Tom Brinkman Demands a Retraction from The Cincinnati Enquirer

UPDATE — Politics Extra responds
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34th District Ohio State Representative Tom Brinkman brought to my attention the following Cincinnati Enquirer article from today by Jon Craig, particularly what he (Brinkman) is quoted and referred to as saying in it.

The article begins thusly:

Last Updated: 9:30 am | Thursday, May 18, 2006
Gays lobby lawmakers, but report little progress
BY JON CRAIG | ENQUIRER COLUMBUS BUREAU

COLUMBUS - Lynne Lefebvre of Mariemont admitted she was terrified Wednesday about lobbying Rep. Tom Brinkman to make Ohio more friendly to gays.

After all, Brinkman, a Mount Lookout Republican, is among the co-sponsors of a bill to bar gay couples from adopting children, and he has sued Miami University to stop it from offering benefits to same-sex partners.

But Lefebvre brought a secret weapon: photos of her gay son, Ross, in an Eagle Scout outfit. That son, a 28-year-old landscape architect, moved out of Ohio partly because of its hostile environment for gay people, she said.

And by the end of their 35-minute session, Brinkman - whose sons are Scouts - acknowledged, “There are things we should do as a society that are more accepting.”

He even said he would now vote against House Bill 515, the ban on gay adoptions, although it probably won’t reach the House floor.

Brinkman e-mailed me as follows (used here with his permission):

I am shocked and outraged to have been totally and completely misquoted in today’s ENQUIRER.

This is more than a misquote, this is an outright lie.

I am demanding a complete and total retraction of that article and the implication that I:
1) Will now NOT vote for a bill that I am a cosponsor of,
2) That I would change my mind on a matter of public policy just because someone shows me a picture!

I am probably being foolish that the ENQUIRER will print a retraction tomorrow, but I will remain optimistic until they say no.

In the meantime, please spread the word. Thanks.

Tom Brinkman Jr.

Brinkman’s right in not expecting The Enquirer’s first reaction to be a retraction in tomorrow’s print edition. Unless Jon Craig has first-hand knowledge otherwise, Brinkman has every right to expect that The Enquirer will post a retraction TODAY, on its BLOG, followed up with a print retraction tomorrow.
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UPDATE: Received this from Brinkman just before 2 PM. It is Jon Craig’s response:

I attended the meeting with Brinkman and the gay lobbyists. There will be a clarification in tomorrow’s newspaper with reference to HB 515 because in the editing process, the representative’s additional comments about being against putting it on a statewide ballot were cut.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Jon Craig
Enquirer Columbus Bureau

I sent off an e-mail to Mr. Craig suggesting that a more immediate response in the Politics Extra Blog would be in order.

Just curious, upon further reflection: Did Mr. Craig’s attendance at this meeting happen to occur because he was hanging around, or was it part of an pre-planned interest group-media gang-up on legislators?
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NOTE: I’ll only take comments at this post about the accuracy or inaccuracy of the reporting, not the legislative issue involved. I apologize for the delay in posting this limitation.