LV Independent Press: A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Hours after last Tuesday's "Take a Stand - Bash Charlie Dent" rally had concluded, a report was posted on this blog. A political rally, disguised as a nonpartisan antiwar town hall, offered no meaningful solutions to our involvement in Iraq. About the best that droning facilitator Addison Bross could do, was to suggest we grab a yard sign or bumper sticker.

That's taking a stand?

Get real. These goofy protests just don't cut it anymore. Filmmaker Jeff Gibbs knows this: "I am not going to the protest. I am tired of protests: they don't stop wars. Not protests that are mostly about sign waving and hooking up with friends and strangers and feeling the solidarity and then going back to work or school on Monday. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result."

But the Lehigh Valley Independent Press has sanctimoniously chastised both Congressman Charlie Dent and the mainstream media for their absence from a meaningless nonstory.

"It is time for Charlie Dent to answer to his constituents, not run and hide from them when the questions get difficult. It is time for the local media to cover all the stories about our representative not just those that they deem 'newsworthy.' If we are living in a true Democracy then it is imperative that the press cover and investigate ALL sides’ of an issue like War with equal coverage. Why do Tribune Broadcasting, Pennlive, and Maranatha chose[sic] to ignore a story that would shed a negative light on Charlie Dent? Shame on Charlie Dent for hiding from his constituents. Shame on the Morning Call, the Express Times, and Channel 69 for not doing their job to tell us about it."

Prior to this event, Congressman Dent told organizers - three times - that he had a scheduling conflict, and asked for another date. He made clear he was simply unable to attend last Tuesday's rally. If I demand that Addison Bross meet me at the courthouse tomorrow, and am told three times that Bross is unable to clear his schedule, wouldn't it be just a tad silly for me to accuse Bross of running and hiding from difficult questions?

Amazingly, even the LVIP whines that this little gathering was "sorely lacking in dynamics that one might expect to receive at an anti war event six years into a war that is about to expand into Iran rather than end anytime soon. ... The fact that the organizing groups behind the Iraq Summer program are democratically driven politically says volumes about why this event was lacking in spark and determination toward a true movement of resistance. ... The Democrats who now lead Congress have no intention of REALLY ending this war." But they have every intention of milking it for as many political miles as they can get, as evidenced by congressional wannabe Sam Bennett's presence.

After conceding that the town hall was politically motivated, how can the LVIP complain about Dent's absence or the mainstream media's refusal to be played?

Interestingly, the LVIP's own chronicle is anonymous. And even though Addison Bross told folks to look for a story, nothing was posted until three days after the event. Two blogs had stories the next day. Considering that much of the LVIP website is consumed by the Iraq Summer Campaign, I expected a much more timely report.

Update: After this blog was published, LVIP took a stand and identified the author of its post - Tim Chadwick. Quelle surprise! Chadwick is one of nine Lepoco members who marched into Charlie Dent's office last year and demanded to see him, even though members of this group had already previously met twice with Dent. Although Dent wasn't even in the office that day, they refused to leave. At quitting time, they were eventually charged and convicted of trespass as a summary offense. Chadwick should have disclosed this past association with Dent because it shows his possible bias.