Wait, what? She sued a newspaper over an editorial? Why wasn’t the reporter here more interested in this obviously interesting glimpse into Wendy Davis’ character? She sued a newspaper. Politicians don’t do that very often. Most reporters would probably find such a case interesting enough to look into. Root just brushes right past this very interesting episode in the Wendy Davis Origins Story as if every political figure takes newspapers to court and claims that negative press hurt their bodies and brains, when such cases are actually very rare. They generate more bad press, for one thing.
Before we detail that, let’s pick through the first part of the story. Root casts Davis as the little lady taking on the big bad billionaires. The fact is, the Bass family are well-known philanthropists. Mistletoe Heights is a mixed neighborhood in Fort Worth, that has its tony sections. Houses there can go for around $1 million today. Davis, by then married to a successful lawyer, was presumably not living the low life. She had time and the wherewithal to take on the zoo.
So what we really had in that 1990s fight was wealthy Wendy Davis engaging in NIMBY — Not In My Back Yard.
via The PJ Tatler » Wendy Davis Tells Court: That Mean Newspaper Hurt My Brain!.