Nolan Finley references figment of imagination as fact

by: Eric B.

Sun Aug 29, 2010 at 11:48:22 AM EDT

The headline ought not suprise anyone, since Nolan Finley is less objective journalist and more partisan cheerleader, but these three paragraphs are notable.

The more likely scenario is that Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence ended up as Virg Bernero's running mate because everyone else he asked said no. Democrats began the search for a lieutenant governor candidate with specific qualifications in mind.

They wanted an African-American, preferably from Detroit, because blacks were upset at being passed over for the attorney general and secretary of state ticket spots. They also wanted a moderate with strong appeal to the business community to temper Bernero's anti-corporate rants and union obligations.

But with this weekend's state convention upon them and a stack of "no thank you" notes from other possible choices, they took Lawrence, who had been vigorously campaigning for the nomination.

So, he creates a scenario that he calls "most plausible" (which isn't true, by the way, since Alma Wheeler Smith was actively campaigning for the spot, which means that not everyone else turned the job down), and then references it as fact a mere two paragraphs later (a fact that, since there was at least one other person "vigorously campaigning" for the slot, is untrue).

It would just be a fairly minor act of wishful thinking, except that it helps to focus on the overall picture of what Finley has produced, personal rancor that overcomes his personal ability to apply nuanced thought.

Note, for example, his reference to Bernero's anti-business platform. Anyone who has paid attention longer than 13 seconds knows that Bernero is not campaigning against business. This is a standard trope of the Republican Party, which any competent journalist would look past. Finley, however, repeats it even though it makes no sense.

First off, a little clarification on what Bernero is campaigning on. Bernero has repeatedly said that Wall Street got billions in federal bailout money, and has since refused to release the money for loans to small businesses ... the heart of Main Street.  Indeed, Bernero's proposal to create a state bank is predicated on the idea that such a venture would be available for businesses not able to get money from frozen credit markets to -- wait for it, wait for it -- build or expand (anti-business, that).

Such a thing, when proposed, received the laudits of the state's Small Business Association. It was part of why he received backing during his bid from a couple of chambers of commerce around the state; and is on top of the thing that vaulted Bernero to national noteriety, which was his public defense of Michigan's automakers at a time when it was very popular to disparage them as relics from a bygone age that didn't know yet that they were dead.

Finley goes on to quote his usual bag of unidentified sources, perhaps many of them the same people who claimed that the unions had kidnapped and replaced Bernero's entire campaign staff (it's one thing to work closely with, it's another thing entirely to have pulled off a silent coup against) to terrify voters into not voting for Bernero (while at very close proximity saying that the GOP might indeed need to scare the dickens out of voters this November to win), to claim that unions are bolting from Virg's camp for Rick Michigan. Most persons who've been paying attention know all about Bernero's past antagonisms with Lansing-area unions. Bernero, leaders of the unions say, screwed labor over in favor of not raising taxes. It was part of the regular line of attack from unions who supported Dillon. Naturally, Finley fails to identify which unions might not back Bernero come November, and it can be left to deduce that he doesn't know because no one would tell him or because they'd wind up being the usual unions that wind up endorsing the more conservative candidate in the first place.

Added fun ... Bernero's anti-business platform at work.

"Main Street people, Main Street businesses, small businesses that are the backbone of our communities. Nobody knows it better than the mayors of our communities," Bernero said as he introduced Lawrence, the part-time mayor of her city of 78,000 since 2001.

By the way, if you talk to most people at local economic development agencies, they'll be up front about telling you that the greatest potential for creating jobs comes from small and medium-sized businesses, not big corporate firms.