Sunday, July 18, 2010

07/18/10 How News Gets Reported In Greenwich

When Is Hearst President Steven Swartz Going To Bring Fair And Balanced Reporting To His Fairfield County Newspaper Monopoly?

On Friday July 9th Greenwich Roundup Hears That Hearst Newspaper Reporters Are Playing Favorites And Ignoring That Robert Merkle, Who Is A Republican Congressional Candidate For The Fourth Congressional Seat In Connecticut Was Arrested For Drug Use At Age 32.

Then On Monday Night, Rob Merkle, Who Owns Shows Up In Greenwich For A Town Hall Meeting Before A Small Crowd And Answers Questions. Hearst Newspaper's Decides Not To Send A Reporter To Ask Mr. Merkle About His Illegal Drug Use.

After Verifying The Facts Greenwich Roundup Posts This Item

07/13/10 The Greenwich Time Reporters Must So Stoned That They Forgot To Report That Jim Himes Congressional Opponent Was Arrested For Drug Possession

The Greenwich Roundup Post Includes This Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjA0hy2kNzs&feature=player_embedded

Greenwich Roundup Follows That Post Up With:

07/16/10 the Only Guy Arrested For Drug Possession In The Fourth Congressional Race Stakes Out Jim Himes' Hometown

Greenwich Roundup Was Repeatedly Told By His Readers That They Had Called The Greenwich Time And Complained That They Newspaper Was Playing Favorites By Reporting On Front Runner Tom Foley's Domestic Violence Arrest And Not Reporting On Rob Merkle's Drug Conviction.

Some Even Speculated That Hearst Newspaper Editors Like David McCumber Were Trying To Play The Role Of King Maker By Selectively Reporting On The August 10th Republican Primary. The Theory Was That Republican Nominated State Representative Dan Debicella Would Cruse To A Victory As Long As Rob Merkle And Republican Bridgeport Candidate Rick Torres Split The Independent And Tea Party Votes In The Fourth Congressional District.

One Greenwich Roundup Reader Said That They Had Even Written A Detailed Letter To The Editor Of The Hearst Newspaper Complaining Of The Biased Coverage In The Fourth Congressional District Race.

Well Last Night At 8:28 PM The Pressure Proved To Great And Hearst News Papers Bomb Fairfield County With These Reports:

The Connecticut Post:

Reefer madness grips GOP congressional race

Rob Varnon, Staff Writer

Published: 08:28 p.m., Saturday, July 17, 2010

Republican Rob Merkle, of Norwalk, who is challenging two other candidates in an August primary to run for U.S. Congress, said a video making fun of his arrest 10 years ago on marijuana charges is over the line and distracts voters from real issues.

One of his two opponents in the race, Rick Torres, of Bridgeport, called Merkle a "hypocrite.".....

The Danbury News-Times

Reefer madness grips GOP congressional race

Rob Varnon, Staff Writer

Published: 08:28 p.m., Saturday, July 17, 2010

....The issue of Merkle's arrest in 2001 came to a head this weekend as a YouTube video link called "Reefer Rob" was posted by user harryrockwell88. The video shows images of Merkle; his father, a former U.S. prosecutor known for prosecuting drug traffickers; a major drug king; Cheech and Chong; and images of people smoking joints, while a parody of Afroman's "Because I Got High" plays......

COMMENT:

Hearst Newspaper Reporter Rob Varnon Is Totally Clueless, The Video Has Been Up For Ten Days. Apparently He Just Became Aware Of It This Weekend As Letters To The Editor Were Sent To The Hearst Newspapers In Fairfield County.

The Greenwich Time:

Reefer madness grips GOP congressional race

Rob Varnon, Staff Writer

Published: 08:28 p.m., Saturday, July 17, 2010

....Merkle confirmed he was arrested in Florida for having a joint in his pocket. He also confirmed it was not the first time he used cannabis, but he said he no longer uses it.....

Comment:

Where Is The Fact Checking At The Greenwich Time?

Hearst Newspaper Reporter Couldn't Be More Hopelessly Wrong Merkle Was Not Busted At Age 32 For Just Having One Joint In His Pocket. Police Officers Responding To A Complaint Found Merkle On A Family Beach In Florida High And Reeking Of Pot.

Greenwich Roundup Has Been Told That Rob Varnon Has Not Even Seen A Copy Of The Police Report And Has Accepted Merkle's Version That He Was Arrested For Just One Joint.

Where Is The Transparency?

If It Was Just One Joint Why Wont Rob Merkle Release The Police And Court Records?

The Stamford Advocate:

Reefer madness grips GOP congressional race

Rob Varnon, Staff Writer

Published: 08:28 p.m., Saturday, July 17, 2010

...

He said opponents have also gone after him over his 19-year-old daughter, whom he had out of wedlock. He said he paid child support for the daughter, who is now in college.

"It's a personal issue. Nobody has any business digging into my family," he said.

Torres was incredulous at that reaction.

"Everything is fair game," Torres said. "People want to know the character of a person."

Torres said that's why he opens his home to voters every Thursday so they can meet with him in person and learn who he is.....

COMMENT:

Hearst Newspaper Reporter Fails To Grasp The Idea That Once Merkle Was 32 Years Old With A Ten Year Old Daughter, The Time For Youthful Indiscretions Was Over And Done With Along Time Ago.

There Are Not Many 32 Year Olds Getting Busted

On A Family Beach For Smoking Dope.

This Is Not Just Some 32 Year Old Dope Smoker

Working At A Car wash Or A Local newspaper.

This Is Someone Who Wants To Go To Congress And

Represent One Of The Wealthiest Districts In America.

It Was Also Put In The Hearst Weekly Newspapers Like The Fairfield Citizen

Reefer madness grips GOP congressional race

Rob Varnon, Staff Writer

Published: 08:28 p.m., Saturday, July 17, 2010

....

Torres said he isn't sending video links to his supporters; he said he has forwarded the information to some friends. Torres said that what disturbs him about the arrest is that Merkle and his campaign blasted Torres for his stance on marijuana laws. Torres said he favors legalization.

Merkle said he does not -- a stance, in light of his arrest and lenient treatment, that Torres said he finds hypocritical.

Torres said there are too many young people serving sentences for marijuana possession when they should be entering programs like the one that Merkle went through. Torres said he's for legalizing marijuana only so that it can be regulated.

Merkle is for "enforcing our drug laws." He said he believes this is a national security issue, as well as an issue of following the law.....

COMMENT:

There Are Teenagers In Jail Right Now For The Same Crime As Rob Merkle.

But They Are In Jail, Because They Were Not Descended From The Lions Of

Florida's Former U.S. Attorney Robert Merkle Sr.

....Southwestern states are facing violent drug gangs pushing up from Mexico, and dealing with the use of illegal drugs in the U.S. will be part of any policy to try to stop the violence here and in Mexico, according to administrations on both sides of the border. There is also a social issue at play, as many urban neighborhoods can attest, holding up the wrecked lives that drug addiction and trafficking have left behind in their communities.....

Hearst Newspapers Wont Tell You This, But Greenwich Roundup Will.....

Above The Law

The Merkle Family Has Always Operated In A Shady Fashion And Received Special Dispensation When They Had Legal Problems.

In Florida. Rob Merkles was a bit of an extremist, who earned the nickname "Mad Dog".

The 'Mad Dog Merkle'' nickname he has acquired as he has brought charges, and lost cases, against public officials in Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa.

One Tampa lawyer, John Demmi, asked to comment on being twice indicted, replied: ''Some people get cancer. I get Rob Merkle.''

Mr. Demmi was acquitted both times.

Like Father - Like Son

Robert Merkle Got Off Easy

Rob Merkle Sr. once punched a motorist, leading to perhaps the longest and most bizarre misdemeanor trial in Pinellas, Florida history.

"I don't know if Bob would have agreed that he was a Mad Dog," said Pinellas lawyer Denis de Vlaming, who represented Mr. Merkle in the punching incident. "But he sure wasn't a poodle."

Like Father - Like Son

Rob Merkle Was An Extremist

During his years as U.S. attorney, Mr. Merkle, was known as a publicity hound who weathered three campaigns to have him removed, antagonized several federal judges, two Democratic U.S. senators and state attorneys.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge J. Rogers Padgett once said of Mr. Merkle:

"He was suspicious of everybody who worked at the courthouse - the judges, the assistant state attorneys, the criminal defense attorneys. He seemed to be convinced there was corruption, and he pursued it, and he found very little"

Robert "Mad Dog" Merkle's response:

"A lot of people didn't like General MacArthur, General Eisenhower. I'm not saying I'm a general. But we're in a war here."

J. Larry Hart, who worked with Mr. Merkle as a federal prosecutor said:

"He had human weaknesses. Something that made him great also weakened him."

"I once told him, "Bob, you don't have to kick in every door,' " Hart said.

The St. Petersburg Times said in an editorial:

''U.S. Attorney's Robert Merkle's conduct in recent weeks has gone beyond the bizarre to the outrageous. He has so consistently abused the powers of his office that his credibility is shattered, his potential effectiveness destroyed.''

The New York Times Quoted A Top White House Official Who Said:

'The essence of it, as we're hearing it, is that this guy is one part hip-shooter, one part reckless in making insinuations against people who are not on trial, and there are some questions about his competence as a prosecutor.''

Like Father, Like Son

Robert Merkle Was Insensitive To Victims

In 2002, Mr. Merkle took up the defense of embattled Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Charles Cope, accused of trying to get into the hotel room of two women in Carmel, Calif.

Mr. Merkle took criticism for his aggressive attacks on the victim in the case. But he helped convince a Judicial Qualifications Commission panel to drop the most-serious charges against Cope. Cope was convicted of two minor charges, including public intoxication.

Robert "Mad Dog" Merkle Is Even Mentioned In The Wikipedia Article On Prosecutorial Misconduct:

Prosecutorial misconduct - Wikipedia

....

"It’s a result-oriented process today, fairness be damned," Robert Merkle, former U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, said, Prosecutors are protected from civil liability even when they knowingly and maliciously break the law in order to secure convictions, and the doctrine of harmless error is used by appellate courts to uphold convictions despite such illegal tactics, thus giving prosecutors few incentives to comply with the law.

A more recent example of prosecutorial misconduct can be seen in the 2006 Duke University lacrosse case. In that incident, members of theDuke men's lacrosse team hired a female stripper for a team party. She went on to accuse three players of raping her at that party. Making the case even more volatile was the fact that the stripper was black and the three accused players were white. The actions of the prosecutor in this case.....