Monday, October 30, 2006

The Evening Sun Sucks Up

Headlines from the Norwich Evening Sun for 10/24:

Libous encourages municipal cooperation with DOT gift and

Sen. Libous helps fund sidewalk replacement

From the first paragraph of that story:

"...Libous came to Norwich last week to announce he would be giving the city $50,000 to aid in the sidewalk replacement program."

I really couldn't believe what I was reading. Obviously, no one really thinks that Libous is giving his personal funds to the City of Norwich. But if that's the case, then why write the stories that way?

The editor's response to my inquiry:

"If you've read my blog, you know I feel slimy this time of year when the politicians roll out the pork just before elections. I don't think there's anyone dumb enough to believe it's coming out of Libous' (or Crouch, Seward, Finch, et al) pocket. Nevertheless, those getting the money want it, and want the public to know about it, so they can get more of it. It's a vicious Catch-22, but I trust my readers are astute enough to see the motivation behind the many, many faces of politicians at every single event (even the St. Bart's spaghetti supper!) this time of year."

It's a vicious catch-22? Please. Perhaps he'd feel less slimy if he didn't publish such slimy stories.

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