rick martinez

Most people consider themselves fairly well-informed, and are not likely to admit that they (personally) are vulnerable to manipulation. Those other people are, of course, but not me. And while we might think we carefully "choose" the sources of our information, our brains often store and edit things according to a different set of often less "enlightened" rules. Whatever. It's part of our psychological makeup, and not likely to change any time soon.

Of all the missteps the News and Observer has made in recent years, the inclusion of Rick Martinez on their op-ed page is among the saddest. Week after week, N&O executives allow the right-wing zealot to spew Puppetshow talking points across their pages without regard for the damage he inflicts. This week, Martinez heralds the discovery of a supply of oil in North Dakota, which he believes should be cause for "dancing in the streets."

For torture.

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Saturday he vetoed legislation that would ban the CIA from using harsh interrogation methods such as waterboarding to break suspected terrorists because it would end practices that have prevented attacks.

"The bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror," Bush said in his weekly radio address taped for broadcast Saturday. "So today I vetoed it," Bush said. The bill provides guidelines for intelligence activities for the year and includes the interrogation requirement.

Last fall, WPTF-AM (in Raleigh) signed up Rick Martinez as Director of News Programming. In case you don't have the misfortune of listening to WPTF, it's the dull diamond in the Curtis Media Crown, 24 hours a day of non-stop, right-wing hate. The story was originally reported here. Initial response was muted, even as some listeners lamented Rickie's newest venture:

IMHO not a good choice. Rick seems to be too wishy washy.... never taking a stand. Most News/talk PDs I have worked with have a back bone.

For all the moral relativism of John McCain, the man has taken at least one clear and principled stand against torture. So it's rather remarkable that in his commentary about a possible McCain presidency, Rick Martinez, the resident Pope Puppet of the News and Observer editorial pages, takes issue with that particular point.

There is one McCain position, however, that does scare me. If he becomes president, McCain has promised to outlaw U.S. use of waterboarding, and, presumably, some other "enhanced interrogation techniques."

This isn't an empty promise. McCain would cite his personal history as a Vietnam POW and torture victim to claim the emotional high ground and short-circuit rational debate on the role and results of interrogation in the continuing war on terror. McCain is right when he claims torture doesn't work. But waterboarding and other enhanced techniques aren't torture, and they do work.

Over the past two years, the Art Pope Puppetshow has served as an exceptional lightning rod for galvanizing progressives against the toxic agenda of North Carolina's free-market extremists. With a multi-million dollar budget to oil their influence-buying machine, the Show has clearly had some measure of success in shaping the agenda with small town newspapers in general and with the Raleigh News and Observer, in particular.

The fondness of the N&O's political reporters for all things Pope has been well discussed, as have the water-carrying activities of Rick Martinez, an opinionator at the N&O whose wife Donna works backstage at the Show. And while I'm reluctant to boost his readership by linking to his columns, today's piece in the N&O shows Martinez at his worst.

I regret to inform the world that I agree completely with a new column by Rick Martinez. That doesn't mean I don't want to see him fired from the N&O. I do. The N&O has entirely too much infiltration from Art Pope's Puppetshow. But I have to say that I share Martinez' unhappy view of the so-called energy bill sliming its way through the General Assembly.

UPDATED TO PUPPETSHOW 2.0
Note to Dallas Woodhouse: Please send along a current photo so we can give you full credit for being a rising star in this many-ringed circus. Glam-shots preferred.

One of my favorite political writers in North Carolina is Rob Schofield, who is a big cheese at one of my favorite think tanks in North Carolina, NC Policy Watch. Yesterday, Rob wrote a piece that should be required reading for anyone concerned about public education in general, and sex education in particular.

The catalyst for Rob's excellent work was a recent column by the N&O's resident Puppet, Rick Martinez. As I've written on many occasions, Martinez is a class-clown the newspaper apparently keeps around for cheap amusement. His wife is a staffer at the John Locke Foundation, and most of his stories trickle out in full alignment with "reports" issued by other minions at the Puppetshow.