A fellow named Benjamin Lehman has a letter to the editor of the Argus Leader published today in which he voices concern over Professor Jon Lauck (of DVT fame) being quoted as "some sort of unbiased academic" in a story about ethanol written by the "unbiased" David Kranz and published in the AL nearly six weeks ago.
In that March 14 story, headlined "Ethanol wields power in Senate race," Professor Bob Burns of SDSU was also quoted as "some sort of unbiased academic." Here is one Burns quote from the story:
Thune said Daschle's actions made him want to enter the race. "That series of events was a catalyst in my deciding to run. It convinced me Senator Daschle's priorities had changed. I think it was a tragedy when [the energy bill] didn't pass last fall. If you look at Senate Democrats in the Midwest with farm constituencies that vote against it, why wasn't there an effort to reach out to some of those senators in states where ethanol was an issue?"Observers have mixed reactions about who is right or wrong.
"If that is a campaign strategy for the Thune campaign, it will be a difficult strategy to implement in large part because the White House and the Bush administration are very important to the passage of an energy bill," said Bob Burns, political science professor at South Dakota State University. "Senator Daschle has established himself as a leader of ethanol in South Dakota, and whether the energy bill with ethanol provisions is finally approved or not, Senator Daschle will continue to enjoy the reputation as a champion of ethanol."
SDSU history professor Jon Lauck questions Daschle's influence. "On ethanol, Daschle didn't even try to use the clout he supposedly has," he said. "His caucus was so furious with him for failing to kill the prescription drug bill that he was forced to let the ethanol bill die. It's a case of Daschle's obligations to his liberal caucus trumping his obligations to South Dakota."
(Emphasis added.) Obviously, Lauck made a pro-Thune comment, while Burns made a pro-Daschle comment. If one were to look to history, one would discover that Burns ran for the South Dakota state legislature in 1980 as -- you guessed it -- a Democrat. But I guess in Lehman's world, only conservative academics should be identified as such in the Argus Leader.
UPDATE: Ryne McClaren and DVT note that there's a certain irony to this letter.
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