Unless my five week old letter was published in some obscure corner of some back page that I missed its still waiting to see the light of day. I can’t publish it here for fear that the Trib will decide not to publish it. I’m mildly aggravated. Mildly because I don’t think my letter would have made much of an impact on the school board election tomorrow.
Today’s paper made a veiled criticism of the Red Plan critics (at least that’s how I took it) in their get out the vote editorial. They made a comment contrasting the penny pinchers against the progressives that want a new an improved Emerald City. (I’ve embroidered the comment a bit)
My letter did not endorse or criticize any candidate so in the past two weeks since it was approved the Trib’s editors can’t be criticized for keeping a non election related missive from the public. However, my letter was meant to put the entire School situation in perspective – dire perspective. It was a riposte to Ralph Doty’s encomium to Keith Dixon. Ralph’s letter certainly gave comfort the folks who have overseen the current downward spiral. By not letting my rejoinder make it to the opinion page before the election they left his plaudits of the Dixon crew go unchallenged. That is aggravating.
Also aggravating is the incredibly long wait to let me respond. If I were a little more jaded I’d almost say that the nitpicky editorial changes I had to make over two weeks were calculated to delay my letter’s publication until after the election. That would suggest the editors did not want my credibility to be used against the folks they were endorsing. BTW – Did the Trib ever endorse the school district referendum? I sort of think they implied it would be good without actually taking a stand but perhaps that gives the Trib a bit too much credit.
