PRI Propaganda Author Writes in to Madison County Record
I burst out laughing when I saw that Lawrence "Rich mosaic" McQuillan, wrote into the Madison County Record to complain about Laura MacCleery of Public Citizen for having the audacity to call the report the sham it is:
Our study recognizes the importance of a healthy tort system, and says so. Unfortunately, today's system is out of control, and the data in our report illustrates this. Perhaps MacCleery should delve into our facts and figures before dismissing our findings out of hand.
Lawrence J. McQuillan
Co-author, "Jackpot Justice: The True Cost of America's Tort System"
Why did I burst out laughing? Because the Madison County Record is the most slanted, yellow tabloid in print today. My good pal Evan Schaeffer explained in 2004:
"From its inception, the Madison County Record was given away for free all over Madison County--at gas stations, grocery stores, anywhere that potential Madison County jurors were likely to pick it up. To those who practice law in Madison County, the Record's coverage of the courts was obviously one-sided, expressing a superficial pro-business point of view. It was also amateurish and hokey, with the look, feel, and less-than-stellar quality of a college newspaper. If you're interested, most of its content is online. (Their site looks a little less amateurish now, but the content is still as "balanced" as a Goebbels pamphlet." - Justinian)
Given these clues that something was amiss, it wasn't much of a surprise when the Washington Post broke the story earlier this week on its front page: the Madison County Record isn't a newspaper at all, but is a weekly advertisement that's being bankrolled and published by the tort reformers at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Washington Post's article is here (free registration required). "
No wonder McQuillan wrote into the Madison County Record, eh? I bet he was shocked that the MCR printed his letter....
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