G
Guest
Guest
from http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/monday/editorial_5.html
I haven't been called a liberal so often since just before we endorsed George W. Bush for president.
First, the June 3 articles on gay Austinites triggered the charge.
But again I was tagged with that frightening label for our June 8 article detailing the official exercise of power in the incident at Chuy's Restaurant involving Jenna and Barbara Bush, margaritas and shots of tequila.
Yes, consider our coverage of the Bushes. The Dallas Morning News called our first-day coverage of the incident "conservative." It was.
While the New York Post put it on Page 1, we tucked it away as a brief on Page 2 of the Metro section. Insignificant -- no arrests, just college students caught drinking.
Why, then, did we publish details of the incident on page A1 on June 8?
We had questions -- if not conclusions -- about whether the Bush twins were given preferred treatment and whether Chuy's was being singled out for abuse.
Of course, we can expect a president's daughters who live in the gaze of the Secret Service to get special treatment, but preferred treatment under the law is the issue. Our editors weren't the only ones with questions.
A disagreement is going on over this involving police, prosecutors, defense lawyers and perhaps others.
Jenna Bush, who allegedly used a fake identification card, was charged with a Class C misdemeanor, when court records suggest that most violators are charged with the more serious Class B misdemeanor, which brings with it arrest instead of citation.
The documents show Secret Service agents escorted the 19-year-olds to a Jeep Cherokee and advised Austin police that the girls were leaving, until police told the agents they needed to stay. Police state flatly that the Secret Service didn't interfere with the investigation, but did the 19-year-olds decide on their own to leave, or were they encouraged?
Further, we question whether Chuy's is being subjected to special scrutiny by police and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, whose members are Bush appointees.
If not, why did a police commander ask Detective Mark Gil to ask about "the manner Chuy's business handled routine matters that involved underage customers attempting to purchase alcoholic beverages."
It is interesting that police reported Mia Lawrence, the Chuy's manager, "wanted 'them' (the Bush twins) to be set as examples and criminally charged."
A hint that Austin Democrats are lurking on Barton Springs Road? We are shocked. Even with that, it is unsettling to give a restaurant the third degree for calling police.
Is the TABC leaning on Chuy's? TABC Sgt. Randy Motz was quoted in press reports, "They (Chuy's) served two minors, and we want to know how this happened." He said nothing was unusual about this.
So Chuy's is questioned by the city for calling police, then is questioned by the state for not calling police about the two minors in the group who allegedly were served, Barbara Bush and 20-year-old Jesse Day-Wickham.
Gil reports: "I asked Mia Lawrence (the restaurant manager) if she called the Austin American-Statesman. She told me a regular customer named Owen had been in the business during all of this and had called the Statesman. Mia told me someone from the Statesman named Mike called her on the phone and she gave him a run down over the phone of the incident."
What reason do police have for interrogating witnesses about who is calling the newspaper?
I asked Chief Stan Knee, who said: "There is none. I haven't talked with (Gil) so I don't know why he included that information. It really doesn't have any bearing other than perhaps he thought there may be a witness that they didn't know about."
The reason I worry about this, as an editor, is that such questions can "chill" the willingness of people to respond to the press, for fear of making police unhappy.
The citations of Barbara and Jenna Bush were not significant.
Uneven enforcement of laws, if that indeed occurred, would be a very big deal.
Beginning today, by the way, Doonesbury takes a week to address the president and Jenna. Above, you see a sample.
I haven't been called a liberal so often since just before we endorsed George W. Bush for president.
First, the June 3 articles on gay Austinites triggered the charge.
But again I was tagged with that frightening label for our June 8 article detailing the official exercise of power in the incident at Chuy's Restaurant involving Jenna and Barbara Bush, margaritas and shots of tequila.
Yes, consider our coverage of the Bushes. The Dallas Morning News called our first-day coverage of the incident "conservative." It was.
While the New York Post put it on Page 1, we tucked it away as a brief on Page 2 of the Metro section. Insignificant -- no arrests, just college students caught drinking.
Why, then, did we publish details of the incident on page A1 on June 8?
We had questions -- if not conclusions -- about whether the Bush twins were given preferred treatment and whether Chuy's was being singled out for abuse.
Of course, we can expect a president's daughters who live in the gaze of the Secret Service to get special treatment, but preferred treatment under the law is the issue. Our editors weren't the only ones with questions.
A disagreement is going on over this involving police, prosecutors, defense lawyers and perhaps others.
Jenna Bush, who allegedly used a fake identification card, was charged with a Class C misdemeanor, when court records suggest that most violators are charged with the more serious Class B misdemeanor, which brings with it arrest instead of citation.
The documents show Secret Service agents escorted the 19-year-olds to a Jeep Cherokee and advised Austin police that the girls were leaving, until police told the agents they needed to stay. Police state flatly that the Secret Service didn't interfere with the investigation, but did the 19-year-olds decide on their own to leave, or were they encouraged?
Further, we question whether Chuy's is being subjected to special scrutiny by police and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, whose members are Bush appointees.
If not, why did a police commander ask Detective Mark Gil to ask about "the manner Chuy's business handled routine matters that involved underage customers attempting to purchase alcoholic beverages."
It is interesting that police reported Mia Lawrence, the Chuy's manager, "wanted 'them' (the Bush twins) to be set as examples and criminally charged."
A hint that Austin Democrats are lurking on Barton Springs Road? We are shocked. Even with that, it is unsettling to give a restaurant the third degree for calling police.
Is the TABC leaning on Chuy's? TABC Sgt. Randy Motz was quoted in press reports, "They (Chuy's) served two minors, and we want to know how this happened." He said nothing was unusual about this.
So Chuy's is questioned by the city for calling police, then is questioned by the state for not calling police about the two minors in the group who allegedly were served, Barbara Bush and 20-year-old Jesse Day-Wickham.
Gil reports: "I asked Mia Lawrence (the restaurant manager) if she called the Austin American-Statesman. She told me a regular customer named Owen had been in the business during all of this and had called the Statesman. Mia told me someone from the Statesman named Mike called her on the phone and she gave him a run down over the phone of the incident."
What reason do police have for interrogating witnesses about who is calling the newspaper?
I asked Chief Stan Knee, who said: "There is none. I haven't talked with (Gil) so I don't know why he included that information. It really doesn't have any bearing other than perhaps he thought there may be a witness that they didn't know about."
The reason I worry about this, as an editor, is that such questions can "chill" the willingness of people to respond to the press, for fear of making police unhappy.
The citations of Barbara and Jenna Bush were not significant.
Uneven enforcement of laws, if that indeed occurred, would be a very big deal.
Beginning today, by the way, Doonesbury takes a week to address the president and Jenna. Above, you see a sample.
