Watching MO Senator Claire McCaskill play with her new blog.
“These (photo) are the Generals and Admiral all testifying at our Armed Services hearing this am. I will ask questions shortly.”
The thought of a member of Congress “reporting on” a hearing she is covering is… is… sacrilege? Heresy? What word would be strong enough? The obvious problem is, the senator is –by definition– partisan. No way you could trust what she reports. Right?
So, how is this different from Sean Hannity? Or Chris Matthews? Or Rush? No doubt about which side of an issue they come down but they have thousands of viewers. Can we automatically assume every post by Senator McCaskill is tainted and unworthy? That every tweet by @joliejustus is designed to mislead and spin us?
Or can we mix it in with all the other “reporting” we get, factoring in her point of view? I don’t know the answer to that question but if there is one, every reader will come up with their own.
“…by putting the Senator on the same level as unelected pundits, you water down the essential responsibility of elected officials to not just advocate, but to lead and at all times speak the truth.”
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, John. I’m not sure I fully understand it however. I’ll ask you to clarify the next time we’re together.
If I was putting the senator on the same level as pundits, it was only in the sense that she is using technology to speak directly to the people. Unfiltered by pundits or news media.
As for responsibility of elected officials to “at all times speak the truth”… well, that would be nice.
I fear that many of our elected officials have a very flexible and relative concept of “truth.”
Glad Sen. McCaskill is taking advantage of different ways to communicate. To answer your question, however, there is a difference between communications by commentators and communications by elected representatives. The difference is not in the scope of communication, but in the fiduciary responsibility of elected officials to speak truthfully. I do not mean to imply that Sen. McCaskill has not been truthful. I am only commenting that by putting the Senator on the same level as unelected pundits, you water down the essential responsibility of elected officials to not just advocate, but to lead and at all times speak the truth. That is the hallmark of statesmen.