[Vision2020] Postcardgate [The local print media]

[Joe Campbell]

I was going to get off the V but after reading this, I'm sticking around! Who can we call to get the police to broaden their investigation? This is the most plausible explanation of the postcard yet.

And can someone send me a copy of the letter to the editor in today's DN that Sue referred to? I tried to renew my subscription weeks ago but they still haven't delivered it yet. Maybe I've been banned. Not that I blame them.


On 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
>  
>  
>  
>  
> 
>  
> =======================================================
> List services made available by First Step Internet, 
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
>               http://www.fsr.net                       
>          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20101025/691126cf/attachment-0001.html