After a one-day break, the Intelligencer’s recycling of old Ogden editorials continues

On Tuesday, I wrote about the Intelligencer’s increasing use of old editorials from other Ogden papers (mostly from Ohio). Yesterday, we were treated to an editorial that actually dealt with a contemporary local issue – masks in Ohio County schools. But alas, the relevance was a one-day aberration as today’s paper returned us to Ogden normalcy.

In “Fund Ohio’s Schools” the first paragraph gives away its datedness and irrelevancy as it tells us that several Ohio schools have closed – not because of covid but because of “extreme heat.” I checked and yes, the temperature reached 91 degrees in Marietta, Ohio on August 27 -- the day that this editorial was first published in the Marietta Times.

The other editorial, “Creating a Better Business Climate” looks to be only 8 days old as it appeared in the Elkins Inter-Mountain on September 8. The PR release on which the editorial is based was released on September 2, however.

Still waiting to hear from Senator Capito on the Texas abortion law

It has been two weeks since my post on the new Texas abortion law and Senator Capito has still not been asked by any media source about her assurances that the new Supreme Court justices that she voted for would honor the Roe v. Wade precedence. (The Court decided on September 1 to let the Texas law stand for now.) For most of the last two weeks, Capito, who is usually more than willing to go on local talk shows where questions are almost always friendly and reporters seldom follow-up, notably disappeared from the airwaves. (I could find no record of any media interviews.) On Sunday, however, the senator finally appeared on Nexstar’s “Inside West Virginia Politics.” She was interviewed by their political reporter, Mark Curtis, but the abortion topic never came up. (You can access it here.)

My hunch is that Capito agreed to be on the show because she knew that the short-attention-span media had moved on from Texas and we were now in a different news cycle with 9/11 and covid taking center stage. If so, she was correct.

The Capito segment of the program produced little news; the senator talked about what being in Washington D.C. was like on September 11, 2001 and then she briefly touched on other topics including covid and the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

One segment did catch my ear, however. In discussing Biden and Afghanistan, Capito referenced (around 4:30) General Mark Milley’s conclusion that terrorism will now make a comeback. (Capito obviously saw General Milley as a credible source.) Two days ago, it was disclosed that Milley, worried about what Trump might do in the last days of his administration, had used back channels to talk with China. I wonder what Capito’s take on Milley is today given that the Trump apologists and some Republicans now attack Milley’s actions as treasonous? (I will likely continue to wonder.)

Sometimes WV’s media gets it right

On Tuesday, WV Metro News’ Brad McElhinny filed this news report about a joint committee meeting of West Virginia lawmakers:

Legislators explore critical race theory but without anyone who knows about it

As McElhinny writes:

West Virginia lawmakers dove into critical race theory today, with all those providing testimony saying they have no expertise and all saying the concept is not a core element of the state’s school system at any level.

Lack of knowledge did not, however, prevent some Republicans from expressing their opinions. Senator Mike Azinger, for example:

This is raw Marxism is what it is. . . . Critical race theory is infesting everything.

Of course, it is, Mike.

9/17 update

I immediately thought of Mike Azinger when I saw this:

An all-white school board in York, Pennsylvania has banned a list of books and resources, including a children’s book about Rosa Parks. All of the banned materials are by or about people of color, which the school board president called “a coincidence.”https://t.co/6mE5lqDg3V

— melinda d. anderson (@mdawriter) September 16, 2021