Marty, Her Name's NATALIA, Not NATASHA

I guess I've been listening to too much Marty Griffin at work.  For those not in the area or otherwise wouldn't know, Marty's the morning voice of KDKA radio in Pittsburgh.

I've written about him before.

I don't want you to get the wrong impression.  Marty does do some completely cool things.  During this (and the last) period of intensely cold arctic weather, he's done an awful lot to get help to people who need but can't afford it (getting broken furnaces fixed and so on) and that's nothing but good.

On the other hand, that doesn't (or at least shouldn't) excuse his many embarrassing faults.  For example, when he repeatedly mis-characterized this NYTimes editorial and said that the Times was looking for a pardon for Edward Snowden when the editorial clearly called for "a plea bargain or some form of clemency".

Or when he repeatedly referred to Chelsea Manning on the same day as "Mr. Bradley."

This time, he's gone local with his particular brand of...I don't even know what to call it.  Griffinism?  Mid-morn KD-crazie? Marty-Malarkey?

I'll have to think on which one.

You see, he's up in arms over City Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak.

You might ask why I put her first name in bold italics.  I did that because Marty doesn't seem to be able to get her first name right - even when being corrected by callers on the air.  He insists on calling her "Natasha" while undermining her position in city government by using terms like "so called city leader."

Perhaps Marty should read the news sometime.  Perhaps if he did, he'd see that Natalia Rudiak won her seat in 2013 with just under 75% of the vote.

But let's get to what's really irking Marty.  It's this hearing:

Responding to concerns about dirt bikes recklessly racing through City neighborhoods and illegally cutting across both public and private property, Councilwoman Rudiak has called for a public hearing and a post agenda meeting in City Council, to take place on Wednesday, January 22, 2014, to bring together residents and City and State officials to discuss the current road-legal status of these vehicles and police enforcement of noise and speeding laws.

Marty didn't see the reason for the hearing.  He'd never heard of any problem with dirt bikes so it mustn't be a real issue.

Perhaps if he'd been watching his own TV station in June he'd have known that there's an issue.  This is from well known issue fabricator (and I mean that ironically) Ralph Iannotti:

Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak says for whatever reason, perhaps the warm weather, the city is seeing “a lot more complaints about dirt biking on streets and sidewalks.”

Two city neighborhoods where complaints are on the rise: Carrick and Knoxville.

Zone 3 Police Officer Christine Luffey told KDKA’s Ralph Iannotti that she believes most bikers don’t have licenses, are driving unregistered vehicles and have no insurance.

A Kirk Avenue block watch captain, Donna Williams, last Sunday was on her front porch and shot home video of dirt bikers zooming though the neighborhood, weaving on the streets and sidewalks.

The dirt bikes bothered Ms Williams so much she circulated a petition, gathered about 125 names on it, and submitted it to the City Clerk's office in early November.  I am told that it was the petition itself triggered the hearing - not any decision by Councilwoman Natalia (see how easy that is, Marty?) Rudiak.

He's also ranting about the councilwoman's support of the Thanksgiving day protest at the Capital Grille downtown, though he gets the facts wrong on that one as well.  He repeatedly said the workers were protesting because they didn't want to work on Thanksgiving.

But the Will of the Council sees things a little differently:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh stands with workers to protect our collective rights from corporate encroachment, especially since other large corporations like Costco, Nordstrom, Burlington Coat Factory, and more have publicly confirmed their commitment to respecting workers, families, and our society by remaining closed on Thanksgiving; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby oppose the Darden Corporation's choice to force Capital Grille's employees to work on Thanksgiving and to do so without holiday pay; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh supports the employees of Capital Grille and the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Pittsburgh as they speak up together to advocate for fair standards in the restaurant industry.

Wait - Darden wanted all those people to work Thanksgiving without holiday pay??  That's what the protest was about?  But Marty said all those people didn't want to work on Thanksgiving.  Turns out they were protesting (among other things) Darden's choice to withhold holiday pay on that most American of holidays. 

Marty, you do some very good things with the 50,000 watts KDKA gives you every weekday morning. 

Getting all the facts straight isn't one of them.

It just isn't.