LTE in my local hillbilly rag (and one they DIDN'T publish)

[bunkerbuster1]

Coupla weeks back I was offended by an especially nasty political cartoon that my red-state craphole rag decided to run. I spent about an hour carefully crafting a letter to express my outrage.

Of course they never ran it.

This, OTOH, they ran today. You really have to read it. No, really. force yourself.

Something’s wrong in this country when hundreds of people show up on a California beach to save dolphins, who, for whatever reason have beached themselves and insert feeding tubes to keep them alive.

Those same like-minded people, screaming about the right-wing fanatics who wanted Terri Schiavo to keep hers. The same people want child killers to be afforded every right under the Constitution, slapped on the wrist and given a chance to be rehabilitated.

They scream at the top of their lungs about terrorist <sic> being humiliated all the while wanting one of our soldiers, trying to save his life and the life of his fellow comrades, to be court — martialed for doing his duty. Something is really wrong.
— Dxxx Oxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxx, GA

+++++++++++++

Here's what I'd sent:

When turning to your newspaper's Perspectives page, I expect mostly hard right-wing rhetoric, completely free of any progressive voices (save for the occasional letter-writer), as is your First Amendment right. You rarely disappoint.

However, today's despicable cartoon about Mrs. Schaivo, claiming that an evil "Liberal Judiciary" had claimed a "Right to Kill her" went beyond debate, beyond the limits of decency, and into barbarous violence-mongering against our nation's judicial branch.

The 40 judges who heard this custody battle are Democrats AND Republicans, Clinton appointees AND Bush appointees. Given that their peers have been threatened and, in recent weeks, murdered or terrorized by violent crackpots, a respectable publication should know better than to pour gasoline on a fire, as you have done.

Shame on you.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Was that cartoon by Glen Mc Coy?

[bunkerbuster1]

3. Not Glen

Should've scanned/saved the graphic, don't have it. Don't know the "artist's" name, but it's someone local, for this particular rag.

BTW, I should thank you for forcing me to google this Glen McCoy fella. Just saw some of his 'toons. What a dick.

[kliljedahl]

7. He is a dick, isn't he?

Keith’s Barbeque Central

[struggle4progress]

2. If I were you, I'd read the paper to see who was advertising in it.

Then I'd make sure some advertisers heard from me that I wouldn't be shopping with them, because I was so offended by the paper they supported.

[bunkerbuster1]

4. This paper's distributed free of charge to all Charter cable customers

so presumably they're funded in part by Charter.

I should probably start by bitching to them. hmm...

[struggle4progress]

5. If the paper endorses federal candidates, write a nice letter to FEC ...

... asking whether Charter reported this form of campaign contribution.

[raccoon]

8. Great suggestion. nt

[bunkerbuster1]

9. Doubt that one cranky liberal writing to advertisers would change them

I may have called it a "hillbilly rag" but it probably has a circulation in the low six figures. It's pretty big, really.

I have been trying to get my local dems to start barraging the paper with complaints about a lack of even a semblance of editorial balance. Not much interest, but I'll keep at it. I think if the paper heard from a lot of people who truly cared, they might get it through their thick skulls that yes, their policies were actually alienating readers.

Honestly, while the paper does some halfway decent local reporting, most of the time I just chuck it in the recycling pile because I know if I look at the editorial page I'll want to hurl.

[Skittles]

6. and we wonder why rural folk vote repug

I've read several small-town Texas papers and they have hard right columns filled with lies and distortions with no opposing viewpoints. I remember one by Kay Bailey Hutchison claiming that drilling in ANWR would pretty much solve all of America's energy problems. :puke:

[bunkerbuster1]

10. I should elaborate; this hillbilly rag is in what USED to be rural

but it's part of Metro Atlanta big-time, now; the county has nearly 750,000 residents.

And y'know, maybe "hillbilly" is the wrong word. Jed Clampett may have been unsophisticated, but he was pretty smart, something I can't say for these fascist creeps.