John McIntire is a Jagoff, Part II
PittsburghJack loves a good political scandal probably more than anyone in this town. And I've heard all the scuttlebutt on Grant Street about Mayor Ravenstahl's alleged encounter with a police officer at a Steelers game on Halloween evening of 2005 which supposedly resulted in Luke being handcuffed, detained and subsequently pleading for special treatment. His next move was to have been a telephone call to Dennis Regan, who allegedly assured that any reports of the incident never see the light of day. I strongly suspected from the moment I heard this story, though, that there was nothing to it. At least insofar as it being a huge political scandal.
If the story were true, the real scandal would have been the call to Dennis Regan. This would begin to explain the allegiance Luke felt towards Regan, his promotion of Regan and defense of Regan in the McNeilly/Rende situation. This, my friends, would have been an A+ political scandal and extremely damaging to the Ravenstahl campaign.
My first indicator that the story was BS was that this alleged incident occurred before Bob O'Connor even won the general election. And at the time, Dennis Regan had no role in the operation of city government. None. Squat. Nada. I would venture to guess that Luke Ravenstahl didn't even know who Dennis Regan was in October 2005. And even if Luke did know him, do you really think Regan would be the first person he'd think of calling to help get him out of a bind with the police, if he were inclined to do so? It's preposterous to me that anyone would even make the allegation that a call was made to Regan over this incident. What could Regan have possibly done? What clout did he wield?
In news interviews yesterday, Ravanstahl explained what did actually occur at Heinz Field the night of October 31, 2005. And KDKA's Marty Griffin reported that his police sources confirmed that Ravenstahl's version of events was truthful.
It doesn't matter to me if Ravenstahl, who is an admitted avid tailgater, has a few drinks at Steelers games. There is absolutely no harm in having a good time, even for a mayor. And as far as having a verbal confrontation with a police officer, Luke explained it well and I accept his version of events. I've witnessed police acting as the harrasser, rather than the protector. And I've also witnessed police that reach for their handcuffs a little prematurely. Let's accept what happened and move on. It is a non-story.
This incident was blown way out of proportion and received much more media attention than it deserved. John McIntire is the one who deserves the blame for his irresponsible blogging in trying to pass rumor for fact. One should not make such accusations without also offering proof and documentation. Blogs should be held to the same standard of truth as any other form of news outlet. The ignoramous should know better. Some people will do, say or write anything for attention. Not many people I know ever took John McIntire seriously. The only good that will come out of this incident is that even less people will take him seriously in the future. Now, if he'd only go back to Kankakee.
If the story were true, the real scandal would have been the call to Dennis Regan. This would begin to explain the allegiance Luke felt towards Regan, his promotion of Regan and defense of Regan in the McNeilly/Rende situation. This, my friends, would have been an A+ political scandal and extremely damaging to the Ravenstahl campaign.
My first indicator that the story was BS was that this alleged incident occurred before Bob O'Connor even won the general election. And at the time, Dennis Regan had no role in the operation of city government. None. Squat. Nada. I would venture to guess that Luke Ravenstahl didn't even know who Dennis Regan was in October 2005. And even if Luke did know him, do you really think Regan would be the first person he'd think of calling to help get him out of a bind with the police, if he were inclined to do so? It's preposterous to me that anyone would even make the allegation that a call was made to Regan over this incident. What could Regan have possibly done? What clout did he wield?
In news interviews yesterday, Ravanstahl explained what did actually occur at Heinz Field the night of October 31, 2005. And KDKA's Marty Griffin reported that his police sources confirmed that Ravenstahl's version of events was truthful.
It doesn't matter to me if Ravenstahl, who is an admitted avid tailgater, has a few drinks at Steelers games. There is absolutely no harm in having a good time, even for a mayor. And as far as having a verbal confrontation with a police officer, Luke explained it well and I accept his version of events. I've witnessed police acting as the harrasser, rather than the protector. And I've also witnessed police that reach for their handcuffs a little prematurely. Let's accept what happened and move on. It is a non-story.
This incident was blown way out of proportion and received much more media attention than it deserved. John McIntire is the one who deserves the blame for his irresponsible blogging in trying to pass rumor for fact. One should not make such accusations without also offering proof and documentation. Blogs should be held to the same standard of truth as any other form of news outlet. The ignoramous should know better. Some people will do, say or write anything for attention. Not many people I know ever took John McIntire seriously. The only good that will come out of this incident is that even less people will take him seriously in the future. Now, if he'd only go back to Kankakee.
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on Friday, January 19, 2007 at 1:35 AM.
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