MPBN Plays Along

This is just bad journalism. Josie Huang at MPBN seems to know about the letter Sen. Collins signed vowing to block all legislation until the richest Americans get a tax cut. Heck, MPBN wrote about it yesterday.

And yet, in a long story on "don't ask don't tell" Huang manages to sidestep the implications of the letter almost entirely.

But those implications, and the questions they raise, are obvious:

Given the realities of the congressional calendar--and the fact that repeal supporters won't have the votes to pass repeal once January rolls around--how does Collins reconcile the vow to block all bills with her professed "support" for repeal?

Since this "support" is contingent on events not in her control--the Democratic majority caving to Republicans on tax cuts--wouldn't her position more accurately be described as "opposed for the time being" or "potentially supportive" of repeal?

Any serious effort to convey the state of play on the issue would include a discussion of these points. Yet instead of zeroing in on them Huang glosses over them: She mentions the tax cut letter without so much as acknowledging that the junior senator's name is on it.

By taking this opaque approach, Huang helps Collins send Mainers a message about her priorities that pretty much contradicts the one she's sending to her Senate colleagues and the beltway conservative establishment.

Instead of holding Collins accountable and drawing attention to her doublespeak, Huang allows herself to function as part of the junior senator's PR team.

Not pretty.