Charlotte Observer follows N&O into Locker Room

Submitted by James Protzman on Thu, 07/17/2008 - 11:10am.


Of all the millions of people in North Carolina who could offer opinions about stormwater management and coastal pollution, the Charlotte Observer turned this week to a reliable source at the John Locke Foundation, Mitch Kokai, whose main qualification is the fact that he's part of Art Pope's multi-million-dollar opinion manufacturing machine.

For those unfamiliar with the Art Pope Puppetshow, there is much to know. Funded almost exclusively through Art Pope's money, the Show is dedicated to the principles of free-market extremism. They are against public education, zoning, planning, transit, and, of course, taxes - and they are for allowing corporations free reign to do whatever they want in pursuit of profit. Remarkably, the JLF-ers themselves know little about profits, having their livelihoods funded by tax-advantaged contributions, with a $4+ million burn rate to buy influence wherever they can.

John Locke Foundation: $3.1 million
Civitas Circus: $1.5 million

And buy it they do. The N&O has long pandered to the think tank, relying heavily on them as sources in all manner of news stories. Indeed, one of their regular right-wing columnists, Rick Martinez, is in bed with Donna Martinez, who is herself on the JLF payroll. He's also a top dog at WPTF 680, the Raleigh station that carries Rush Limbaugh. So much for the vast left wing conspiracy theory of the media.

The fact that the Charlotte Observer has succumbed to running their stuff on their op-ed page lies somewhere between sad, lazy and maddening.

PS Rather than discuss the substance of stormwater pollution, Kokai attacks the public policy body responsive for, well, public policy related to stormwater pollution. Soon they'll be advocating a Propositions model of government here in North Carolina, the way it operates in California. Make decisions based only on who has the most money to spend on propaganda.

If we have come to a place where ideas are indistinguishable from dollars, we have come to a very bad place.

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