An Open Letter to the St. Paul Pioneer Press

Tonight I received the letter below from @StPaulCD4Voter, which has been submitted to the St. Paul Pioneer Press as a Letter to the Editor.

To Thom Fladung -- Editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press

Dear Mr. Fladung;

Over the last week its been probably the most interesting race in the 4th Congressional District in over 20 years.  Unfortunately most of the voters of St. Paul would never know it if they relied solely on your paper to get their information.  Luckily the "new media" has done your job for you this campaign, and really shown why the print media is dying in this country.  Let me bring you up to speed.

First there has been a lot of debate about debates.  It started when Rep. Betty McCollum initially did not respond to Republican Teresa Collett's primary night challenge to hold 4 debates.  Collett actually hand delivered a letter to Betty McCollum's office the morning after her primary victory to challenge McCollum face to face.  Betty wasn't there, and apparently neither was the Pioneer Press because no story on Teresa's debate challenge ever appeared in the "newspaper of record" for St. Paul.

Finally, after much goading by local bloggers McCollum agreed to appear in a televised debate on KSTP TV, only to back out at the last minute. You would think the refusal of a sitting Congresswoman to appear on television to debate her Republican opponent would be big news, especially given the current political environment and the issues facing our country.  But, sadly there was no reporting of this slap in the face to the voters of St. Paul by their elected representative in the Pioneer Press.

Rep McCollum ultimately agreed to appear in two live candidate forums, and one radio forum on MPR.  The first forum in front of the White Bear Lake Chamber of Commerce, wasn't open to the public.  At this debate Rep McCollum proclaimed that she "supports Nancy Pelosi 100% and would vote to reelect her as Speaker."   She also called Speaker Pelosi "a consensus builder" despite the fact that she led a unilateral effort on the part of the Democratic Party to pass the hugely unpopular stimulus, cash for clunkers, and health care reform -- that has spawned the voter anger that is driving what could be an historic wave election in just a few days.  The story that appeared in the Pioneer Press reporting on this debate has actually been taken down off your website!  You would think this story would stay up at least until after the election as a service to your readers who are trying to educate themselves on the issues.

Last week at the Wilder Foundation, Rep McCollum and Teresa Collett again met face to face in front of a live public audience.  Anyone who was there would agree that Collett clearly won the debate.  She articulately laid out the case for limited government, tax cuts and spending reductions in order to get the economy back on track. The overwhelming consensus from anyone in the room was that Collett came off polished, aware, and in command of the issues.  If someone from outside the district had attended the debate, they would have thought Collett actually was the incumbent.   Rep McCollum on the other hand, made bizzare statements like:

"Health care reform is not a government takeover"

"The budget is just a piece of paper..its totally non binding"

"AlQaeda is no longer a threat to the United States"

During this debate, many of  McCollum's answers drew scorn if not outright laughter from the audience.  She showed a remarkable inability to speak without prepared notes, and really didn't seem that well prepared. This story deserved front page news, as it was in front of a packed audience of actual voters attending a Congressional election in a highly contentious national election.  Instead St. Paul voters received a bland article, buried in the paper that failed to capture the spirit of the debate or the atmosphere in the room.

Finally the events of the last 72 hours have failed to even make the paper at all.  In case you weren't aware the Congresswoman from St. Paul has become a viral sensation on the Internet.  A video of her leading Congress in the Pledge of Allegiance, and clearly omitting the words "Under God" is now all over the Internet.  The video was featured on the Hannity television show on Monday night and on Glenn Beck's national radio show on Tuesday morning.  It is newsworthy because it surfaced at the same time another video of a League of Women Voters debate where the audience demanded that the debate open with the Pledge despite the resistance of the LWV moderator made national news and also went viral. 

Today another video of Rep McCollum saying that "Al Qaeda no longer is a threat to the US" appeared on the front page of the National Review, Foxnation.com, Hotair.com, and The Blaze on the same day that a suspect with Al Qaeda connections was arrested in Washington DC, casing possible bombing sites. (I'm hopeful to see a reporting of this in tomorrow's paper, but I'm not holding my breath!)  McCollum's statement flies in the face of testimony by Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano and FBI Director Robert Mueller before Congress last month.  This statement by McCollum is shocking coming from a sitting Congresswoman, for either she released classified information in the debate at the Wilder Center or she revealed a fundamental lack of understanding of the threats facing our country! 

This is an important election.  The St. Paul Pioneer Press has failed the voters of St. Paul in its duty to report on the public debate and the events surrounding this campaign.  This campaign has clearly shown to those who care to inform themselves which candidate is most qualified to represent the 4th District.  Teresa Collett is a former small business owner, an appellate attorney who has tried cases before the Supreme Court, testified before Congress, and is a constitutional law professor at St. Thomas.  Betty McCollum has a remarkably undistinguished career in Congress, passing only one bill into law -- renaming a post office!  McCollum has been a 100% reliable vote for Nancy Pelosi and the extreme left wing of the Democratic Party her entire career. When Pelosi's approval rate is less than 30%, McCollum's support for her shows that she represents the values of San Francisco, not St. Paul.

In order to maintain any credibility I am calling upon you today to endorse Teresa Collett for Congress. Collett represents the opinion of the majority of the country who are afraid about the growth of government, the growing tax burden on the job creators in this country and the debt the Democrats have levied on our children and grandchildren.  McCollum is the poster child for everything that is being rejected by voters across the country!  


In order to save your reputation as the clear thinking paper in town -- please endorseTeresa Collett!

Sincerely,


@StPaulCD4Voter

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Keep up the work constituents of MNCD4; every bit helps.  From letters to the editor, tweets, facebook, blogs, Collett yard signs, telling your neighbors etc...spread the word on what Betty hasn't done for MNCD4.  

If you are new to this blog, read how Betty McCollum denies God in Congress, supports the terrorist group Hamas and is anti-Israel.  Or just ask yourself, with the recent revelation of voter fraud in St. Paul, why would Betty McCollum deny voter fraud is a problem?  But more importantly, what has Betty done for MNCD4? 

Remember, if you see me, please honk!