In Defense of Brian Sandoval

Before I begin this, I need to make a few things clear:  I’m a Nevadan, I’m proud of my state, and I want Rory Reid to be our next governor.  For those of you who aren’t from here, let me summarize.  At present, Nevada is sucking in every way it’s possible to suck.  So we could really use a new governor to help us out of the suckiness and not just sit on his hands watching the next four years go by (our current governor basically added to the suckiness).  Two guys want the job.  There’s Rory Reid, the Democrat, who has a kick-ass education plan that — if you have the capacity to think past your most recent text or tonight’s TV lineup — is the necessary first step on a long road out of this mess.  And then there’s Brian Sandoval, the Republican, who’s a nice enough guy, but not exactly a “new ideas/shake things up/make some needed changes” sort of fellow.  Let’s just say that if he becomes the governor, I expect that when he leaves office, things will look about the same (bad) as they do now.

So onto the matter at hand.  If you’ve been watching the news lately, you’ve seen how the irresponsible actions of a conservative blogger, Fox news, and administration officials led to the forced resignation of Shirley Sherrod.  The super-short version is that people didn’t wait to hear the whole story, they jumped to incorrect conclusions, and an innocent woman was put through the wringer.

Much as I hate to say this, I think Brian Sandoval is having a Shirley Sherrod moment.  Brian (I’ll pretend we’re on a first name basis) was doing an interview at Univision, an Hispanic TV station in Las Vegas, when he supposedly said — in response to a question about how he’d feel if his kids were pulled over in Arizona and asked for their papers — “My children don’t look Hispanic.”  Brian, incidentally, is Hispanic.  The news director, Adriana Arevalo, who wrote an article about this whole deal, also claims that Brian said this with “a note of pride in his voice.”

People, naturally, have been freaking out about this.  In part because the Reid campaign and the Democratic party have made sure to let as many people as possible know about it.  From first glance, Brian certainly looks like a complete jerk.  But from the beginning, all I could think about this entire situation was, something is rotten in Denmark.  Or at the very least, Vegas.  And here’s why:

1)  It turns out the “interview” was over when Brian allegedly made the statement.  He was standing with a reporter, and a photographer was shooting what they call “B roll” of him at the time (B roll is video that the newsperson talks over — the overall scenery, people doing stuff, up-close details).  There’s no audio recording.

2)  Because there’s no recording, the “witnesses” to this event are several people whose stories are apparently the “same or similar.”  I don’t know about you, but it’s been my experience that if you ask five people to tell you what they heard someone say, you’re going to get five different answers.  And then, if those same people get together, talk about what they’ve heard, and sort of “jog” each others memories, it’s amazing how they’ll all start coming up with the same story.

3)  Because the interview was over, Brian and the reporter were more than likely just shooting the shit.  Which means there’s a good possibility that he was actually joking.  Yes, some people do use sarcasm as a comic device.  I’ve even tried it myself.

4)  While it’s possible he may be a complete imbecile, I have a hard time believing he’d actually say something like this, in all seriousness, while at an Hispanic TV station.  Unless he was drunk or stoned.  Which takes us down an entirely different road.

5)  If this comment of his was so terrible and shocking and controversial, why didn’t the reporter follow up with a question and get him to explain his position on camera?  Why just let him innocently leave the studio and then play gotcha journalism by writing an article that accuses him of saying something that can’t be backed up with a tape and doesn’t even give him a chance to respond?  And why didn’t the news director, who apparently didn’t even hear him say it and just got the information from staffers, call him up and get his side of the story?  What kind of journalism is that?

6)  When political commentator John Ralston asked Brian about it, and he stumbled all over the answer — and sounded like a complete buffoon because he said he didn’t recall saying it — maybe he was actually telling the truth!?  Because if you’re running for office, finishing your 15th interview of the day, and shooting the shit with someone, you may forget making a sarcastic remark that you seriously thought someone was smart enough to know was so outrageous it was obviously a joke.  

7)  And finally, John Ralston, how exactly did you confirm that Brian made these remarks when you so confidently declared it so?  Apparently not with a tape. 

So, Brian, on behalf of my fellow left-leaning human beings, I’d like to apologize for jumping to conclusions and creating a stir where there may very well not even have been a spoon or a pot.  I’m sorry we took the moral low road and acted like the party and news organizations over whom we gnash our teeth and pull our hair.  Because although I doubt electing you our governor would benefit our state, it doesn’t mean I think we should stop giving you the benefit of the doubt.