Is there no separation of church and state any longer at the Santa Barbara News-Press? Sunday's paper had a front page story in which the four candidates in the race for Congress from the 23rd District answered questions. But boy, that lead in.
In describing the breadth of the district, Scott Steepleton, the paper's city editor under whose byline the story ran, had this to say: "It includes minority heavy Oxnard, environmentally fanatic Santa Barbara, nine colleges and universities, and plenty of unions representing plenty of government and private-sector employees, attributes that render it a Democrat stronghold.
Wait a minute! It's the Democratic party. Not the "Democrat" party. (And just imagine that I delivered that line the same way Sidney Poitier did to Rod Stieger when he told him, "They call me Mr. Tibbs," in In The Heat of the Night.)
And excuse me. Do you have a problem with "minorities?"
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After noting that incumbent Lois Capps won with 65 percent of the district's vote in 2006, Steepleton writes: "But that was two years before "ObamaCare" began taking root, two years before Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi cemented their place in history as symbols of everything that's wrong with liberalism."
"ObamaCare" is an awfully pejorative way to describe the much-needed health care reform that was passed by the majority in Congress and just what is wrong with liberalism?
While these views would be perfectly okay on the editorial page they have no place on the news pages. Most of us still like our facts delivered straight, not watered down with with opinions that are being regurgitated from Sarah Palin and Bill O'Reilly.
Scott, you're pissing off half of your readers!
© 2010 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com
