Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Honest

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

Editor’s note: Greg’s Corner is an award-winning editorial (opinion) section where Messenger Reporter Greg Ritchie shares odds and ends from the job and unusual or interesting facts from across the world and across time.

MESSENGER OFFICE – I have seen a lot of politics over the years. Tough races. Races where the candidates could barely stand being in the same room with one another. I have seen candidates come up with mean nicknames for each other — Trump is still the best at that.

But I recently saw an ad for Rhonda Ward that someone posted online. She and Trent Ashby are running against each other for the state Senate in the Republican primary. Folks, vote for whomever you want for whatever reason — but I have seldom seen such a deceptive ad in my life.

A few people in the county are already sore at me since I wrote about Ward’s nearly $2 million donation from a single voter. It was perhaps the largest donation from a single individual in Texas Senate history. Sorry, but that’s news.

No one ever disputed any of the facts in the story, but they said it was just my opinion. They called me biased… but Lord knows I have been called worse.

So let me raise the stakes a little higher. I will bet a scoop of gelato if someone can find where I purposefully got a fact wrong in that story. I know that’s not much of a bet, but being a journalist doesn’t quite pay what it used to.

Ward’s ad begins with dark music — the voice dramatic — like we’re watching the trailer for the latest Hollywood movie. It begins by saying, “When Islamist radicals want a bill passed in Austin… they know exactly who to call… Trent Ashby…”

I laughed out loud. There may be a million reasons to vote for or against Ashby. Fine. But does anyone actually believe that Islamic radicals are calling Ashby to get his help?

“No problem, Akbar, always happy to help,” Ashby would say.

This was one of the silliest things I have heard a political campaign say — and, boy, the stories I could tell.

I kept watching, despite starting to wonder whether an intern at some fancy ad agency was going to get fired over it.

The ad points out Ashby used to be a Democrat, which is totally fair game. So were Ronald Reagan and Rudy Giuliani, and Trump supported Democrats back in the day, too. That’s not over the top or false. Fair game.

“Celebrating Muslim holidays, again and again,” the ad continues, showing different House bills that I assumed would demonstrate Ashby supporting these things. So I looked into it.

The Texas Legislature gets bills brought like this all the time — ceremonial bills that hold no real weight. The Legislature recognizes such-and-such holiday. It happens constantly, like giving someone the key to a city or declaring today this or that person’s day. It seemed like a pretty big way to blow up something mundane and meaningless. They recognize Jewish holidays, too. And Christian ones. It’s a courtesy.

But then I decided to look into the specific bills cited in the ad. And, to be honest, I got angry.

These bills are non-binding — a legal term for essentially symbolic. So symbolic, in fact, they don’t even record the votes. It’s a voice vote. It’s not counted.

What does that mean? Ashby was in the state House that day. He was present. That’s it. He didn’t come up with the idea, author the bills, or give a big speech in Persian. He was marked present.

I shut off the ad.

Folks, that’s wrong. Whether you support Ashby or Ward, wrong is wrong, and it needs to be called out. We are better than that. To misrepresent these votes in the first place, then tie them to a candidate’s alleged support for “Islamist radicals,” is offensive. And for us conservatives, twisting the facts and making wild accusations feels awfully liberal, to be honest.

I have spoken with Ward, and she has always seemed kind and gracious.

I sure hope this was just a mistake. Some kid in a skyscraper thinking he was making ads for someone in New York. A staffer who approved it by mistake. Something.

I hope Ward never saw or approved this ad. I still refuse to believe a campaign would stoop this low here in East Texas. Fight on the issues. Give me your plans. Tell me how you are going to make Houston County great. Tearing another down does not raise you up.

Vote for Ward. Vote for Ashby. The main thing is to vote. But let’s stop being silly and overdramatic and talk about something people care about here. It’s like supporting someone for city council because they are against “bad things.” Yes, me too — now how about our local water?

I know the usual suspects will come after me again on social media. That’s what they do, and I accept that.

“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”

Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]