Eric Hartley’s New Job – Press Agent for James King

If you are a regular listener to RedMaryland Radio (and if not why not?) you heard MDGOP Chairman Alex Mooney state that no Republican leaders were consulted on Mr. King’s appointment and none approved it.

If you fit into either of these categories you are most definitely not Annapolis Capital columnist, Eric Hartley. Which is good for you because, Mr. Hartley is far less informed than you.

His recent column was a puff piece about Mr King which could have been written by King himself, if he had the ability to string cogent sentences together. Hartley reports, without question, Mr. King’s reluctance to serve on this commission. He dutifully relates Mr. King’s Cincinnatan willingness to serve on this commission but not run for office during the time period that the newly drawn districts would be in place.

Nowhere does Hartley mention that King works for the O’Malley administration. He fails to even reference King’s support of O’Malley during the 2007 special session. And while Hartley wistfully relates Mr. King’s newlywed status, he fails to mention that Governor O’Malley and his senior staffers were honored guests at the nuptials.

I guess the facts that Mr. King has a hopeless conflict of interest by being on the O’Malley payroll, has closer ties to the administration than any current GOP leader and has an unabashed personal relationship with Governor O’Malley didn’t fit with the reluctant hero theme King wanted.

The only line Hartley got right was this “King is not looking to tilt the playing field in his party’s favor.“

Inconvenient truth indeed.

I guess that is why this blog has more journalistic integrity than outlets like the Annapolis Capital.