"Why I Love the Sound of My Own Voice," by Tim Skubick.

Oh, Tim Skubick -- joy of my heart. For those of you who have yet the fine pleasure of a Tim Skubick experience, let me explain:

Skubick is Michigan's "Senior Capitol Correspondent," a lofty self-made title for his own style of punditry. With a weekly TV show on WKAR and a weekly column in the Lansing State Journal, Timmeh is one of the very few syndicated analysts who cover Michigan politics.

Sadly, his work is just a little below the bar of excellence. I think it hovers somewhere above the line of "Chernobyl toxin."

At any rate, this week Tim decided to write a little love letter to himself with a nice pat-on-the back over a very sensitive issue. Would it be the recent welfare reform legislation? How about that single-business tax replacement? Or maybe even a soft piece on passenger rail? After all, he is our "SENIOR CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT!"

No. Skubick writes about the tragic Ricky Holland murder. But he doesn't discuss the case; instead he writes a little CYA number to defend baiting Gov. Granholm in the first gubernatorial debate.

Skubick is -- well, was -- not shy of doing everything he could to kerplutz the Granholm train throughout her term. Not even exploiting the death of Ricky Holland -- a 7-year old Lansing boy -- was off limits if it could tank her reelection. Not shy of using the Holland case in neither his writing nor his words, Tim Skubick tried to pull off a little coup-de-grace against that "Granholm magic" by abruptly asking her -- on television -- if she was indirectly responsible for a little boy's death.

Oh, the sound of gnashing teeth! In fairness: with Skubick, there's quite a bit of teeth to gnash.

So today in the State Journal Skubick defends his question without labelling it his own. Why? The questioned backfired. Viewers and readers found the question uncalled for and exploitative. They found it inappropriate for a political debate, and as a means of sensationalizing the issues. And Skubick -- used to yucking it up with fellow analysts in the Ivory Tower of Lansing -- couldn't take the heat.

From the editorial:

One viewer accused the moderator of being a "colossal ass" for asking about the Ricky Holland murder during the first debate for governor. Wonder if that viewer saw the recent report on the state's gross mishandling of that little boy's abuse case?
[...]
For those who missed that first gubernatorial debate, the question that produced the most vehement public response dealt with the governor's role in all this.
[...]
Many viewers incorrectly thought the governor was asked if she was responsible for the child's death. What many didn't hear was the word "indirectly" before responsible.

The moderator? Tim Skubick -- himself. Of course, he can't stand to identify himself. Instead, he meanders about, pegging Gov. Granholm for her lack of accountability, drecking up the story of a tragedy for some political points.

It's despicable. And worse yet, Skubick writes the whole thing as a giant love letter to himself: that he -- and he alone -- had the cajones to take a stand against a renegade administration. And that those who see him for what he is -- a muckraker and an opportunist -- cannot hear correctly, or just don't know the facts.

The fact is that Tim Skubick is becoming less and less relevant. Time to take him off the pages of the LSJ, and retire him to the spas of Douglas J.