I think WATE has gone overboard with the sensational journalism stuff lately.  I have no doubt they chose to present Shurf Tim in the worst possible light.

That said, it's not difficult to present him in a bad light.  He's an arrogant SOB who thinks he answers to no one.

If I understood correctly, he was paid his county salary while "volunteering" on the Gulf Coast.  He also had to request the pay from FEMA (contrary to his story that FEMA forced him to accept it).  I believe that he was uncomfortable while working on the Coast, but it bothers me that he got paid twice for what was publicized as "volunteer" work, done while he wasn't available to do his primary job here at home.

A real volunteer wouldn't have asked for the FEMA money, or would have donated it to the rebuilding effort.  And a real public servant would actually talk to the media, whether or not he likes them.

Local TeeVee News versus His Holiness Hutchison -- talk about a race to the bottom.  It reminds me of when the "rock band" Great White burned up that nightclub in Rhode Island and everything came down to a choice between believing the club owners or the band's promoters -- two groups not normally noted for their honesty or professionalism.  Similarly, picking sides here is like choosing between J.R. Ewing and Cliff Barnes, or two one-legged men in an ass-kicking contest.  This is the result when both sides are weak and ugly.

Well put, Oren. 

nill illigitimi carborundum

Yeah, what bothers me about this WATE thing is the effect it has of making Hutchison look good. It's like they're saying, "Wow, that scumbag helped desperate people in the wake of the worst natural disaster in US history! And got PAID for it!" The fact that he got a FEMA check seems more like the kind of news that merits a snicker in MP's Ear to the Ground or Sandra Clark's column (although Sandra would be more likely to excoriate FEMA for not sending him a medal and a free helicopter in addition to the ten grand). Whatever terrible injustice WATE has done to this bold Aryan hero, and that WATE has committed in league with the vast, anti-Hutchison conspiracy infecting all major media in the Greater Knoxville area, it must comfort him that he can always rely on his cheerleading squad at the Halls Shopper.

hey R. Neal, thanks for the links to this hoo-ha. fun to read the back and forth of "journalists" like Patterson and Walker J.

and somewhere in the hoo-ha is a story - not sure if it's news, but it qualifies as entertaining reading!