Like when when someone silently farts in a crowded elevator, the thing one usually does is ignore it; the smell will eventually dissipate then everyone will forget about it.
But what happens when someone on the elevator has a bullhorn and yells "Mr. So-and-So FARTED!"
Furthermore, what happens when the person with the bullhorn writes about the gaseous event, posts it online and frames it as a "DEBATE" between the one who farted and the ones forced to smell it? Framing the act as a 'debate' gives a weight to the gaseous offender that he doesn't deserve and an equality between him and those forced to inhale.
And you can be sure that the person with the bullhorn makes sure NO ONE forgets.
Anybody get my analogy?
Substitute 'Ricky Mason' for 'Mr. So-and-So', his letter for gas and the person with the bullhorn... that's The Hoboken Reporter.
A friend told me the HR was actually promoting Mason's fan mail to GA in a separate piece... an effort to drive traffic, I suppose. In my view, that's like the guy with the bullhorn trying to get more people to step into the stinking elevator.
Like this:
"Hey everybody! Wanna immerse yourself in something foul? Come on in!"
Encouraging discourse on such rancid offal from the pen of Mr. Mason is just that. Wanna immerse yourself in something foul? The Hoboken Reporter invites you into the elevator.
Well, GA left an invitation on the HR for folks who like fresh air better.
Along with a challenge to the HR to get off their lazy asses and ask Ricky Mason if either he or his wife have paid Matt "Materina" Calicchio for 'services rendered'- like the dance Calicchio performed for GA last week.
Does The Hoboken Reporter want to clear the air or keep promoting that Mason stink?
the HR runs "spirited" letters to the editor all the time, why single this one out for special separate online promotion?? maybe they want to make sure lane and co. have the chance to balance the "debate", which has been entirely one-sided against ricky.
ReplyDeleteYou single this one out b/c this letter to the editor was directed at the person who runs this blog. This is a rebuttal.
ReplyDeletehmm...yeah, but why isn't just publishing ricky's letter in the print edition and online enough? just curious why the HR would choose this letter, out of all the reform vs. old guard letters they've published in the past (including those about the stupid GA-"Nazi" image flack), to promote a second time online?
ReplyDeletewhy do they feel this particular rebuttal is so important? maybe have something to do with mason's generous ad spending in the HR in the past?
I agree w/you JAM.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who follows Hoboken politics has already read it and gets it. The HR is pitching to the low-information crowd and anyone who may be compelled to throw the Rickster a sympathy-bone. The HR behaves like an engorged tick feeding off a manufactured controversy.
Now, Ray Smith knows the real deal; he's a very good reporter. Too bad his paper caters to the Dark Side.
JAM, I'd suggest it's a well-established HR pattern; long before GA & this latest ka-ka. All part of the long-standing sociopathy, in which the HR (& some other local media) has long been a player. Part of the pathology involves perpetually blurred boundaries---hallmarks of narcissistic power-addicts. It's also partly related to the Barry (& Applied Cos.) HR empire/legacy, as one example of many blurred boundaries.
ReplyDeleteThat's also part of what riles them so about Pincus---her boundaries are clear. The sick political system can't fathom someone who can operate with such smarts & integrity. AND someone who can also be very clear that what she creates on GA is her PERSONAL opinion. That is INDEPENDENT from her capacity to function as a highly competent, fair-minded ZBA member, who makes decisions based on the merits of the case in tandem with the legal issues involved. Not decisions made from political chits being called in---that's the old school business-as-usual blurred boundaries.
It also has to do with gender issues (especially for folks like Lane & Perry). If Pincus behaved like a shrewish, castrating "witch with a 'B'," that would be "familiar" & more easily written off (or sucked up, if that's who's writing the check). Whip-smart satire, mixed with astute investigative skills (& the occasional recipe for yummy home-baked goods or heartfelt anecdotes about children), leaves them all flummoxed.
Independence, intelligence & integrity are not valued, but feared. GA terrifies them. So in their twisted, primitive little world, it makes a certain perverse sense that they experience her as a "terrorist."
well said, ms. b-b.
ReplyDelete