Say Anything Blog

I’m going to throw a long ball here and challenge the North Dakota media to do their job and practice real journalism.  No, I don’t mean tell us about a NDSU Bison player who found himself in the Coach’s doghouse or some scrub who found himself getting pulled over for a DUII.  I’m talking about real journalism that involves North Dakota.  When is the Grand Forks Herald, Fargo Forum, and anyone else with a computer going to tell this state about the financial dealings of one Earl Pomeroy?

Let me give you the quick recap:

1.  Earl Pomeroy received money from Fannie Mae (opensecrets.org).
2.  Earl Pomeroy received money from Freddie Mac (opensecrets.org).
3.  Earl Pomeroy received money from AIG (opensecrets.org).
4.  Earl Pomeroy invests in AIG (opensecrets.org).
5.  Earl Pomeroy votes to bail out AIG (websites around the world).
6.  Earl Pomeroy was Insurance Commish of North Dakota (easy to find).
7.  Earl Pomeroy receives hundreds of thousands of dollars from insurance companies (opensecrets.org).

Do any of the above seem odd to you?  They seem odd to me.  I can pick up my paper and find out that the Lutheran Church in Crookston received an new paint job or Marion Gaborik of the Minnesota Wild is asking for a new contract.  Hey, I have nothing against these stories, but the papers do say Grand Forks and Fargo on them.  Where is the story?  Where is the journalism?  If average folks can find this information with a little patience, why can’t the newspapers?  Why are they protecting Earl Pomeroy?  Don’t the masses deserve to know what their representation in Congress is up to?  Don’t all of us deserve to know how many out of state contributors there are supporting Earl Pomeroy?  What kind of deals are being cut to get this money?  Do any of these out of state entities influence Pomeroy?  Is it right for a Congressman tasked to overlook Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ignore the warning signs, take money from them, and then bail them out?  Is it right for a Congressman to take money from AIG, invest in AIG, and then bail it out?  Does this bail out rely on the tax payers?  What about the pork he brings home; who is paying for that? 

The questions are endless.  The Grand Forks Herald has a reputation of being in the tank for the anti Fighting Sioux logo crowd and every liberal politician under the sun.  There will be consequences from its subscribers if they don’t start balancing things out.  Oh they will probably say the endorse John Hoeven so they can appear to be even handed, but John Hoeven is hardly a Republican’s Republican.  Will they ever support a conservative?  Do your job and tell us about Pomeroy!  I’m not a journalist, I just pretend to be one on my blog.  I can’t reach the readers you can.  Do your job and report!  Don’t wait until after the election, do it now.  You would have no problem reporting something bad about Sarah Palin, but heaven forbid you actually report the facts on Pomeroy.  I am begging you, do your job!  Show the world that journalism isn’t dead!  If you don’t, the Internet age will make you extinct.  That would be a real shame.

On to a sad note for my readers.  I read where a popular North Dakota meat company went out of business today.  One of the reasons was that they couldn’t compete due to shipping costs.  Gas prices are just to high for these little companies.  People like Earl Pomeroy will not vote for cheap gas.  In fact he’s voted against America pursuing its own oil six times in the last two years.  The results?  Great little companies are going kaput.  Earl?  No worries.  While your bank account and 401K goes up in smoke, Earl is still raking in the money and bailing out his greedy friends.  Would he bail us out if we lost in the casino?  Yeah, right.  Nope, we don’t give him hundreds of thousands of dollars.  We aren’t out of state insurance companies.  We don’t have the initials AIG!  The only thing I hear coming out of Earl’s mouth these days is “Radicals”, “Clown”, “...the Bush Amdinistration did it...”, blah, blah, blah.  Excuses and that’s about it.  Your Congress didn’t act Earl.  Your friend Barney Frank dropped the ball.  The fact we trust you and Charles “I don’t pay my taxes” Rangel to watch over the broken (again you and your friends laziness helped this along) Social Security should send chills down all of our necks.  You vote more in line with your boss and friend Nancy Pelosi and her welfare kingdom by the bay San Francisco than with the good people of North Dakota.  People, throw away your party hat and join me in handing Mr. Pomeroy his pink slip.  This guy is out of control.  When the going gets tough, Earl calls people names.  When the going gets real tough, Earl bails out his greedy friends.  When the going demands truth and justice, the North Dakota media vanishes!
Grand Forks Herald and Fargo Forum the choice is yours.  You can make a name for yourself as entities that practice real and honest journalism or you can go down in the dust heap like so many other newspapers that have chosen partisan loyalty over the story.
I implore you to take the challenge.  I have faith in you, but it’s going fast. 

I’m including a comical picture of Earl Pomeroy and his friends.  The lectern has a sign mentioning “saving for retirement security”.  Well Earl, you’re OK, you have your friends to do the ol’ “I’ll scratch your back and you scratch mine routine”, but we don’t.  Save for retirement?  The way you and your pals in the picture handles the economy it’ll be a miracle if any of us can retire before we hit 90.  The fact you and that same crew handles Social Security makes retirement an unreal and cruel joke.  The only one missing from this shot is your friend Barney Frank.  The media needs to do its job.  This Congress and this Congressman are out of control.