Cen-sor, n.  A person authorized to examine books, films, or other material and to remove or suppress what is considered morally, politically, or otherwise objectionable.

For much of the time since being elected, I have been asked by the Los Angeles Times-owned Daily Pilot (yes, the same Los Angeles Times that refuses to release the Obama-Ayers-Khalidi destroy Israel love fest video) to write short opinion pieces for their “That’s Debatable” feature.   The “That’s Debatable” comes with a short word count limit, usually 150 words, to which I always comply.

Several times over the past few years, after asking for my opinion, the Daily Pilot unilaterally edits my pieces, changing the meaning and content of my opinion.  Every time this has happened, I call or email Paul Anderson, the Daily Pilot’s editor, to complain.  I usually say to Paul that, unlike one of his staff writers, I should not have my opinion pieces subject to editing without my permission.  A staff writer is supposed to write an unbiased account of something that happened - I was asked for my opinion as an elected official, if the paper changes my response, then the readers don’t see my opinion.

When a political statement is changed by someone else empowered to make that change, we call that censorship.  While writing for the American University in Cairo campus newspaper in Egypt 24 years ago,  I once had a piece on the Egypt-Israel peace treaty completely expunged by the paper - that was an extreme version of censorship.  Now, I never expected to have censorship happen to me in America, but today, after at least the sixth time the Daily Pilot has cut my “That’s Debatable” column to shreds, I’m beginning to wonder.   What happened?

Along with my Democrat opponent, I was asked to submit a “That’s Debatable” piece of no more than 150 words on the Governor’s proposed Lottery modernization proposal.  My submitted piece was 149 words.  Imagine my shock and disappointment when I see that my submitted piece was cut by 1/3 to 103 words while my liberal lawyer opponent’s piece weighed in at 183 words - 33 over the proscribed limit!  I guess the liberal media needed to trim my piece by 46 words so my Democrat opponent could have the extra space for 33 words.  So, not only did the Daily Pilot cut my opinion (is it still my opinion then?) they managed to give my opponent almost double the space to make his case.  Liberal media bias?  Or just editorial sloppiness?  Imagine if, during a debate, my opponent and I were asked for two minute responses to questions.  In the middle of my two minute response, the moderator turns off my microphone for 40 seconds, then turns around and gives my opponent my 40 seconds.   That’s what happened over at the Daily Pilot.

Here’s the actual “That’s Debatable” column in today’s newspaper.

Below that is my email to Pilot editor Paul Anderson.

THAT’S DEBATABLE:
How to handle poor lottery sales?
State lottery ticket sales dipped again this year, worrying school officials who depend on the revenue, and raising questions about Gov. Schwarzenegger’s plan to borrow against future lottery revenue. State Supt. of Schools Jack O’Connell said officials should consider other ways to raise money, but the governor is confident that new lottery games will help goose profits. What should be done about lagging lottery sales?

The state-run lottery adds very little to education — about 1% of total K-12 spending. Many Californians erroneously think the lottery has solved education funding needs.

So, can the governor’s plan to contract out lottery operations help the budget? Yes. But at what cost to those who can least afford to play a game with poor odds?

Rather than expand the lottery, we should open up California’s territorial waters to new oil leases using modern slant drill methods from inland locations. We have more than 1 billion barrels of oil we know about in California’s waters. The royalty revenue would exceed any lottery scheme.

Chuck DeVore

Assemblyman

(R-Newport Beach)

It is absurd to promote gambling in order for kids to get a good education and satisfying jobs, which should help them avoid cheap thrills like gambling.

Before we can persuade the public to support more funding for education or increasing sales taxes, we have to convince the public that it is getting a good return on its investment.

Most of the public in the 70th Assembly District believes in quality education. They also believe that, for the most part, our schools are doing a good job, so they don’t see the need to increase taxes. But allowing weaker, less-productive schools to fail will affect O.C. schools.

Proposition 13 must be revised to fund local schools and government. We can keep protection for residential property and allow the market to dictate values and tax rates for other property.

Yes, it means higher property taxes for some. However, state sales and income taxes are among the highest in the nation, while property taxes rank 45th! It is not about “spreading the wealth.” It is about balancing revenue sources for all government services!

Michael Glover

Democratic candidate for 70th Assembly District

Email from Chuck DeVore to Daily Pilot editor Paul Anderson:

Subject: Paul, you have got to be kidding me

Look, you know as well as I do that most folks in print journalism today are liberal. That said, I always try to get my message out with a smile.

Today’s “That’s Debatable” takes the cake, however.  After repeated edits by your paper of my responses when it is always within the proscribed word count, and repeated assurances from you that it will not happen again — well, it’s happened again.  You wrote and asked me to submit a commentary that was 125-150 words max.  I did.  As I recall, I submitted a piece that was 149 words. So, imagine my “surprise” when I see that my piece was cut by 1/3 to 103 words, while my opponent’s piece is almost twice the length at 181 words — 31 more than the maximum you specified to me.  This is ridiculous!

I don’t even know why I try any more.

I’ll be calling you Thursday morning.  I cannot continue to have my “opinion” edited by someone who does not share my political views. 

Update at 12:45 pm on Oct. 30th:

Here is the original 147 word piece for the Daily Pilot.  I was told that my unedited piece would be put up on their website a couple of hours ago.  As of 11:52 am, it has not.  Notice how the eliminated lead paragraph expresses my reservations for the impact a lottery has on the poor – obviously a concern that the media does not like to associate with conservative Republicans such as myself.

I’ve never been a fan of a government-run lottery – at best, it is harmless entertainment, at worst, it is a tax on those who are bad with math or who can least afford to play.

Further, the state-run lottery adds very little to education — about 1% of total K-12 spending. Many Californians erroneously think the lottery has solved education funding needs.

So, can the governor’s plan to contract out lottery operations help the budget? Yes. But at what cost to those who can least afford to play a game with poor odds?

Rather than expand the lottery, we should open up California’s territorial waters – three miles and in – to new oil leases using modern slant drill methods from inland locations. We have more than 1 billion barrels of oil we know about in California’s waters (8 billion in federal). The royalty revenue would exceed any lottery scheme.

Chuck DeVore
Assemblyman
(R-Newport Beach)