Saturday, November 20, 2010

Glenn Beck coming to Wilmington Dec. 15

Update Nov. 22: The statement below that Wilmington is recovering without government help is not true. Here is the correction.

I probably like Glenn Beck a little too much for my own good. I know he doesn't get it about Lincoln, is too pro-war any war to suit me, and has a bit too much of the huckster in him. On the other hand, it is obvious he has a good heart and has presented in a popular, easy-to-understand way basic the principal concepts of U.S. history and Judeo-Christian morality.

The story of Wilmington (county seat of Brown Clinton* County in southwestern Ohio a bit northeast of Cincinnati) has clearly touched his heart. Wilmington (population 12,000) was a freight hub for DHL, when that company decided to close it in November 2008. Two-thirds of the town had been employed by DHL.

However, the town is recovering, without governmental help. Apparently, most of the help is coming from local churches. Mr. Beck is visiting the town to show it off to America as an example of recovery without governmental help.

* My mistake. See comments for additional discussion.

Virtual buckeye to the Ohio Liberty Council on Facebook.

6 comments:

John Cropper said...

First of all, Wilmington is the county seat of Clinton County, not Brown County. Second of all, Beck continued to propagate the myth that "8,000 of Wilmington's 12,000" residents were layed off with the closure of DHL. The airpark employed people from a five county radius, and Wilmington was just one of several communities to take a hit. Common sense would tell people as much: half of our population are children.

As a lifelong resident of Wilmington and a reporter here, it irks me to no end to continually hear people play fast and loose with the facts and figures about our plight, not the least of whom is Glenn Beck. Especially in the name of ratings. Rachael Ray did the same thing at the same time last year. It was disingenuous then, and it will be disingenuous when Beck "saves our town."

A little fact checking would well serve both Fox News and this blog.

Anonymous said...

Your probably a liberal finding the negative is something good. So what if his facts are off, he's trying to do something wonderful for a small town who took care of themselves. He doesn't need the ratings, just google
"cable news ratings" and see for yourself. Rachel Ray is also someone who tried to do something kind. You don't understand it because it's probably not in your DNA.
God Bless
Connie

Harold Thomas said...

John and Connie:

Connie, I think our hearts are in the same place.

John, I apologize for my error in southwestern Ohio geography. Being originally from northeast Ohio, I have always had a mental block on Brown and Clinton Counties.

However, while I am not disputing your facts, you are misinterpreting my intent, and possibly Mr. Beck's as well. I also agree with you that my statement was off base about "two thirds of the town's population was employed by DHL." A little common sense would tell me what you did in your comment.

As I wrote in the first paragraph, I know Mr. Beck is very astute on ratings, and he certainly is very good at making a profit on what he does. However, it would seem cynical to suggest that those are his only motives.

My point is that I am happy to see an Ohio town spotlighted in this way. It should be a point of pride for you to see your city come together and lift itself up by its bootstraps, even if the impact of the DHL move is less than Mr. Beck suggested.

While I am usually conscientious about maintaining some reasonable journalistic standards in this blog, journalism is not its principal purpose. Advocacy for decentralized government is. From that point of view, while I do regret my errors, I do not think it should critically impact the credibility of this blog.

David Miller said...

If you want to get your facts straight, you might look into how much stimulus money sought, and how much it got. It wouldn't take much to find out. Just call the mayor's office.

They've gotten millions and applied for many millions more. Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge this hardhit town. I just prefer factual accuracy. Facts aren't liberal or conservative. They just are.

David Miler said...

Sorry, how much stimulus money "Wilmington" sought

Anonymous said...

Judging by your comment and your hatred of Glenn Beck, it is obvious Wilmington is doing just peachy. Apparently the government is taking care of all their needs. Thank goodness for government, because I was about to help outWilmington by doing some online shopping with their merchants. It's too bad jerks like Beck and Rachel Ray want to help a town that appeared to need some help. Thanks for setting us right on this. I now feel no need to help out your town. Good luck.