So hey, remember how The News & Observer did this big thing in late October on the governor securing a private-prisons deal for a buddy/campaign contributor over the objections of prison-system officials? No? You should go read it. We’ll wait.
Now, remember how McCrory dismissed the whole thing as a big ol’ liberal conspiracy ginned up by the lying liberal media? McCrory said Saturday that the newspapers “clearly attempted to give the impression that something improper or even illegal was done. Clearly, just the opposite occurred.” He said his administration went through “an ethical process and made a sound, business-like decision that was in the best interest of public safety as well as the taxpayers of North Carolina.”
(Related: McCrory said much the same thing when we and a bunch of other North Carolina media outlets sued him over his administration’s godawful handling of public records: “Some members of the media and political organizations are exploiting the public records law with frivolous and duplicative records requests that gum up the day-to-day operations of state government,” a spokesman said. “Now, a coalition of liberal news media outlets and advocacy groups has taken this exploitation to a new level with a coordinated lawsuit that doesn’t contain all of the facts.” This exploitation, by the way, included the Department of Commerce telling me that they do not keep, do not know where to get and would be unable to produce a set a unquestionably public records I had asked for. But I digress.)
Thus, it’s pretty well established that Pat doesn’t like the press. Or at least, he thinks that complaining about the so-called liberal media builds up conservative cred and deflects any blows that may have dinged his reputation. Fair enough. That’s a staple of Republican politics these days. But I don’t recall seeing a politician not only denounce the “liberal media” in general, but a specific publication, and then try to raise money off of it. But that’s what the McCrory campaign, which just officially launched, is doing here.
For the low, low price of $5, you can get this “online-only” bumper sticker—that online-only dig is a fabulous bit of trolling, we must admit—to express your frustration with the largest media outlet in the state’s capital city, daring to question the sitting administration. It’s the American Way.
