More unprinted (as yet) vents to my local paper

[thatcrazycajun]

For those joining us late: The local newspaper of record here has a marvelous feature I haven't seen replicated in any other city where I've lived that had a major daily—"The Vent," where readers can post anonymously on their opinions and feelings regarding stories the paper covers and respond to postings by other venters, subject to the paper's vetting for language and such.

I've found myself posting a number of vents in response to both lately, but so far none have appeared either online or in the dead-tree edition. So since I'm home sick today, I'm putting them in the one place I can be certain they'll get posted: here. In more or less chronological order, most recent first:

• Memo to the Clayton Country Commission's Wole Ralph [quoted here on the decision his commission made to end county bus service as of yesterday, stranding thousands from their jobs, school and other needs]: A county that seeks to "grow its economic base" and provide a "welcoming business climate" does NOT deprive its citizens of the only means many of them have to reach jobs and shopping at those businesses. You, sir, are what my girlfriend's Irish relatives would call an "eejit."
• [To an anonymous venter claiming "Glen Beck [sic] has more character, integrity and smarts than you ever had on your best day"] You obviously are not even as smart as Glenn Beck, or you wouldn't have spelled his name with only one "n." But then, the fact that you pay any attention whatever to him and defend him from richly deserved criticism speaks for itself on that score...
• [To another anonymous venter] I may not pay for your car, ad valorem tax, gas, oil or maintenance, but I sure as hell do pay in taxes and tolls for the roads and highways on which you drive it. Here's another reason you should pay for my bus service: It gets more cars off the road so you don't sit in traffic as long or get in wrecks with bad drivers as often. Duh!
• So you don't want your tax dollars paying for my health care, but you most certainly do want mine paying for your kid's private-school education [through vouchers]? Can't any of you conservative hypocrites see what's wrong with this picture?
• [Referring to Georgia's lame-duck governor Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III [R], who has threatened to appoint his own special attorney general to join 14 other states in suing the federal government over the new health care reform law] Hey, Sonny! If you want a government to sue, forget about the Feds. How about suing Clayton County to make them keep the C-TRAN buses running? That would do our state's economy one holy hell of a lot more good.
• When a politician, pundit or activist talks about "business-friendly" policies, this is usually code for "shit-can all taxes and regulations and let businesses do whatever they damned well please, regardless of whom it hurts." It often follows that the speaker is Republican and/or conservative, or represents an organization that is.
• Am I the only one who's noticed that whenever the word "ObamaCare" is used to describe the new health care reform law, the speaker/writer is invariably someone who loathes it and/or the President? Just wondering.

What would you want to vent about in your city or town's local paper if it had such a feature? Post here...but keep it short and snappy, as that's the format the Vent editor favors.

Comments

[poltr1]

The Dayton Daily News has such a a feature on its editorial page. Is your newspaper owned by Cox, by chance?

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

As a matter of fact, yes, Cox Enterprises does own the AJC. Thanks for the tip; I've never even been to Dayton, so I hadn't seen their Vent.

[mshollie.livejournal.com]

I would ask, "why aren't there any African Americans at the 'tea party' rallies?" Keith Olbermann pointed this out in a comment not long ago.

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

Seattle's alternative newspaper, "The Stranger," runs an occasional feature called "I, Anonymous" where readers can send in anonymous stories about things they did or saw. Some are pretty hilarious, some kinda disturbing.

Or at least they did. I haven't read The Stranger in years.

[ericavdg.livejournal.com]

I would ask, "Why, when we have so many technical and engineering workers unemployed, can the Metro system not keep its escalators and elevators running? Especially in tourist season, which is already a living hell for those who commute on the Metro." At one point I had vowed to slay with my poclet knife the next middle-schooler on a trip to DC who made a stupid joke about Foggy Bottom. Fortunately, today my commute involves going downstairs for tea and then back upstairs to the computer. And the TSA took my pocket knife! (Frogot I was carrying it.)

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

Haven't you learned by now, hon? It's a natural law that on any given day, somewhere in any large-city subway system, at least one escalator and one elevator must always be out of order. I learned that in DC, NYC and Philly and again down here.

[ericavdg.livejournal.com]

It's worse here than usual. One day last month, 7 escalators were out of order at Gallery Place alone. The situation is so bad that Metro's web site now has a page where you can click on a station to see what's (not) working there.

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

One small correction, Matt: the word "eejit" is Scottish, not Irish. I learned that on the Isle of Skye.