Oh look, an attack article from the Washington Post!

To start off with, I want to point out that I'm ambivalent about the nature of Governor Rick Perry's (R-Tx) Gardasil/HPA vaccination executive order. I understand his concerns and his heart is in the right place. But he should have been more circumspect about the need for a executive order on the issue. Still, he did it as a Governor- and it fits with his "state's rights" agenda.

Anyways, on to the main story. The Washington Post followed up on Michelle Bachmann's attacks to Perry from last night's GOP debate with this article: Perry Has Deep Financial Ties to Makers of HPV Vaccine.

Okay, that sounds like damning stuff, doesn't it?

I don't think so, when you read the contents of the article. Let's go to the tape!

"Perry’s gubernatorial campaign, for example, received nearly $30,000 from the drugmaker since 2000, most of it prior to his decision in 2007 to order young girls to obtain Merck’s vaccine against the human papillomavirus, or HPV."

$30,000? That's it? That's about $3,750 a year between 2000 and 2007, give or take. We're seriously going to bitch about that?

"Merck has also given more than $355,000 in donations to the Republican Governors Association since 2006, which was the year that Perry began to play a prominent role in the Washington-based group, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics."

 $355,000 to an organization that Perry was involved in? Again, $355,000 for that? Really? Are we really parsing pennies here? And let's also not forget that there are 29 total Republican Governors in the United States, with another 3 commonwealth heads (think Puerto Rico) as well. That translates to (roughly) $12,241.37 per Governor. 

Or is all this just eeeeeeeevilnesssssss because Perry has an "R' in front of his name and not a "D"? Not to put forth a "you too" argument, but just how much did Obama raise through lobbyists and donations? And why aren't the Washington Post covering that?

I think I know what this is. They're trying to slam Perry on the lobbyist issue, which is fair game, even with the amounts of money that they're reporting on. But they're clearly jumping the shark on the lobbyist issue, because frankly, this really feels like small change here. And not just small change, but one that doesn't really have a substantial connection between Perry and Merck in the HPV vaccine issue. It's, in part, the WaPo throwing darts at a board.

It's also a great way to play the demonization game. Look at the title once again: "Perry Has Deep Financial Ties to Makers of HPV Vaccine." That's pretty strong stuff! But it's not borne out in the article, really. Did the WaPo expect their readers to be too stupid to read beyond the title? 

Yeah. I think so. You're going to need to do better than this, Washington Post. I see right through your dirty tricks.