WENDY MCCAW TO THE RESCUE!

In my last post, I was taken to task by people on both sides of the issue for running under the assumption that Dr. Laura's son is guilty (of posting some pretty heinous items on a MySpace page) before all the facts have surfaced. I don't necessarily agree with this assessment, but I will admit to not pulling any punches either. I simply gave the good doctor of physiology the same courtesy she gives to others.

If it wasn't Dr. Laura's son at issue, do you Schlessinger fans out there think she would give this person the benefit of the doubt? The answer, of course, is no ... and I can prove it. As anyone local to the Santa Barbara area knows, the Santa Barbara News-Press recently printed a front page article attempting to link former executive editor Jerry Roberts to child pornography. The article was carefully crafted to make it appear as if they were innocently trying to obtain the hard drive from his computer, but we all know their motives are much more sinister. As Jerry himself recently pointed out in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece:

These articles were all published in the full knowledge that: 1) the hard drive in the computer was bought used by the News-Press; 2) the hard drive had been used by as many as three other editors before it got to me; and 3) an investigation by law enforcement experts could not determine when or by whom the offending images were downloaded.

But none of these facts prevented Wendy McCaw from trying to ruin Mr. Roberts anyway. She not only had the audacity to print this "news story" on the Sunday front page, but consider this:

1) Jerry Robert's name was in the headline of the story.

2) Wendy did not list the names of the other editors who used that machine.

3) I'm not sure any other articles or blogs have pointed out that she also used ROBERTS as the jump line to take you to the rest of the story on another page (if she was not trying to link Mr. Roberts to those images, why not have the jump line read PORN or HARD DRIVE?).

So, did Dr. Laura run to Jerry Robert's defense? Did she get up on her holier-than-thou podium and yell with her big fat microphone, "Hey, you guys, Jerry Roberts is innocent until proven guilty in the good ol' US of A!" No, she instead chose to write a column for the NP defending the newspaper's actions.

But fear not, true believers. For all who want to get to the truth of the MySpace page, you (believe it or not) have an ally in the person of ... Wendy McCaw. As Ms. McCaw stated in her recent letter to the Los Angeles Times regarding journalist Lou Cannon:

The Lou Cannons of this world missed the point in our story that our newsroom computers contained this vile material, and how we at the News-Press are fighting to determine who did it. Now we have a real story: It's a story of just how cavalier many in our country are to the suffering and misery of the children subjected to this depravity. Whoever traffics in it, whoever excuses it, simply aids and abets the victimization of those innocents.

I see. So, you're either for Jerry Roberts or against child pornography. Hmm, well, I don't like child pornography, so ... sorry Jerry, you're out. But if we have to take him down, then we have to take down everyone, right? Ms. McCaw said it herself:

We intend to write more about the scourge of child pornography and we intend to uncover and expose anyone, including any former or current employees of our paper, who traffics and delights in the sexual abuse of children.

The MySpace page in question contained images of "child molestation," so am I right in assuming Ms. McCaw will be aggressively pursuing this case as well? In fact, let's work together on this, Wendy. We'll join forces to fight this evil and call ourselves Team McCaw. Do you want to subpoena the military demanding to see the content of the MySpace page or should I? And of course, we're absolutely not going to take no for an answer. Plus, I'm sure whatever means they use to determine who posted that horrible content can't match up to the CSI equipment in The Average-Man Cave. In fact, with your money, I can finally get those fancy new forensics gadgets I've been pining for. We'll be unstoppable!

I know this will be hard for you to do, Wendy, because Dr. Laura is an employee and a friend. But justice is blind, and we know how concerned you are with being unbiased. It's good we have noble people like you defending our children ... if not our animals.