of
"postcardgate."

-Reggie

On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 1:50 PM, Art Deco <deco at moscow.com> wrote:

>    *Gresham** Bouma:  Media Bias and Failure*
>
>
>
> Conversations with various people including some Republicans find
> substantial agreement that the local print media, *The Daily News* and *The
> Lewiston Morning Tribute*, have not only been lax in their reporting about
> Gresham Bouma, local candidate for state senator, but biased and incomplete
> to the point of irresponsibility.
>
>
>
>
>
> *Hoax?*
>
>
>
> Postcards arrived at selected mailboxes in Latah County inviting the
> recipients in the name of Friends of Bouma using Bouma's campaign postal box
> address to:
>
>
>
> 1.     Join us every Sunday, 11:00 A.M. at the Freeze Church. Two miles
> north of the Potlatch "Y" on Highway 95, turn left on West Freeze Road and
> drive one mile to the Freeze Church and Cemetery.
>
>
>
> Join us on Election Day at the Moscow Nazarene Church for Prayer to strike
> down the blasphemer Obama and his minions Walt Minnick, Shirley Ringo, Dan
> Schmidt, Pat Vaughan and all Democrats.
>
>
>
> and asserting:
>
>
>
> 2.        You are not a TRUE Christian and you are on the path to HELL!
>
>
>
> Voting for Bouma and McGraw is not enough!
>
>
>
> You must reject your blashpemous (sic) Mormon temples and heretic Catholic
> Pope and all other false churches as minions of satan (sic) no different
> from Obama and his unholy mosques.
>
>
>
> You must join us as TRUE Believers or be struck down like Paul Agidius and
> Gary Schroeder and Barrett Schroeder and their Devil Schools.
>
>
>
> Notice that 1. above is an invitation to attend Freeze Church, which Bouma
> attends and occasionally preaches in.
>
>
>
> Notice also that in 2. above, recipients are admonished to take actions
> beyond voting for Bouma and McGraw.  The teachings behind these
> exhortations clearly reflect the thinking of Pastor Lloyd Knerr of the
> Freeze Church as found in sermons and comments on the Freeze Church website:
> www.freezechurch.org.
>
>
>
> Bouma and his campaign manager, Paula Bauer denied that the postcards were
> sent by the Bouma campaign or anyone associated with the campaign, denounced
> the postcards as (among other things) a hoax and a smear tactic.
>
>
>
> The local print media in a kneejerk reaction, without serious reflection,
> and without apparently any, even childlike investigation agreed and called
> the postcards a hoax.
>
>
>
> No evidence has been revealed that I know of from which it could be
> concluded who sent the postcards.  As things officially stand now the
> postcards could have been sent by a Bouma detractor or by any pro-Bouma
> associate.  There certainly are reasons to consider the latter alternative
> (see below).
>
>
>
> Hoax?  It may well be.  If so, what kind of hoax?  The insinuations of the
> statements on the postcards are certainly not without groundings in the
> beliefs the church Bouma attends and preaches in.  Even the reference to
> the Nazarene Church has a historical, factual basis (see below).
>
>
>
> At any rate it is unknown at this time if the postcards were a hoax
> perpetrated by some anti-Bouma person(s) or were a clever campaign ruse
> designed to gain sympathy, and in a back fire lighting attempt make Bouma's
> outré, hate ridden religious beliefs off-limits in political
> discussion/debate.  It was irresponsible journalism for the local print
> media to call and continue call it a hoax before the evidence is in.
>
>
>
>
>
> *Poor, Poor Pastor Knerr; Poor, Poor Candidate Bouma*
>
>
>
> On October 20, 2010, the *Lewiston Morning Tribune* ran an alleged news
> item authored by David Johnson entitled:  "*Pastor: Smear of Bouma is
> 'disgusting'*
>
> *Lloyd Kneer *(sic) *says he's 'brokenhearted' over postcards depicting
> Senate candidate as overzealous Christian*"  (This article was later
> reprinted in the *Daily News*.)
>
>
>
> The misspelling of Knerr's name in the headline is a harbinger of what is
> to come.
>
>
>
> Writing in a greatly sympathetic tone for Knerr, the article tells about
> Knerr's profound lament and disgust over what has occurred and its effects
> on candidate Bouma.  Knerr claims that his and his churches views have
> been greatly twisted and misrepresented by Vera White and participants in
> Vision 2020 and attributed to Bouma.
>
>
>
> It not the purpose here to show how big a liar that Knerr is.  To those
> familiar with the content of some of his sermons, his claim in the article
> that "I'm not much of a political animal" is demonstration enough.
>
>
>
> What makes this article irresponsible journalism, biased enough to be
> called yellow, is that the article does not quote any of the material from
> the church website showing that the claims of Vera White were true and that
> Knerr could be most charitably described as devilishly dissimulating in his
> claims made in the article.
>
>
>
> Journalistic integrity and just the plain quest for accuracy should have
> made the inclusion of the easily available source material from the church
> website claimed by Knerr to be twisted in the articles so that readers could
> decide for themselves who was telling the truth rather than give a "he said,
> she said" report.
>
>
>
> Bouma has gained sympathy and voters because of the postcards.  His
> campaign has used it to raise money.  The yellow journalism exhibited in
> the article full of sympathetic falsities/crocodile tears and lacking
> cogent, easily available facts has unfairly given assistance and solace to
> Bouma's campaign, and is a great disservice to candidate Dan Schmidt and the
> voters.
>
>
>
> I am not surprised that David Johnson wrote what he did knowing his
> propensities from earlier articles about religious figures.  But I am
> greatly disappointed in the *Lewiston Morning Tribune *news editor for not
> editing and not demanding a rewrite of the article, and I am disappointed in
> news editor for running it in the *Daily News* without demanding the same.
>
>
>
> To the extent that the democratic process demands journalistic integrity
> and accuracy, the local print media have clearly let down the electorate in
> this case.
>
>
>
>
>
> *Sneakiness and Postcardgate*
>
>
>
> Though we have yet to be treated to any concrete evidence naming the
> perpetrators of Postcardgate, there are real reasons not to exempt the Bouma
> campaign from close investigation.
>
>
>
> The postcard exhorts its readers to" Join us on Election Day at the Moscow
> Nazarene Church for Prayer."
>
>
>
> In a letter to the editor of the *Daily News*, Reverend Eby of the Moscow
> Nazarene Church has denied that such a prayer session is planned for the
> general election.  I have no doubt this is true given what happened on
> primary election day.
>
>
>
> What the good reverend and the lax local media have neglected to mention
> was that such a prayer session for Bouma was held at the Moscow Nazarene
> Church on the day of the primary election.  However, that session was
> never approved by Reverend Eby.  In fact, the good reverend was
> flimflamed.
>
>
>
> An incensed, long time member of the Moscow Nazarene Church investigated
> this incident and relayed information to a number of very concerned
> citizens.
>
>
>
> In an earlier Vision 2020 posting I said:
>
>
>
> "… Another fact:  Why don't you call the pastor of the Nazarene Church to
> verify that Paula Bauer, Bouma's campaign manager, flummoxed the pastor of
> that church by lying about why she wanted to use a prayer room during the
> day of this year's primary election?  Bauer told the pastor that the
> purpose of the prayer activity was to pray for all candidates.  As it
> turned out, it was used only to pray for Bouma with a possible few sidebars
> for other tea baggers.
>
>
>
> Hence, selfishly and without regard to the interests of the Nazarene Church
> congregation which she fraudulently misused, Bauer and thus Bouma put that
> organization's tax exempt status at risk by conducting a political activity
> centering on a candidate and a particular political position in
> contravention of laws prohibiting such for tax exempt churches.  Lying and
> intentional law breaking -- what a wonderful set of values for a would-be
> state senator, …."
>
>
>
> The dishonesty and especially the it's-good-for-God sneakiness exhibited by
> Bouma and Bauer in the primary election day prayer room caper described
> above casts great doubt upon their claims that they were not the
> perpetrators nor do not know who the perpetrators were of the so-called
> postcard hoax.
>
>
>
> I am very disappointed that the local print media has not chosen to cover
> this very revealing-of-Bouma's-character incident.  It can hardly be
> denied as being newsworthy.  And it can hardly be denied that it is
> important for the voters to know of this for several reasons.  Sneakiness
> and dishonesty are not desirable traits in those who would claim the
> privilege of represent us.
>
>
>
>
>
> *Bouma:  A Law Abiding Citizen?*
>
>
>
> A number of Bouma supporters have claimed that Bouma is a fine, upstanding,
> law abiding citizen.  Is this true?
>
>
>
> A quick perusal of the Idaho Repository reveals the following Bouma
> convictions:
>
>
>
> 10/27/1994        I49-430 Registration-fail Register Annually
>
> 03/13/1998        I49-807(2) Stop Sign-fail To Stop/yield
>
> 03/20/2000        I49-430 Registration-fail Register Annually
>
> 04/11/2001        I49-654(2) Speed-exceed Maximum Speed Limit
>
> 06/30/2003        I36-901 Fish-unlawful
> Method,means,place,time,amt,possess
>
> 12/23/2004        I49-654(2) Speed-exceed Maximum Speed Limit
>
> 03/28/2006        I49-657 Speed-Exceed Work Zone Speed Limit
>
> 06/22/2009        I49-654(2) Speed-exceed Maximum Speed Limit
>
>
>
> I did not check neighboring states for further violations since these
> states charge for searches of criminal records.  (Thank you, Idaho!)
>
>
>
> Different folks have different ideas about what constitutes law abiding.  However,
> for my money 8 (eight) convictions, 5 (five within the last ten years), does
> not qualify someone to be described as law abiding, but rather qualifies
> them to be described as a brigand.
>
>
>
> It troubles me that people would think that someone with such a
> demonstrated contempt of reasonable laws would honestly and correctly
> represent them.  Idaho does not need more politicians of the ilk of Phil
> Hart who shares Bouma's apparent contempt for lawfulness.
>
>
>
> In my opinion this sort of record of contempt for the law also casts great
> doubt upon Bouma's claims that he was not the perpetrator and/nor does not
> know who the perpetrators were of the so-called postcard hoax.
>
>
>
> Again, I am disappointed that the local print media has not shared Bouma's
> not-average conviction record with the voters.  It is probable that such
> information would influence, and rightly so, their votes.
>
>
>
>
>
> *It's Time for Honesty, Courage, and Journalistic Integrity and
> Responsibility*
>
>
>
> Voters ought not be expected to or be forced into a situation where they
> are buying a pig in a poke.  To the extent that a candidate's political
> positions, beliefs, and actions are influenced and or driven by their
> religious beliefs, voters are entitled to know what those beliefs are, how
> strong they are, how they were arrived at, and how exactly these beliefs
> will influence the candidate in the duties and actions of the office they
> are seeking.
>
>
>
> It is the responsibility of the media to find answers to these questions
> for the voters by asking the candidates and then verifying or disconfirming
> their responses from other sources, or in the alternative, report that the
> candidate refuses to answer such, and then seek answers elsewhere.
>
>
>
> With respect to Bouma and this issue, many people are interested in the
> following questions:
>
>
>
> Does candidate Bouma believe the religious claims of his pastor, Lloyd
> Knerr, the pastor of the church in which Bouma himself sometimes preaches?
>
>
>
> Does Bouma hold Mormons and gays in the same kind of hateful contempt as
> Pastor Knerr does?
>
>
>
> Bouma, like all the rest of us, is free to believe in, act upon, and defend
> his religious credo.  His First Amendment rights are not in dispute.
>
>
>
> What is at issue is:
>
>
>
> 1.     What exactly are Bouma's religious beliefs that would affect his
> political positions and actions, how does justify belief in them, and how
> will these beliefs influence his actions, stands, and votes as a state
> senator representing a diverse population of Latah County most of whom, most
> likely, do not agree with these beliefs, and some of whom would find
> themselves Satanized by Bouma?
>
>
>
> 2.     If Bouma is unwilling to answer the above question, then does such
> dishonesty, stealth, and cowardice render him unfit for public office.
>
>
>
> For a number of obvious reasons I personally do want someone who is
> dishonest and cowardly to represent me in the state legislature no matter
> what their views are.
>
>
>
> And wouldn't it be nice if the local media magically decided to report on
> the Nazarene Church incident, Bouma's criminal record, and the questions
> raised just above.  Or is it too much to expect such journalistic
> integrity and responsibility?
>
>
>
>
>
> /s/ Wayne A. Fox
>
>
>
> Wayne A. Fox
>
> 1009 Karen Lane
>
> P.O. Box 9421
>
> Moscow, ID  83843
>
>
>
> (208) 882-7975
>
> waf at moscow.com
>
>
>
> * *
>
> * *
>
>
>
>
>
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