I throughly despise my local newspaper. Got this back regarding my LTTE...

CitrusLib

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Thu Sep-08-05 10:01 AM
Original message

I throughly despise my local newspaper. Got this back regarding my LTTE...

Some background. Here's the letter that set me off and prompted my letter:

Of course, to the Democrats, President Bush is guilty of everything.
The truth of the matter is that two Democrats are primariliy at fault for much of what happened.
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin failed in every aspect before and after the hurricane. These two are accountable for this tragedy.
Blanco did not have the ability to lead or respond. Nagin ran to the plush Hyatt Hotel with all his buddies, and helped them to the front of the line when it was time to get out of town.
Both, being typical Democrats, blamed everybody else for what was going on.
In fact, their lack of leadership made them the problem.

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I responded:

In a recent letter to Florida Today, a reader accused Democrats of rushing to blame President Bush while placing the blame on the Democratic Governor of Louisiania and Democratic Mayor of New Orleans despite documented evidence to the contrary.

On Saturday, August 27, Mayor Nagin issued the evacuation order and advertised a 1-800 number for needy residents to call for an RTA bus to come pick them up. He requested buses and drivers to get people out and was told by FEMA that he couldn't do it because there was no where to send them. He requested the Superdome as a shelter and was told no. When they finally agreed, he requested supplies for at least 10,000 people. And was told no...by the federal government.

On Sunday, August 28, prior to the storm hitting,Governor Blanco complied with the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act as dictated to states by federal law. Both officials took proper steps following President Bush declaring their territory federal disaster areas on August 26.

Your reader, and others like him need to remember two things. The federal government is reportedly failing victims in all affected areas, not just New Orleans. Responsibility defies the law of gravity and runs uphill.

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The Editor told me they couldn't publish it because there was no documented proof of my content. I sent them links provided by this site. And I asked them why the other reader's letter passed editorial muster. Here's the reply:

The published version of the letter you are questioning actually was edited slightly by our staff to bring it into agreement with the Associated Press and CNN reports (among others) that have moved on the Hyatt incident. Though the reader did make some minor errors (regarding Nagin's whereabouts at that time), the incident to which the letter was referring was clear to us, and we were able to fix the misstatement we detected. The characterization of that event remained that of the letter writer, which is appropriate in a letter to the editor.

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My response back:

Ah, I see. So if it’s fair to print the insinuation Nagin and his buddies were living the plush life at the Hyatt because it was the opinion of the writer, don’t bother printing my response. I’ll compose a new one categorizing Bush as an incompetent boob divorced from reality – a modern day Nero fiddling while Rome burned, if you will. Since that happens to be my opinion of his trip out west prior to returning to Washington to ‘lead’ relief efforts, I’m assuming that would pass editorial muster?

I apologize if I’m taking my frustration out on you, I’m just horribly frustrated with the news media. Having worked with newspapers in my younger days, I’m appalled at how both print and televised journalism has changed since the far right took over American politics.

I sincerely hope someone else wrote a letter you can publish which offers an opposing viewpoint from the reader who obviously gets all his news from Karl Rove’s ‘Talking Points’.

Regards