Wilmington Star carrying water for Kay Hagan?
Kay Hagan — our junior US senator AND NY Senator Chuck Schumer’s favorite sock puppet — has been getting a lot of kudos from the MSM for utilizing social media as part of her constituent relations operation. Well, Senator Sockpuppet recently held a Twitter town hall meeting that made national news — mostly for not going as well as she hoped.
Well, two Wilmington area activists for Heritage Action participated in the Twitter town hall. They decided to voice their displeasure to their local paper about how the whole event went down:
#AskKay but don’t expect answers. Senator Kay Hagan sponsored a Twitter town hall on April 9 asking constituents to directly engage her with questions on veterans’ and military family issues. It should have been titled #AskKayOnlyIfYouAgreeWithHer. The Senator only answered 3 softball questions. Sadly, she ignored multiple questions of significance about 2nd Amendment issues for veterans, answers on the 4 dead Americans in Benghazi, troop support in North Carolina, sequester issues and the like. She completely ignored the more than 25 Heritage Action Sentinels on the stream. Sen. Hagan should remember that she represents ALL North Carolinians. This event reminded us of the town halls of 2010 when so many members of Congress got the hard-hitting questions and resorted to hiding. North Carolina needs real leaders who are not afraid to tackle the hard questions. To Senator Hagan we say- #nowayKay!
Ginny Quaglia and Mary Ann McCarthy
This missive, unfortunately, never made it into the pages of the Wilmington paper. Ms. Quaglia wrote the op-ed page editor, seeking an explanation. This is the response she received:
Ms. Quaglia,
We do not as a rule publish letters that report on an experience that an individual has with a business, individual or public official/agency unless there has been a story in the paper. I got the release announcing that town hall meeting, which was called specifically for the purpose of discussing issues relating to military veterans and their families, and grew out of complaints about veterans benefits; members of Congress often like to hear from constituents before drafting legislation on a particular topic. It was a half-hour meeting via social media, and the senator was no doubt looking for questions that fit the topic. I don’t see how your question – on an issue that has been hotly debated and widely discussed – fits with that theme.
Tricia Vance
Editorial Page Editor
StarNews Media
1003 S. 17th St.
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 343-2272
Really? So, you don’t publish letters discussing people’s interactions with politicians? What about THIS about congressman Mike McIntyre (D)? You guys also #FAILed to identify Ms. Fernando as a founding member of Republicans For Mike McIntyre. THIS letter also seems to violate the policy you laid out to Ms. Quaglia. THIS one as well. Granted, the writer mentions the veterans hospital, which you last wrote about over a year ago.
AND you’re not going to publish the letter because the writers asked questions the senator DID NOT want to answer? What happened to your role as a watchdog for the public interest?
And these people wonder why their circulation and ad revenues are plummeting. Want to know the truth? Turn to the blogosphere.
the Wilmington Star has been known for years as the ”Red Star” because of its far left politics. It seems to model itself after ”Pravda” of Breshnev’s era. So why are we surprised by its political bias?
Ginny and Mary Ann are 2 of the strongest, tea party activists in Southeastern NC. I think both of them are great and have no doubt that they will be a force to be reckoned with at events over the next few years!
-jay Vics