Posted 5:41 PM by Gene

I recently compared ombudsmen to JACK's Alphabet Soup, saying the sole purpose of both was to appease, and put a veneer of responsible behavior over termite-eaten ethics. Here's proof. Aaron got his big break in papers because of Howellism. It would look foolish and racist (and be counterproductive) to ditch him now. So we must must defend him with one of the news hack's favorite tired-blood words, "edgy," and by belching the "You can always turn the TV off" cop-out, "If you don't like it, read 'Beetle Bailey'" (which, like virtually all newspaper comics these days, is aggressively unfunny -- and was modified to suit the PC demands of editors). The SacBee, whines our useless ombudsman, should not be (and he must have worked for weeks on this metaphor) "as bland as a bucket of mayonnaise." That is, no doubt, what the SacBee's readers get anyway (along with a bigger bucket of something not so edible). Newspapers will only offend for bad reasons -- to spin, to sell, to invade privacy, and to engage in PC. They will NOT offend for the greater good, which in the end is not offensive.