Miami Herald political columnist Beth Reinhard weighs in on the new documentary film Outrage this morning. Here's her nut graph:
The film is worth seeing -- not because it breaks any new ground on Crist's sexuality, because it doesn't. It relies on hearsay from shadowy sources, clever edits and innuendo to build a feeble case. (Crist has denied that he's gay.)
Classic Reinhard. Remember, she's one of those official-reporter types. She doesn't dig much, has little passion, and never just quite manages to find the truth. She's more stenographer than watchdog. Her take on the question of whether Charlie Crist is gay boils down to a syllogism:
Gov. Crist says he's not gay.
There's not a videotape or confession proving otherwise.
Therefore, Gov. Crist is not gay.
(Plus he's not that big of a hypocrite, just a little one).
Nothing to see here. Move on. And don't look in there!
Reinhard uses me in her argument:
Even New Times blogger Bob Norman, whose reporting is repackaged in the film, wrote this week, "So yes . . . I'm in the new film Outrage. And no, I offer no proof that our governor is gay."
It's true there is no proof -- just compelling evidence. If you haven't already, you can read the original reporting here, here, and here. There's more that Outrage director Kirby Dick includes in the film, which I haven't seen yet. And it's all compelling evidence that Reinhard and the Miami Herald have never reported. (Oh, and you gotta love her referring to me as a blogger. Yeah, I blog, but she knows 90 percent of my work has been as investigative reporter and columnist. How many bloggers have won something like 50 journalism awards, including several national biggies? It's just another not-so-subtle way to intimate there's no substance to the "feeble case").
Note that back in 2003 when I wrote about since-disgraced congressman Mark Foley hypocrisy as a closeted gay man in the gay-baiting Republican Party, Reinhard offered up the headline:
"Foley's district unconcerned about sex issue."
An example of her hard-hitting style of reporting is contained in that May 23, 2003 article. She interviewed multi-millionaire real estate investor, GOP hack, and big Foley fundraiser Mark Guzzetta. In fact, Guzzetta garnered the lead quote in Reinhard's article, which was, "It's of no importance."
Boy was it important when the scandal broke a few years later. Thanks for the public service Beth. You did your craft proud with that one. And this morning's work was just more of the same.
