I usually leave criticism of the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board to Unca Darrell because he’s way better at it than me. But since he didn’t notice the latest example of their gross incompetence, obsession with homosexual issues, and blatant disregard for a man’s character, I thought I’d point it out.
Over here in east Harris County, Briscoe Cain defeated entrenched incumbent Wayne Smith in the race to represent Texas House District 128. Cain worked his butt off, knocking on thousands of doors in the mold of Harris County Judge Ed Emmett’s first winning campaign out here several decades ago. Unlike the repugnant campaign that Smith ran, Cain refused to use personal attacks in his campaign, relying upon the voters to focus on the issues. And although it was razor thin, his strategy worked, winning by 23 votes. That’s right, 23 votes.
The Houston Chronicle Editorial Board had an opportunity to tell voters about the importance of hard work, focusing on the issues, and that every vote counts. No race illustrated these virtues better. So what did the editorial board choose to do? Mock Republicans and push their daily homosexual views on their readers.
These are the beginning and ending paragraphs of an editorial titled Election Reflections, published May 26, 2016.
After a Tuesday election night of otherwise happy incumbents, challenger Briscoe Cain went to bed with a new lucky number: 23. As in the 23 votes that gave the Deer Park attorney a victory over seven term state Rep. Wayne Smith in the primary runoff.
It was a down-and-dirty battle to be the Republican nominee for District 128 in east Harris County. That race offered voters little insight about the future of their state, but they did learn that Cain once attended a costume party dressed as “gay Hitler.” Thanks to those attack ads, national media outlets had the pleasure of telling their readers that Texans voted yes on gay Hitler, but no on gay Obama.
……
Tuesday posed an opportunity for Democrats to clean out their rogues’ gallery of questionable candidates and seize the virtuous high ground at a time when statewide Republicans face their own moral and legal challenges. That cause will have to wait another election cycle, but at least none of their candidates have been caught dressing up as gay Hitler.
To read that editorial online, click here. It appears that it is no longer on the website. But the Houston Chronicle did publish it in their hard copy version and their subscribers each got a copy of it. That’s the thing about hard copy newspapers, you can’t just hit the delete button and say “oopsie!”. Click here and here to view copies of the editorial in print.
The problem with it is that their claim that Briscoe Cain went to a party as “gay Hitler” is false. A lie. An untruth. A factual error. Call it what you want but it is and always will be false. The editorial board, in their glee to mock Republicans about their opposition to homosexuality becoming mainstream, didn’t bother to fact check.
The “correction” that they placed online is virtually worthless to anyone trying to find out the truth. Here it is, complete with link this time.
An editorial published Thursday, “Election reflection” (Page A16), chastising the political process for failing to address substantive issues in the Democratic and Republican primary runoffs held May 24, referenced news coverage about one candidate’s questionable attire at a costume party. The candidate was Kyle Biedermann, who won the Republican primary runoff for New Braunfels-area state House District 73. Briscoe Cain, who won the Republican primary runoff for state House District 128 in east Harris County, was the subject of other attack ads that were irrelevant to public policy and the future of Texas. We regret the error.
I challenge you to read that “correction” and tell me what it is “correcting”. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
If the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board truly wants to correct their grievous error, they need to write an editorial apologizing for their misdeeds and extolling the virtues of hard work, focusing on issues, and the importance of every single vote.
Don’t hold your breath. Look instead for yet another editorial about the positive impact of homosexuality on our country.
And please, do click over and read what Unca Darrell has to say about the Houston Chronicle. You’ll find it enlightening.
