A Distinction Without A Difference

By Kleinheider Posted on July 15, 2008 at 10:38 am

Rob Huddleston on the reporting of a public record:

A.C. at Post Politics won’t reveal his source. As a former MSM journalist, I can respect that normally. Here though, it seems silly. A.C. is protecting a source who gave him information about a public document that anyone can access. Sorry, but is that really a source of great information? Perhaps someone will reveal to me that it’s only 48 days until it’s Football Time in Tennessee - should I anonymously let y’all in on that piece of public knowledge? If there is a reason that A.C. is protecting his source for their actions this time around, then it’s journalistic integrity. If A.C. is keeping their name out of the press for some future information that might not be a public record, that’s opportunism. There is a genuine distinction.

SEE ALSO: Silence

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Tags: black people, Human Rights Commission, Leave Robin Smith Alone!, Robin Smith, TNGOP  

Pigs That Don’t Fly Straight

By Kleinheider Posted on at 8:12 am

Andy Sher shares this report on the fallout which followed the release of a letter from the TNGOP’s Chairwoman to Governor Phil Bredesen regarding her service on Tennessee’s Human Rights Commission.

The TNGOP maintains that the release was a part of a coordinated smear effort. At issue is the inference by Post Politics that the letter could be seen as an effort by Smith to remain on the Human Rights Board:

In an interview Monday, Mrs. Smith and her communications director, Mr. Hobbs, said part of her charge about a “smear” was based on the suggestion she was trying to bargain for reappointment.

“You know what?” Mrs. Smith said. “I’m not going to get in the mud with the pigs because the pigs will enjoy it and I’ll get muddy, too.”

PREVIOUSLY:
The release
The reaction
A comedic performance
An accusation
An admission

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Tags: Bill Hobbs, hosser, Leave Robin Smith Alone!, public records, Robin Smith, smearbund, Tennessee Human Rights COmmision, TNGOP  

TNDP Made Public Records Request Of Smith Letter

By Kleinheider Posted on July 14, 2008 at 3:05 pm

From the word processor of Tom Humphrey:

NASHVILLE - The state Democratic Party has acknowledged obtaining an email that state Republican Chairman Robin Smith sent to Gov. Phil Bredesen through an open records request last month, then making copies available to others.

But Democratic Chairman Gray Sasser says the move was a matter of curiosity, not an attempt to smear or embarrass his Republican counterpart, as Smith has said.

In response to an inquiry from the News-Sentinel, Bredesen spokeswoman Lydia Lenker said that a review of records today shows that the Wade Munday, the state Democratic communications director, requested copies of any email to the governor from Smith on June 13. The administration provided the document on June 18, she said.

SEE ALSO:
Bill Hobbs wants more
The letter
The reaction
The Youtube

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Tags: Human Rights Commission, Leave Robin Smith Alone!, public records request, Robin Smith, TNGOP  

Audience Participation

By Kleinheider Posted on at 1:36 pm

TNGOP Communications Director Bill Hobbs weighs in on his estimation of the good, the bad and the ugly that came from the public release of his chairwoman’s email to the Governor of Tennessee:

But at least now we know where the Bredesen administration stands on whether personal emails on state computers are to be released or not. If it might make the administration or especially the governor’s wife look bad, it’s personal and not subject to the state’s open records laws. But if the administration thinks releasing the document will hurt a political rival, the personal is made political - and public.

That’s what happened last week. The administration released a political opponent’s personal email in order to participate in a Nashville media outlet’s baseless smear of one of the administration’s political opponents, a smear based on a fallacious linking of two unconnected events and a deliberate misrepresentation of the content of the email - reporting the email said one thing when it clearly said the opposite.

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Tags: Bill Hobbs, Leave Robin Smith Alone!, Robin Smith, TNGOP