Believe It Or Not, Lincoln Chaffe Is A Worse Governor Than He Was A Senator

It's almost impossible to believe but yeah, it's true.

Chafee doesn’t plan to spend his own time on talk radio, and he intends to ban state employees from spending their state work time talking on talk radio, which was Carcieri’s favorite medium and an integral part of his communications operation.

Spokesman Michael Trainor said a directive will go out over the next day or so that reflects that new policy.

He said the policy emanates from a belief that talk radio is essentially “ratings-driven, for-profit programming,” and “we don’t think it is appropriate to use taxpayer resources” in the form of state employee work time to “support for-profit, ratings-driven programming.”

Trainor said the new governor will continue to talk to the news reporters for the local radio stations, and the nonprofit local NPR affiliate.

This is the act of a petulant man-child not a Governor.

If he doesn't want to go on talk radio, fine. That's his right. But banning all state employees from using a popular outlet to communicate with the people of the state about public matters? That's just idiotic.

And this idea that only talk radio is ratings and profit driven, where did that come from? Chafee is either a liar or an idiot if he really thinks that. Well, both is a possibility I guess.

Can you imagine if a Governor said he would not speak to TV, print or radio reporters and/or opinion journalists? They would be calling for his impeachment. But because it's talk radio and talk radio is generally the purview of conservatives and other lowlifes who never set foot in journalism school, they won't care or more likely will think it's about time.

Nothing like spanning the partisan divide and being a mature public official by telling some of your constituents there media outlets of choice don't quite measure up to the official standard.

Via Ben Smith

posted by DrewM. at 02:05 PM

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