Check out this press release from Attorney General Bob McDonnell. Good for McDonnell — he got MySpace to agree to share sex offender information. Right?
Now read the Seattle Times article about the same topic. Note that McDonnell’s name doesn’t appear anywhere, nor does the state of Virginia. In fact, the bulk of the credit goes to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic AG in the mold of Elliott Spitzer, and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, another Democrat. Not only does McDonnell’s name not appear, but it appears that he had nothing to do with this move on MySpace’s part. The article names the seven states that took part in the demand for data, and Virginia just ain’t one of them.
I can’t claim to be surprised to find a politician claiming credit for something that he had nothing to do with. But I’ve read enough press releases from the McDonnell camp that I thought he had a great deal to do with this MySpace deal. To find out that he apparently had absolutely nothing to do with it is a bit surprising. I’m reevaluating all of the prior press releases I’ve gotten from his office, wondering how much I took at face value that I shouldn’t have.
10:55pm Update: Tucker Martin, McDonnell’s spokesman, has provided a response in the form of a lengthy comment.
Impressive catch, Waldo.
good catch
Waldo- I have just emailed you this as well, but wanted to make sure your readers see it.
I’m fairly under the weather and getting close to calling it a night but I’d like to at least start the process of letting you know how National Association of Attorneys General actions work, and why we made today’s announcement in Virginia in conjunction with AG’s across the country.
Today’s announcement was the result of an effort led by the 7 states in the article you reference. You’ll note we specifically reference AG Blumenthal and Cooper in our release. However, as is standard procedure, all AG’s were invited to recieve the info for their state, and make an announcement within their state. This is due to the fact that AG’s work very closely on a number of large issues, including the issue of social networking sites. When AG’s work on a larger issue like this a smaller group of states may lead a narrow effort within that specific subject area, while work on the overall issue is broadly distributed amongst the states. This is what you have seen today. (In fact you are probably most familiar with this scenario in terms of announcing multi-state settlements. Only a few states lead the action, but a large number participate behind the scenes.)
That’s why you’ll see this release on AG Cuomo’s website in New York: http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2007/may/may21a_07.html
And this from Michigan: http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-34739-168897–,00.html
And this from Illinois: http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/pressroom/2007_05/20070521.html
This release notes, “Attorney General Madigan is working with a group of attorneys general from 52 states and territories to encourage social networking sites to better protect children from sexual predators and inappropriate content online.”
And this from New Mexico: http://www.ago.state.nm.us/pio/pressrel/2007/html/05-21-07_myspace_sex_offenders.html
And this from Arizona: http://www.azag.gov/news-room.html (top release)
And this from Kentucky: http://ag.ky.gov/news/sexoffendersonmyspace.htm
None of these states were part of the 7 state group leading this specific effort, but all are involved in the larger issue, and put out the same release today.
In fact, the Deputy Attorney General in charge of technology issues in our office, Lisa Hicks-Thomas, is in Philadelphia with AG staff members from around the country working on social networking issues today and tomorrow at a NAAG conference on the issue. Given the fact that the staffs are together working on this issue as I type this, NAAG was very interested in a broad release of today’s announcement. You’d probably be pleasantly surprised by how well AG’s of very different political stripes cooperate within the NAAG organization.
When something like this is ready to be announced all the AG’s press offices are notified by NAAG, and encouraged to put out the info in their state at an agreed upon time. We are provided with a basic template of information. In our case, given the fact that Virginia was the first state to require email registration for convicted sex offenders, and the first to bring Myspace.com to to the table on this issue, we felt it was important to put out this specific release.
The long and short is, Attorneys General work together on issues such as this one all the time, and announcements are made like this routinely. All states work together on the larger issue, but, just like in any organization, some take the lead in specific areas pertaining to that issue. Our office is very active within NAAG on the issue of social networking sites, and that is why we publicized today’s specific announcement in tandem with other AG’s offices across the country. Hope this helps explain it all a little better.
Tucker
Waldo,
This is quite a charge you’re leveling. You are accusing the Attorney General of this commonwealth and his staff of lying. Before you posted this, did you bother getting clarification from the AG’s office?
No I’m not. I neither said nor meant to imply any such thing. I said only that the impression created by the press release was that Mr. McDonnell was more active in this process than he really was. I suspect that, in carefully parsing the language, no such statement is actually made, and I didn’t even look for such a statement, because it wouldn’t occur to me that his office would lie. His press release would, however, lead a reasonable person to conclude that he had a greater role in this than he really did.
I should call up that Tucker’s comment, prior to yours, got caught in the moderation queue, so you wouldn’t have been able to see it before you posted your comment.
Waldo, I’m disappointed that you didn’t link my big announcement of the historic power-sharing that’s taken place in Northern Ireland.
What? Other white males did all the work, of course, but I’m a white male, too!
~
Anyway, don’t ding the AG too hard. He’s real busy protecting our gun dealers from law enforcement.
Ah, I see Tucker has finally grown up a bit and learned how to post a reply to a blog post he didn’t agree with. Amazing!
Typical Waldo.
Thinly veiled accusation, followed by a denial that claims he was misunderstood.
This is why Waldo is quickly becoming less relevant than Jimmy Carter.
But slightly more relevant than dead-duck, Bush The Incompetent.
This logic is awesome: I’m guilty of anything anybody accuses me of, especially if I deny it.
Alton, did you neglect to register as a sex offender? Now don’t deny it, or we’ll know it’s true!
Alton, did you neglect to register as a sex offender?
Ask your Wife Waldo, did she? Uncalled for.
Wow! This makes the dustups we’ve had seem awfully insignificant by comparison.
Uh-oh, so now my wife is a sex offender…if she denies it. Man, this new you’re-guilty-if-you-deny-it logic is tough to fight. I guess we should all just start confessing to everything we’re accused of. Or, to go out on a limb, maybe we can just agree that the very premise is totally asinine.
“To find out that he apparently had absolutely nothing to do with it is a bit surprising.”
This sentence sums up the overall tone of your initial post, and it’s quite accusatory. It certainly reads like you’re calling McDonnell a liar. Of course, “I suspect that, in carefully parsing the language, no such statement is actually made.” ;-)
According to Tucker’s explanation, the AG and other attorneys in his office had quite a bit to do with it, and his press release was essentially the same as many other AG’s who weren’t mentioned by the press. A retraction and apology would seem to be in order.
I’m not particularly concerned with what other AGs did; I live in Virginia.
No, no it wouldn’t. I posted a blog entry, his office posted a response, which I called attention to — both sides are presented. As both Tucker and you point out, AGs across the nation have claimed credit for this, despite having little to do with it. The fact that this sort of thing is widespread doesn’t make me like it any more.
Where in the press release does AG McDonnell claim credit for the MySpace deal? Or, to be more specific — since he doesn’t claim credit for it in the press release, which parts do you think are designed to give the impression, without explicitly stating as much, that he did get MySpace to do this?
(These are questions I had before I saw the response from Mr. Martin.)
“Where in the press release does AG McDonnell claim credit for the MySpace deal?”
He doesn’t. And only with a very tortured reading would anyone assume that’s what he meant.
The very provision of the press release provides that impression. If I issued the same press release, making all references to McDonnell with my own name, I guarantee you that I’d receive phone calls from media outlets asking me for more information. Why me? I have nothing to do with it, and didn’t claim to in the press release. But why else would I issue the press release if I didn’t have anything to do with it? Such an act would be absolutely bizarre.
Organizations do not generally issue press releases to announce things that they had nothing to do with. Elected officials, when they’re looking to merely comment on something that they had nothing to do with, issue a statement. Mr. McDonnell had nothing to do with the death of Jerry Fallwell, of course, so he issued a “Statement on Passing of Dr. Jerry Falwell.” He had nothing to do with McNulty’s resignation, so he issued a “Statement on Resignation of United States Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty.” But on the topic at hand, there was no statement but, rather, McDonnell Announces MySpace to Provide Names of Sex Offenders on Site.”
“dsbaf,” I have changed your assumed screen name to one more familiar to others — “I.Publius” — and remind you of my e-mail to you from August of 2006. I have been enormously patient with you, whether as your latest pseudoynm, or as “Sam Reilly” and, prior to that, as “I.Publius.” Let’s not cause that to change.
“Where in the press release does AG McDonnell claim credit for the MySpace deal?”
In the title and first paragraph! It’s certainly implied, if not explicitly stated, by the use of the term “McDonnell announces….” This self-congratulatory tone is consistent with most of the press releases from McDonnell’s office, which I receive by unsolicited e-mail.
McDonnell Announces MySpace to Provide Names of Sex Offenders on Site
Richmond – Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced today that MySpace.com has identified thousands of convicted sex offenders on the site, and will share the information with the nation’s Attorneys General.