Silky Pony doesn’t like dissent

by Cassy Fiano | October 27, 2007 3:21 pm

The man who parades around as the crusader for the common man, John “Breck Girl”/”Silky Pony” Edwards, has found a truly worthy opponent.

He’s decided to take on a college student, a grad student doing a story about why Silky, the crusader for the poor, has made his campaign headquarters in a wealthier area of town. When the student tried to be fair and objective, rather than drink the Kool-Aid and toe the liberal line, Silky decided to attack.

A UNC-Chapel Hill journalism professor said John Edwards’ presidential campaign tried to kill a student’s video story about his campaign headquarters.

Associate Professor C.A. Tuggle said two top staffers for the former North Carolina senator demanded that the school drop the segment from the student-run television program “Carolina Week.” They also asked to have the video removed from the YouTube Web site.

Tuggle said they threatened to cut off access to Edwards for UNC student reporters and other student groups if the piece aired.

“My gosh, what are they thinking?” Tuggle said. “They’re spending this much time and effort on a student newscast that has about 2,000 viewers? They’re turning a molehill into a mountain.”

A spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign said it had no problem with student reporters.

“This is silly,” campaign spokeswoman Colleen Murray said in a statement. “We love all reporters, the problem is the feeling isn’t always mutual.”

The campaign would not answer questions about the incident.

The segment, by graduate student Carla Babb, began as a look at Nation Hahn, a UNC senior interning with the campaign. During the interview, Babb asked about a recent column in The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper, criticizing Edwards’ choice of the posh Southern Village shopping center as the location for his headquarters.

Babb rewrote the piece to focus on that angle and interviewed the columnist, prompting the complaint from Edwards’ campaign.

In the video, James Edward Dillard, a columnist for The Daily Tar Heel, says that the location conflicts with Edwards’ campaign goal of reducing poverty in America.

Oh, the heresy! Interviewing people to find out the entire story! Trying to present an objective viewpoint! Didn’t this girl get the memo that media is biased to the Left, and therefore, she is never, ever to question a Democrat? She’s supposed to investigate Republicans only! What could she have been thinking??

Silky says the video is biased, and if it runs, they’ll cut off access to the Edwards campaign for student reporters and groups. I guess the Breck Girl just can’t handle people asking questions or doubting his sincerity. Rather than answer those questions and respond, it’s so much easier to try and censor them. It makes one curious about how Edwards would handle criticism as President, doesn’t it?

The video hasn’t been yanked from YouTube — yet. Watch it while you still can.

Hat Tip: Hot Air

You can read more from Cassy at her blog and at Wizbang.