Gov. Carr, Adam Schrager, and right-wing talk radio
Last night at the Tattered Cover in downtown Denver, 9News reporter Adam Schrager signed his book, The Principled Politician: The Ralph Carr Story, in front of a high-profile crowd that included Mayor John Hickenlooper and a current or former Denver journalist in every row of the packed house.
Gov. Carr is known for defending the rights of Japanese Americans, who were treated horrifically after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Schrager’s presentation of the book was inspiring, if a bit too formal, because you left thinking that people really do want a leader like Carr, who will stand up for unpopular ideas.
Schrager was excellent during his question-and-answer session when he was funny and more relaxed, though he acknowledged that he was dodging specific questions about how Carr’s story relates to today’s politics, with illegal immigrants being scapegoated.
I think journalists should tell us what they think more often. They can still be fair and accurate in their news reporting.
Today, by email, I asked Schrager about something originally exposed by Colorado Media Matters:
Do you think Carr would have recommended that Clear Channel executives fire KOA’s Gunny Bob for his on-air statement that “every Muslim immigrant to America who holds a green card, a visa, or who is a naturalized citizen [should] be required by law to wear a GPS tracking bracelet at all times?”
And what do you, personally, think Clear Channel should do in response to this statement by Gunny? Here’s his response:
You know I’m not in a position to give personal opinions, but as for Gov. Carr, here are a couple of his quotes on the Constitutional rights of American citizens. Feel free to use these and interpret them as you wish. All are in the book….
“The Constitution includes all people,” he wrote to the Rev. DeWitt Talmadge Alcorn in Coffeyville, Kansas, and numerous others. “We must preserve its principles for every man or we shall not have it to protect any man.” “(The) Constitution starts out by saying, …We the people of the United States.’ It doesn’t say …We the people, who are descendants of the English or the Scandinavians or the French.’ It says, “We the people… When it is suggested that American citizens be thrown into concentration camps, where they lose all the privileges of citizenship under that Constitution, then the principles of that great document are violated and lost.”“While not expressed in this exact language, the underlying theory of the Constitution is found in the proposition that every man may use the talents which God has given him, may reach any goal toward which he sets his eyes and may enjoy the fruits of his ambition, his study and his toil, provided only that he does not use his powers to injure his fellows.”