The Livingston County Republican Party is calling for a boycott of the local newspaper, as well as for conservatives to rise up and help it start its own “conservative media presence.”
Screaming “censorship” for having been blocked from the paper’s Facebook page, the local GOP in an email to its members today is calling on them to let their “voices speak by no longer subscribing, reading or using the Livingston County Press & Argus as an advertising mechanism.”
“We encourage on you to email them, call them and share your thoughts on the censorship of our party.
“We know that conservative values in Livingston County are important to you all,” the message continued. “Thus, let us work together to grow a conservative publication in our county where WE ARE THE MAJORITY.”
This latest brouhaha of butthurtness began when the local paper ran a story about a Glenn Gogoleski re-post on Facebook of photos that compared children waving Nazi flags to children holding up rainbow flags, which has been making the rounds on social media. Gogoleski, a newly elected member of the Hartland Consolidated Schools Board of Education, was one of the candidates promoted by the local GOP.
“Today, one of our elected officials and our chairwoman have been attacked in a hit piece by the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus,” the email read. “After much pushback by many Livingston County Conservatives on social media, the Livingston Daily Press & Argus chose censorship, blocking our chairwoman as well as our Livingston County Republican Facebook page.”
Both Gogoleski and Livingston County GOP Chair Jennifer Smith were among those contacted by the paper for comment.
The attack on Smith?
She was quoted as saying that the paper’s request for comment was “lame” and that “per the bylaws, I cannot comment as to whether Mr. Gogoleski is a member of our party or not.”
Ouch!
(And for the record, we’ve contacted Smith on numerous occasions for comment on various stories and she has never responded.)
I don’t know if Gogoleski is a member of the local GOP, but he is one of the candidates promoted heavily by the party in the last election. Gogoleski and nearly all of the school board candidates endorsed by the local GOP refused to do the usual candidate things, like answer questionnaires from media outlets or participate in public forums. (Click here for our coverage of the school board races.)
In the end, the local GOP’s strategy of not communicating beyond its bubble worked.
But now, it is having to deal with what it has created, and Glenn Gogoleski remains a constant source of culture-warring controversy. Issues around gender identity and diversity, discipline of “problem students” (including grabbing them by the scruff of the neck), and unannounced visits to district classrooms seem to be foremost in Gogoleski’s mind.
“I could never, ever, ever be a teacher,” Gogoleski has been quoted multiple times as saying — including in the recent Daily Press & Argus story. “Because if I was, I would be a news highlight reel.”
I guess it’s good for Hartland students that Gogoleski is only establishing policy for the district instead of providing direct instruction.
And the local GOP?
Today’s email closed with: “We look forward to embarking on this goal of a conservative media presence and are excited to forge a path forward together — We the People.”
