November 24, 2002
Sometimes you're not paranoid enough

While writing the article below critiquing David Rushing's op-ed in today's Chron, I was tempted to include a line saying something like "This article is so ridiculous and slanted, I'd almost swear it was written by a Republican posing as a Democrat". I finally took it out because it just seemed too paranoid.

Well, shame on me. Reader Mark Yzaguirre wrote to tip me to the fact that this same piece appeared in the Houston Review, which according to its masthead is "an independent, conservative, student-run journal of news and opinion serving the Houston area." The byline on Rushing's piece here is slightly more informative - "David Rushing is a first year law student at Southern Methodist University and state Vice Chairman for Internal Affairs of the Young Conservatives of Texas". Which leads me to wonder - did Rushing leave out that last bit when he submitted his piece to the Chron, or did the Chron's op-ed page editor excise it? And whichever is the case, why?

On a slightly odd side note, some time after I started writing this weblog I began receiving mail from the affiliated Austin Review at my work address. I have no idea how they found me (especially since my work address has never appeared on this site or my old Blogspot site) or why they thought I'd be a receptive audience. Very strange.

UPDATE: Kevin reminds me in the comments that the Houston Review has a colorful history.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on November 24, 2002 to Election 2002 | TrackBack
Comments

Ha, I couldn't resist the urge ... spouted off about it after seeing your original post. And to think ... I normally skip the Op/Ed pages for precisely the fact that its always the least informative.

Posted by: Greg Wythe on November 24, 2002 4:16 PM

I'm always a little torn on the Texas Review folks.

I mean, every movement needs its ideologues and zealots, right? And those folks do fill that role.

But the danger is if they (and their over-the-top editorials) come to be seen as conservatism itself in Texas. And who knows, if past experience is any guide, Marc Levin may well be on his way to State GOP chairman by now. Behind the scenes, of course....

Posted by: Kevin Whited on November 25, 2002 9:55 AM