It's fascinating to see the double standard that Orange County politicians employ with bloggers in these days of a flat media landscape. While blogs such as Red County and The Liberal OC are virtual megaphones for, respectively, conservative and liberal operatives and politicians (some even contribute articles), independent-minded blogs frequently find themselves in the same corner as the Weekly: when they ask for a quote or interview, ignorance. Dana and Don Papi Pulido: return our calls one day, will ya?
That's what's happening right now with Adriana Maestas, proprietor of Latino Politics Blog. The Orange County resident has a fascinating post up in which she claims to know a source who says Congresswoman Loretta “I Support the DREAM Act but Won't Co-Sponsor It” Sanchez was involved in an adulterous romantic relationship that could've been a conflict-of-interest. A lot of qualifiers, to be sure, but Maestas does make an interesting case.
But the relevant point for the purposes of this post is Maestas' efforts to elicite a quote from Sanchez on the matter:
In fairness to Congresswoman Sanchez, I have given her office an
opportunity to comment on these allegations. She has a history of
dodging questions, as evidenced by the time TMZ approached her asking about donations from Hugh Hefner. Additionally, her office did not release a statement about the Caroline Valdez embezzlement case.
As in other instances, her office has not returned the calls of
bloggers and the requests of a reporter with a news bureau in Dallas
regarding this matter. Noted British historian, C. Northcote Parkinson
once said, “Delay is the deadliest form of denial.” I believe that may
be playing out in this case.
In this day when State Assemblymember Chuck DeVore will respond to a question via Twitter within the day, why doesn't Loretta at least deny the salacious story? And it's not like Maestas is a Republican monkeywrench: she's the type of good liberal who thinks Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is a moderate. Stay tuned!
