Attacking the messenger; an illustrative example

Gabe Apodaca is the Vice Chair of the Bernalillo County Democratic Party. He has penned an op-ed piece for the Journal, link.

His piece is in response to an op-ed, link, written by County Commissioner Wayne Johnson.

Set aside the issue, as Apodaca would have us do. We won't
examine whether the process for holding politically powerful
people accountable for their conduct and competence, should
happen in public or in secret.

Let us look instead at Apodaca contribution to the discussion
of that politically important issue.

Apodaca is exemplar of "win at any cost" political operatives.
It has nothing to do with political persuasion. It's about Party
politics in general, not specifically. Exemplar of the win at any
cost mentality in the Republican Party, is fourth floor shot-caller
Jay McCleskey.

The moral obligation of those who try to sway voters, is to sway
them by getting them to understand the truth and allow that
truth to guide them to their conclusion.

The win at any costers goal is to manipulate voters, not to
fully inform them on the important issues of the day.

You be the judge; is Apodaca trying to manipulate you, or fully
inform you? He wrote;

I had to laugh when I saw Bernalillo County Commissioner Wayne Johnson’s sanctimonious letter to the editor concerning the ethics process at Bernalillo County, particularly at his comment that he was “shocked,” just shocked, that an ethics complaint against his fellow commissioner, Maggie Hart Stebbins, had been dismissed by the County Ethics Board.

The issue you will remember is, whether ethics hearings should be held in secret.

Rather than write to the issue, he berates and belittles the messenger and then misstates the message. He left off; ... had been dismissed by the County Ethics Board under compromising circumstances not the least of which; it was done in secret.

Johnson wrote;

How can the public trust
a ruling from a committee
where one of three
members was appointed
by the accused, the decision
was made in secret, and the
County Attorney appears
to be encouraging dismissal
without a public hearing?

The question is legitimate; his point is well taken.
Apodaca lied about it (by omission).

Apodaca continues;

"I suspect he was more disappointed than anything. For 18 months, Johnson has been lobbing baseless accusations at Commissioner Stebbins, first in his cowardly, anonymous contributions to the “Eye On Albuquerque” blog (which he was asked about by the Albuquerque Journal), then as an accessory to Stebbins’ GOP opponent who actually filed the report that was dismissed."

Again, in his capacity as a win at any cost political operative, he
continues to berate the questioner while ignoring the question.
What difference does it make, in the argument over holding
ethics hearings in secret, whether the person who asked the
question posts anonymously on the Eye on Albuquerque, link?

It you think about it, his insistence that he knows the identity
of the writer of an anonymously posted "contribution" on the
internet is oxymoronic on its face.

Apodaca continued;

"While Johnson pretends to carry the banner of ethics, it’s clear that his personal behavior hardly lives up to the claim. Public officials should be willing to take credit, or blame, for their statements and actions. Johnson instead takes cheap political shots and then hides behind a shield of anonymity or a fellow candidate — hardly the “transparency” and “openness” he claims to espouse."

Is there a fact anywhere in there that has to do with answering
Johnson's legitimate question? Is there anything in there that
revokes Johnson's standing to ask the question?

Apodaca continues;

While Johnson criticizes both the ethics process and the volunteer members of the County Ethics Board, he has yet to propose a single constructive recommendation for improving the process.

Johnson proposed following the law; one of many constructive proposals;

"The ordinance clearly intends that a full board of five members be present to hear complaints – even providing for a replacement appointee where a member has a conflict of interest.

Apodaca says he had to laugh when he read Johnson's letter.
I had to laugh when I read Apodaca's;

"It appears he prefers to manipulate the process for political gain."(That, a separate illustrative example of; the pot calling the kettle black, wikilink.

Apodaca concludes;

There’s a big difference between being a candidate and being a leader. I hope that Commissioner Johnson can someday make the transition and leave behind the personal political attacks and actually begin to address the critical needs of Bernalillo County.

More personal attacks on the messenger instead of responding to his question and another laugh at Apodaca's expense; that it is Johnson and not he himself, who needs to "... make the transition and leave behind the personal political attacks and actually begin to address the critical needs of Bernalillo County."




photo Mark Bralley