| The relentless pursuit of my old nemesis, last falls opponent, Republican Congressman Frank "Teflon" LoBiondo continues.
Blue Jersey Update. There are untold rejected "letters to the editor" submitted to the Press of Atlantic City by poor, put upon Gary Stein. Other than me, nobody, save the one man who decides what's fit to print has seen them. And there's now one from this morning....followed by a rejection which I'm sharing here. Then there's a reconfiguration of the scorned "letter" in the hope of a guest column, followed by a phone call to the paper, then a second worse rebuff with these memorable utterances from editorial writer Jim Perskie. "you take up too much of my time. The answer is no, no, no, no."
The "letter" as it will never appear in the Press of Atlantic City............below. |
Frank LoBiondo get out from under your desk. Tuesday fast approaches. It's the last Friday morning before the debt ceiling deadline. It follows another late night session of Congress with no agreement! Wall Street opens in less than an hour.
A thorough search of the internet, including our Congressman's web site, press releases, Press of AC articles, TV appearances, hoping I might find the 9 term Congressman guiding somebody, anybody down there in D.C., especially the Tea Party freshman finds only this on his facebook page.....a 70 word one paragraph statement that starts out like this, "The nation cannot be allowed to default" and ends this way, "Raising taxes is no solution to reining in our debt or creating jobs." Hallelujah, Congressman LoBiondo frames the issue......lets all have a nice weekend!
I write to them and for the second time, I ask if they've rec'd?
"Please let me know if you've received and will print? Please, I'm not the average garden variety reader submitting a letter, I got my ass on the ballot 4 times.....I would like to know the status"
Perskie responds, "Not running. On Friday's our pages are done through Tuesday ... this will likely be resolved by then ...."
I then, very quickly write back.......
Dear Mr. Perskie, would you consider using our email exchange, exactly as they occurred- including this email, and most significantly- the letter to the editor by me which you've indidicated you'll not be printing, and format them in a guest column, ostensibly for purposes of educating/clarifying to readers of this paper, how the selection process for publication sometimes occurs? The irony of asking this kills me. The too high bar that is excersised by our local media, including talk radio I might add, to citizens like me who try criticising our 9 term, very under the radar Congressman, is part and parcel how this one incumbent "games the system" without anyone knowing it. It is, I believe, how he gets re-elected like clockwork every two year, without any significant opposition to speak of.
The second irony is perhaps this- if I'm correct, that politicians take advantage of the local media's undue respect for the high office they hold, then this guest column, if you don't print it, definitely does work to the advantage of "some" Washington politicians who still won't aid in a compromise agreement with the Democratic opposition on spending and taxation, even after next Tuesdays temporary, 6 month or one year, extension of the debt ceiling. Of course, I speak of Mr. LoBiondo, who I believe is now firmly in the clutches of the local Tea Party, and Liberty and Proseperity's Seth Grossman.
Please understand this, the explanation you gave above for not printing the letter isn't all that unfair or unreasonable. The debt crisis might......(or might not) be solved by Tuesday. Turning down this request for a guest column giving readers insights into behind the scenes selection process might be more problematical for you. This is definitely not to be perceived as my daring you not to print these exchanges in a column format. I'm begging you to print it, but rather it is an expression of my frustration."
Of course you know how that went! Perskie, "you take up too much of my time. The answer is no, no, no, no.'
My response was a harrumph.... and I hung up on him! It finally sinks in. They're totally USELESS! Thanks for this space, Blue Jersey. We'll probably be back here again, maybe in a week or two when my disappointment with the local paper blows over........ |
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