Psst - Let's Talk about Debra Medina

Written by David Jennings

Friday, 12 February 2010 08:55

Please visit the original online article to view the video Debra Medina addresses "Truther" Issue February 11, 2010.

Debra Medina didn't answer a question about 911 in a typical, I'm an American by Gawd soundbite and BAM! Her opponents and talking heads went berserk with faux outrage. Her campaign is over!, they cried. She's toast!, they bellowed. She's a loony toon Ron Paul-ite!, they typed. Her character is flawed!, they spoke. Why, she thinks that the gubmint killed 3,000 Americans!, they commented. The truth is that Debra Medina did make a mistake in the way she answered a question from Glenn Beck. But the whole truth is that a mistake in answering was all it was. Debra Medina isn't a kook, a nut, a fruitcake, a loon, an anti-Semite (yeah, one local blogger, an "intellectual", actually raised that one) - she's none of those. She is, however, a fairly inexperienced politician that tends to over-think questions and does allow those surrounding her to influence her thought processes.

It was with all of that in mind that I decided to attend a Medina rally that had been scheduled for a couple of weeks. On the long, rainy drive from my safe haven in Shoreacres, I listened first to the pro-Perry guys on KSEV and then to the legitimate questions of Michael Berry on 740 KTRH. In typical fashion, the KSEV crowd began with the mocking derision that they specialize in. I promise that you would have a different perspective of those people if you had the type of first hand knowledge of how they act in private that I do. Which is where much of my "faux outrage" statement comes from.

Mr. Berry has become a pretty good radio host by being fair but asking questions that are tough. His theme throughout the hour that I listened was that Mrs. Medina should come on his show and discuss the statement that she made. He noted, correctly, that his listening audience was far greater than any event that she would be attending (and certainly greater than the 2 or 3 people that still listen to KSEV). He told his audience that his staff had talked to Nelda Skevington, Medina Campaign Spokesperson, and advised them that the best thing to do was to come out and talk about it, not hide, as he thought she was doing. When Ms. Skevington told his staff that Mrs. Medina would be keeping to her prior commitments, he thought that was stupid and his staff told Ms. Skevington that they would be playing the Beck clip over and over. Ms. Skevington apparently questioned their ability to do that because of copyright protection (an amusing defense) and Mr. Berry mocked the amateurishness of the Medina staff. Fair enough.

After listening to this for an hour and a half in traffic, I was beginning to think that Mrs. Medina would be a no-show. As well, I doubted many people would bother. I fully expected to walk into the equivalent of a political wake, attended by a few remaining die-hards, who would be there to support a defeated candidate.

Fortunately, that didn't happen. Debra Medina did show up. She kept her commitment and didn't change her schedule to bow down to the powerful State Senator that moonlights as a blowhard radio host. She didn't bow down to the logical comments of Michael Berry, who was quite correct that she could reach more people on his radio show than at the two events she did make. For better or worse, Mrs. Medina is a person of character that isn't going to change prior commitments simply because something better came up. That is the bottom line for her campaign and her life - integrity. I mentioned that in this post and one of the "old pros" out there changed it to genuine and repeated it. Of course, today, the "old pro" will join the attack chorus because the pack mentality rules in politics.

Not only did Mrs. Medina show up, so did approximately 150 of her supporters. Because they appreciate Mrs. Medina's integrity and they knew, even if I had doubts, that she would be there. And as for ducking interviews, that is complete nonsense. Rucks Russell of Houston's KHOU Channel 11 was waiting for her and she never flinched. She allowed Mr. Russell to ask any question he wanted and she answered in typical fashion. Here is his report, which I thought was very fair. (note that blogHouston's and Cory Crow's favorite poly sci guy made the cut).

Here is the complete video from that interview - Mr. Russell interviewed her for just over six minutes. You'll only see this here! An exclusive! Yeehaa!

(NOTE: FOR VIDEO CONTENT PLEASE GO TO http://www.bigjolly.com/sections/texas/271-psst-lets-talk-about-debra-medina.html AS THE VIDEO CANNOT BE EMBEDDED HERE. SORRY!)

That video is going to break both ways. Her supporters will say, see, she's honest and she's no troofer! Her detractors will say, see! She still says that there are "unanswered questions"!

Now to the controversy at hand. People should relax and get off Beck's case. Yes, it was a hostile environment but Debra is the one that blew the question, politically. People expect soundbites, Debra doesn't give soundbites. Notice that she at first laughed it off, as in, are you kidding? But then she took the question seriously, trying to address it. That isn't what Mr. Beck or most Gawed-fearing Americans want. They don't want an answer, they want NO! The truth is far more complicated, as the 911 Commission report stated.

When Mrs. Medina hears "involved", she over-thinks it and wonders: could we have picked up the hijackers because of their expired visas? Were some of the early warning signs ignored? Could we have stopped them from coming in through the northern border? That is way over the top, isn't it? No, of course it isn't. Smart people, in the government, have asked the same questions for nine years. But shock jocks and by-Gawd-I'm-A-Patriotic-American that can't be bothered to think for more than 30 seconds can't handle that truth. They want a NO! And a bomb or two to go with it. If you are patriotic that is.

Back to the interview itself, it was obviously a "setup". Mrs. Medina had to be thinking otherwise - after all, she was riding high in publicity, people were paying attention to her, Beck loves the 912 movement (actually, didn't he start it?), she is a favorite among 912 groups (one of which held the meeting last night), why wouldn't she think that? Because her staff let her down. Obviously, Mr. Beck's team did not approach this as a friendly interview. Perhaps they knew that someone in her circle of advisors is a 911 Truther, in the bad sense. I don't know of one but with the low-budget, mostly volunteer staff, it is certainly plausible. Mr. Beck interrupted her very first answer in a very rude fashion - go back and listen for yourself. She was answering about who she was, why she got into the race and he comes back with - well, the question is about you, not that other stuff. So she repeated herself. This is where I think she lost her composure and then stumbled badly in trying to get her thoughts out. Beck's team got far more than they thought and Gov. Perry had robocalls going out within a half-hour. That isn't a conspiracy - that is what you can buy when you have a multi-million dollar warchest.

So, my advice to current Medina supporters? Hang in there. This candidate is the same today as she was yesterday. She will tell you the truth, even when it hurts her. This was her first major mistake (well, second actually but no one paid attention to the first). It is quite possible that she will make another one before the election. Stuff happens.

To her detractors - I have to ask, why lie? Why the derision, the condescension, the mocking, the sheer idiocy of some of your statements? What is so lacking in your candidate or your life that you must live off of the mistakes of others?

To those in the middle - listen to her for yourself. Search through this site or other sites that try to be fair and find out what she stands for. If all you heard were the mind-numbed robots feeding you the common wisdom on someone that they can't pigeon-hole, I wouldn't blame you for thinking the worst of her. But I would blame you for not stepping out of your comfort zone and finding out the truth. Isn't that what started this whole uproar?

And to Mr. Beck - I'm not boycotting you. Can't because I don't watch you to begin with. I have this thing about shock jocks that were for something before they found out they could make money by being against it.

And lastly, to Debra, thank you for showing the courage to get up off the ground and fight on. Mistakes happen. I'll leave you with the words of a man that I admire and love:

Don't let anyone steal your joy!