Posted on 08/25/2009 8:06:23 AM PDT by Zman
Did he or didn't he?
It has been a bit of whirlwind especially on a few blog sites.
We're talking about whether our Congressman Brian Baird reported a death threat to Capitol Police.
Let me back up a little:
-- Baird opted not to hold public town hall meetings on health care. He made the decision because he was concerned about what he was seeing out there at other town hall meetings. Safety issues.
-- Baird said part of his decision was based on some death threats he had received.
-- He called some of the tactics he had seen as "close to Brownshirt."
-- Later Baird apologized for the comments and held several town hall meetings.
All of this was reported by us.
Then a blogger got involved. God bless bloggers. There is a role for bloggers in today's society. Bloggers mostly comment on stuff but they can -- and do -- some reporting.
So this blogger makes a phone call to the Capitol Police trying to confirm Baird had reported the death threats. He says he spoke to a helpful lady responsible for typing and submitting claims. She said if a death threat was reported she'd know it.
But she had seen nothing.
That was enough for the blogger to go after Baird. And us too, or course. Despite our stories mentioned above and critical editorials and columns, we somehow were providing cover for Baird.
Go figure.
But back to the blogger's point. If true, if Baird didn't report the death threats even though he said he did, that would be a good story.
But a few things puzzled me:
-- There was no name attached to the info the blogger said he had from the Capitol Police. I asked the blogger if he had a name. He said I was bothering him. I should do my own legwork.
-- The Capitol Police had been quite uncooperative with us but was willing to give out info to someone else?
-- And why would Baird lie about something like this? Eventually you would be certain to get caught.
Hey, not that politicians don't lie. You know, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" and, "I'm not a crook."
But with Baird, a paper trail or lack of a paper trail would exist.
Still, we tried to track it down for days with the Capitol Police. No luck. Finally, I tried on Monday. Spoke to a Sgt. Kimberly Schneider with the information office. "Did our congressman report any death threats?" I asked.
"A matter was brought to the attention of Capitol Police from Congressman Brian Baird's office. But we can not comment on any details of any ongoing investigation."
Finally.
But I pushed for more. Was the "matter" a death threat I asked. She wouldn't say. In fact, that was all I was getting, she said.
And -- even more significant -- "cannot comment on any details of any ongoing investigation." This sure sounds like an ongoing investigation.
I also called Capitol Police Chief Phillip Morse to see if I could shake out any more. Later a return call came from his spokeswoman ... Sgt. Schneider. The same Sgt. Schneider.
She said it was just a courtesy call since I had put the call in to the chief but no additional information was coming because "it's an investigation."
Hey, that is additional. "It's an investigation."
Look, we hold all politicians accountable. I'm sure Baird has been none too pleased with much of our coverage. But we won't jump into a story without vetting it first. We'll still make mistakes. But we'll work hard at not making mistakes. And don't blame the bloggers here. Users simply have to manage the information they get. From wherever they get it. And the best bet for good info still is newspapers.
The above story reveals far more work than is done by the average member of the MSM! Those people expect news to be handed them by politicians and go ballistic should it not be done to their satisfaction! Remember the Cheney “shooting” incident. MSM whiners were miffed because the VP’s office had not IMMEDIATELY informed them of every bit of newsworthy information. The MSM is a transcription service and that is about it. (Unless of course it involves an attempt to destroy an up and coming conservative, like Palin.)
According to Baird, he never said that, but he did apologize for saying it.
BAAAAAAWWWAWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH
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