Monday, December 8, 2008

The Wilmington Journal versus Julia Boseman

Two items in a recent issue (23 October 2008) of the Wilmington Journal attacked State Senator Julia Boseman. Cash Michaels (“Boseman spins untruths about her record on Black Issues”) said that a Boseman campaign flier was misleading. The flier states that Boseman was “fighting for $4 million to help victims of predatory lending.” Mr. Michaels argued that although the legislation had not yet made it out of committee, Senator Boseman’s flier made it sound as if the bill had passed. Having seen this flier myself, I can say that it is Mr. Michaels’ argument that is dishonest. Worse still, the article quotes Reverend William Barber, president of the NCNAACP, as describing former state representative Thomas Wright as a “fallen colleague.” Wright has been convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice.

However, Dawuud El-Amin’s “ An open letter to Thomas E. Wright” in the same issue makes a more outlandish statement. After noting Wright’s conviction and sentence of seven years, Mr. El-Amin indicated that the sentence was unusually long for this crime. Wright said “I guess the hidden hand got mad, when you didn’t take that deal.” He goes on to say that only after Wright supported Julia Boseman’s opponent, Al Roseman, in 2006, did Wright anger the “hidden hand” that is Julia Boseman, according to Mr. El-Amin, which then “fanned the flames” of Mr. Wright’s destruction. It is difficult to see how anyone is responsible for Mr. Wright’s fall other than himself. Sadly, there is little in either article to give one confidence in the Wilmington Journal as a reliable source for news and informed opinion.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have supported Ms. Boseman's senate campaigns.

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