And furthermore, my dear Mr. Connelly, your recounting of events contains a bit of strategically selective editing:
A rumor took hold that the newly re-elected governor was about to be named Secretary of Commerce.
“Gregoire as Commerce Secretary?” headlined a Slog posting in The Stranger. There followed a brief, totally noncommital exchange between reporter Eli Sanders and a gubernatorial spokeswoman.
“Like everyone, I await Tuesday’s announcement,” Sanders wrote. “But I will say – and again this is just tea leaves – that Lockard didn’t sound like a staffer who was mourning some sort of personal tragedy in her boss’ life.”
Huh?
“Huh?” is definitely what a person would say if he or she read only the above recounting of events. But if you read my whole post (not just Joel Connelly’s excerpt) you’ll see why I was engaging the possibility of a personal tragedy—and why the Commerce Secretary rumor took hold. From my interview with Gregoire spokeswoman Laura Lockard, conducted after Gregoire’s mysterious Monday disappearance:
Q: Is Governor Gregoire going to be Obama’s nominee for Commerce Secretary?
A: “We’re not able to speak to that so we’ll do a release in the morning.”
Q: Where is she?
A: “She’s out of state.”
…
Q: Is she going to continue as Governor of Washington State?
A: “I’m not allowed to say.”
Yes, the Commerce Secretary rumor was wrong. Yes, that’s the price of playing the speculation game. But, to publicly decline to say whether the governor of Washington State is going to continue serving out her term is to invite and fuel rumors.
And Joel Connelly! All’s fair in politics and bloggery, sure, but to selective-quote-kick another political reporter while he’s home sick and communing with the ghost of William Henry Harrison. Well, I never.
Why was he confused by the mourning a personal loss comment? I don’t get the “huh?” comment. Honestly, my first thought when you guys posted she had canceled an appearance and was MIA was that something could have happened to someone in her personal life and she was waiting to announce it.
OMG!
Somebody call the WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMBULANBCE!
*Ring ring*
Operator: 911, what is your emergency?
Caller: Somebody got butthurt on the internet!
Also… I know I’m not from Seattle so may have a skewed view on the role of The Stranger, but you published the rumor on your blog. Not in your newspaper. Big difference there. What are blogs for if not for speculation and innuendo? I don’t see anything wrong with saying, she’s MIA, where could she be… personal tragedy, Washington appointment, political scandal, etc. were all possibilities.
Better than putting butter on the Internet.
“But it was the best butter!”
note to slog:
When you find yourself in quickshit thrashing only makes you sink faster…
Jesus Eli, how many times are you going to say that you’re home sick? So are lots of people. Poor widdle baby. Do you want everyone who reads the Slog to deliver some chicken soup and tuck you in? Whaaaaambulance indeed.
Try the leeches! And snakes!
I didn’t know he was home sick. I wish I was home sick.
I want a whaaaaambulance.
wtf does home sick have to do with anything? Anyhoo, rampant speculation is accepted and expected on blogs. The truth will out, an the speculation is a part of the process. The real egg-on-face is the sloppy transition from blog-speculation to so-called-real-teevee-news.
The spokesperson didn’t simply refuse to answer the question; she said she wasn’t allowed to say whether the governor plans to serve out the rest of her term. The speculation was not only fair, I think it was true that she WAS being considered. Why else would she equivocate about serving out the rest of her term? Because she thought she might be killed in Iraq? That’s ridiculous. Apparently she was considering an appointment. And apparently she didn’t get one.
Eli – I know you’re more accustomed to writing the news than being the subject of the news, but take the advice of someone who advises news subjects for a living: you are drawing more attention to your foibles (justified or not) and turning a one-day story into a week-long story. Just about the time when we’ve all moved on and almost forgotten about it, you remind us again that you were way out over the end of your skis on Monday.
Have you ever been right about anything, Eli?
Whatever. It was a mistake or fun speculation that lasted fewer than 24 hours. Stop rehashing it. You’re definitely giving this issue and Joel Connolley more attention that either deserves.
hahahahaha. take some responsibility suckas. you guys jump all over Marlee Ginter for jumping to conclusions with her ???? headline. Now you jump to a conclusion and it’s everyone else’s fault but your own. maturity at it’s greatest!