Petrelis Files

Over the weekend in Boston Theresa Heinz Kerry rightfully told Colin McNickle, the editorial page editor of the conservative Pittsburgh Tribune Review, to "shove it" in response to questions he shouted at her.

On this morning's NBC Today Show, Katie Couric asked her if she regretted her remark to McNickle.

Her response: “No, I don't. And I think that I say what I believe. I'm plain-spoken. I really wanted him to back off, you know, back off. And he and reporters generally don't do this — they don't trap you and they don't misrepresent you when they talk to you. That's exactly what he did. I didn't know who he was and I heard him say two words that [were] not what I had said. I saw the potential of a misrepresentation and so I defended myself. Wouldn't you if someone attacked you like that?”

You go, girl!

The Heinz Kerry/McNickle feud led me to check Federal Election Commission records to see if McNickle has made any donations in the current election cycle, and he apparently hasn't.

However, his boss, mogul and funder of numerous right-wing causes and think tanks Richard Mellow Scaife, along with his wife, Margaret "Ritchie" Battle Scaife, have been extremely generous in their donations to the Bush/Cheny reelection campaign and conservative PAC.

A search on Google for evidence Mr. Scaife has disclosed his donations in his publication turned up nothing.

Two things about Mrs. Scaife's political giving were eyebrow raising.

First, she donated $2,000 last year to Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign. (Gotta wonder what the hubby and journalists at the Tribune Review think of that donation.)

Second, she's also contributed to the Wish List, which is a pro-choice PAC.

Her donations to Kerry and the Wish List reveal some liberal tendencies on Mrs. Scaife's part, at least in the past two years.

If you want to know about the Scaife's giving at the federal level, visit http://www.tray.com/.
^^^

SCAIFE, R M
6/28/2003 $2,000.00
PITTSBURGH, PA 15219
TRIBUNE-REVIEW PUB CO -[Contribution]
PRO-GROWTH ACTION TEAM (PAT-PAC)

SCAIFE, R M
6/28/2003 $2,000.00
PITTSBURGH, PA 15219
TRIBUNE-REVIEW PUB CO -[Contribution]
PRO-GROWTH ACTION TEAM (PAT-PAC)

Scaife, Richard
12/22/2003 $75,000.00
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Sarah Scaife Foundation -[Contribution to a 527 organization]
CLUB FOR GROWTH

Scaife, Richard
4/26/2004 $50,000.00
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Sarah Scaife Foundation -[Contribution to a 527 organization]
CLUB FOR GROWTH

SCAIFE, RICHARD M. MR.
8/18/2003 $2,000.00
PITTSBURGH, PA 15219
TRIBUNE-REVIEW PUBLISHING COMPANY/P -[Contribution]
BUSH-CHENEY '04 INC

Scaife, Richard M. Mr.
7/21/2003 $25,000.00
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Tribune - Review Publishing/Publish -[Contribution]
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE

SCAIFE, RITCHIE
6/28/2003 $2,000.00
PITTSBURGH, PA 15232
TRIBUNE-REVIEW PUB CO -[Contribution]
PRO-GROWTH ACTION TEAM (PAT-PAC)

Scaife, Ritchie
4/25/2003 $2,000.00
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Self-Employed/Homemaker -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC

SCAIFE, RITCHIE
6/28/2003 $2,000.00
PITTSBURGH, PA 15232
TRIBUNE-REVIEW PUB CO -[Contribution]
PRO-GROWTH ACTION TEAM (PAT-PAC)

SCAIFE, RITCHIE MR.
8/13/2003 $2,000.00
PITTSBURGH, PA 15232
HOMEMAKER -[Contribution]
BUSH-CHENEY '04 INC

Scaife, Ritchie Mrs.
5/19/2004 $1,000.00
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Housewife -[Contribution]
THE WISH LIST

Scaife, Ritchie Mrs.
6/20/2003 $1,000.00
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Housewife -[Contribution]
THE WISH LIST

Scaife, Ritchie Mrs.
7/21/2003 $25,000.00
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Homemaker -[Contribution]
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE