The Hide of a Rhino
Unless Ben Zion Hershberg is writing editorials now, the editors of The Courier-Journal are reading their own reporter's coverage to determine the state of affairs in New Albany. It might make good copy, but it shows an essential laziness on the part of the editors.
Let me say that I am pleased that James Garner doesn't place "getting along with others" as a higher priority than the needs of the city's residents. It is my observation that the political class has been "getting along" for far too long, and much to the detriment of this city.
When it takes a federal court order to get anything done in this city, you know the political class has become timid and moribund. And when that political class gets their feathers ruffled, you want to look and see who's doing the "ruffling" and get behind that man or woman.
The C-J uses the word "enemies" in an editorial today to describe the mayor's opponents. That's a word I've always avoided in politics, but there are those who resent and envy as a natural instinct. Perhaps they should be treated as enemies.
The big-game hunter is the enemy of the rhino, and doesn't care if he kills the beast or simply hacks off the horn to capture the beast's virility. Apparently, Hershberg and the C-J are more than willing to serve as "beaters" to assist those hunting their great white rhino.
Read this half-baked, thrown-off try at opinion. Below is my response.
To the Editor, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
When my wife and I decided to locate our business in New Albany, we had concerns about the city government’s willingness and ability to foster economic growth.
As we observed the dynamic between the city council and the administration, one thing became clear – Mayor James Garner is a leader dedicated to creating an environment where more entrepreneurs like ourselves would be willing to make an investment.
To read the coverage of New Albany city affairs as offered by the Courier-Journal is to gain a biased view. It seems that the beat reporter is less that than a transcriptionist for the mayor’s political opponents.
As you recommend in your editorial of Saturday, August 13, 2005, James Garner is “showing,” not telling people how hard he’s working for them. It is simply that the C-J refuses to cover it.
We have doubled our investment in New Albany, and so long as leaders like Garner continue to drive this city forward, we hope to do so again and again.
Let me say that I am pleased that James Garner doesn't place "getting along with others" as a higher priority than the needs of the city's residents. It is my observation that the political class has been "getting along" for far too long, and much to the detriment of this city.
When it takes a federal court order to get anything done in this city, you know the political class has become timid and moribund. And when that political class gets their feathers ruffled, you want to look and see who's doing the "ruffling" and get behind that man or woman.
The C-J uses the word "enemies" in an editorial today to describe the mayor's opponents. That's a word I've always avoided in politics, but there are those who resent and envy as a natural instinct. Perhaps they should be treated as enemies.
The big-game hunter is the enemy of the rhino, and doesn't care if he kills the beast or simply hacks off the horn to capture the beast's virility. Apparently, Hershberg and the C-J are more than willing to serve as "beaters" to assist those hunting their great white rhino.
Read this half-baked, thrown-off try at opinion. Below is my response.
To the Editor, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
When my wife and I decided to locate our business in New Albany, we had concerns about the city government’s willingness and ability to foster economic growth.
As we observed the dynamic between the city council and the administration, one thing became clear – Mayor James Garner is a leader dedicated to creating an environment where more entrepreneurs like ourselves would be willing to make an investment.
To read the coverage of New Albany city affairs as offered by the Courier-Journal is to gain a biased view. It seems that the beat reporter is less that than a transcriptionist for the mayor’s political opponents.
As you recommend in your editorial of Saturday, August 13, 2005, James Garner is “showing,” not telling people how hard he’s working for them. It is simply that the C-J refuses to cover it.
We have doubled our investment in New Albany, and so long as leaders like Garner continue to drive this city forward, we hope to do so again and again.
posted by All4Word at 9:43 AM
2 Comments:
Randy-
I thoroughly appreciated your lucid analysisof the sanitation situation and the mayor's prosoal; ity was even-handed and you maintained your composure despite the chortles of "the hot-blooded rank-and-file." I myself consider such loyalties (to organized labor)to be admirable if somewhat stagnent in the face of a changing economic and municipal reality.
That said, I thought the questions raised by the Cj are valid. I have pondered a few times in recent weeks why not privatize law enforcement or education? I believe that such manuvers would benefit us, as a community, but they may be progressive in some sense of the term. Sending my best - jon faith
My point, Jon, was not that The C-J was totally off-base, but that they register the presence of discord as entirely the mayor's fault.
That stems from two things, I believe. One is that the mayor wrote an ill-advised letter to the editor last year that demanded they quit making light of him and New Albany's situation. If I recall correctly, he said he shouldn't, as mayor, be disrespected by the newspaper. Nothing gets them riled more than criticism of the paper. That, I believe, is the root of the "thin-skinned" jibe.
In fact, the mayor has been anything but thin-skinned in 2005. He has stood firm and refused, in public at least, to take the political opposition personally. That took guts, but it has serve him well and I think has turned around the city.
Because he can no longer be goaded by the know-nothings, they have redoubled their efforts out of frustration.
As a confidant of the mayor's opponents, Ben Zion Hershberg has failed to observe the reality and has conveyed to his editors that the discord is the mayor's doing.
It ain't. With these guys, discord is their default condition. That, I think, is what Garner is trying to change.
The C-J could fairly question the mayor's personal business difficulties as being a handicap, but I wonder what about this situation merited front of the section above-the-fold coverage? And then a rather catty scolding that focused on nothing specific, but used a scattergun approach. About all they left out was their opinion of his looks, his religion, and his family life.
They aren't getting the story because Ben Hershberg doesn't tell them the story. And all New Albany is to them is that little clown-town across the Ohio.
The real story is that, finally, a mayor is challenging the do-nothings with a bold vision. He's taking the heat for what he's doing to move this city forward. All the C-J sees is that this upsets some people.
Well, it's time the good ole boys were upset. That's the story. The people are number one now, not the establishment.
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