Papers like the Austin American Statesman and the Waco Herald-Tribune should think twice before running articles from non-profit political muckraking outfits, like the Texas Tribune.

Today, Ross Ramsey, managing editor of the Tribune, ran an ill-conceived poorly veiled attack on the Honorable Brian Birdwell. At issue is the newly seated Senator’s eligibility. The rushed, poorly researched, and slanted article is illustrative of the Trib’s real purpose.

Voters of SD-22 have heard the evidence and candidates have had ample opportunity to challenge the legitimacy of Birdwell’s residency. They decided that Birdwell was eligible an representative.

Instead of clearly laying out the facts, Ramsey obfuscates spending over 2,000 words confusing and mudding the water, when a quarter of the words would have painted a clearer picture. That clearly was not the goal.

Of course, you have to be wordy and careful when tarring a war hero. Readers who bailed on the Trib-Statesman-Herald article before the 1000 word mark missed that Ramsey is seeking to undermine the reputation of a patriotic survivor of 9/11.

Birdwell was serving his country, and Texans, at the Pentagon when it was hit by terrorists. His injuries were severe and he spent time in Virginia recovering.

The writers at the Tribune, ProPublica, and American Independent News, online news outlets funded by wealthy progressives, report the world as if it is flat when we all know it is round. They spend large amounts of their time reporting on buckets of tar that don’t exist; while they prepare tar buckets for political operatives to dump on conservatives.

Ramsey, the Statesman and Herald Tribune need to run retractions. The latter two operations need to realize that blindly trusting the free content supplied by an outlet with a ideological bent is not going to save their budgets, but instead hasten their demise.