Dealing with impertinent truth tellers

Don’t get my previous posts wrong. I don’t plan to cancel my DNT subscription just yet. In a perverse way I feel as though my subscription entitles me to complain. The Trib’s editorial stance over the past two years has alternated between timidity and cravenness. Think Wormtail in the Harry Potter series.

Pondering this yesterday reminded me of one of my first submissions as a columnist for the Reader Weekly. When I turned it in the editor was not very happy with it since it wasn’t the political commentary he was seeking. I beg to differ.

“‘The King is naked!’ shouted the boy.

An awkward hush fell across the crowd as excited murmurings ceased. Faces turned first to the youth sitting on his father’s shoulders and then to the Monarch.

The child was triumphant. He had been the first to see, or at least to say, the remarkable truth.

The King visibly stiffened at the sound of the small piping voice. The King’s guards faltered at their reins and their horses reared causing the great palanquin to halt momentarily before lurching ahead. The King pitched forward in a most undignified manner. Only a quick step saved him from toppling over. The King did not turn back to look at the boy who had dared lift the blissful veil of ignorance….”

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