Letters to the Editor

WHO SPEAKS FOR THE GRAND OLD PARTY?

Does Michael Steele, the new Republican National Committee chairman who mimics the message of change but claims bipartisanship is overrated, speak for the GOP? Or Rush Limbaugh, who says to Joe-the-Jobless, “I hope he [Obama] fails”? Or Sarah Palin, the Alaskan moose hunter who garbles party policy beside a Tom Turkey getting his bloody head yanked off?

The old party lacks new direction. We do have many reasonable Republican legislators — Olympia Snowe, Arlen Specter and Susan Collins among others. But moderate Republicans often seem out-maneuvered, out-photographed, and out-shouted by theatrical blowhards.

For starters, let’s tune out Rush. Oh yes, he’s a showman par excellence! Remember back when his voice came blaring over your radio urging you to put your mind in neutral? “You needn’t think,” he said. “I’ll do the thinking for you!” A pompous pill head in the throes of addiction was vying for mind control. Whoa! And are we too brainwashed by Fix News to tell truth from propaganda?

Recently In Crowley, there was a little dustup about the hometown newspaper, the Post-Signal. Following Inauguration Day (in a front-page, now-we-see-the-light editorial), the Post-Signal issued a heartfelt apology to its readers for eight long years of backing Bush.

Dumb me! I swallowed it.

Six days later, the Post-Signal ran another mea culpa apologizing for its first apology. It was the double-reverse — good in football, bad in journalism. It’s a small play, you might say — unimportant, insignificant, a mere drop of misinformation.

But is it? The central question is for the Post-Signal’s owner, Louisiana State Newspapers: What exactly is your policy? Do you even try to present a balance of views? During election cycles (when voters most need a free flow of ideas) you flat-out refuse to print letters discussing candidates. Why? Do you speak for the Grand Old Party — or like Rush, simply push a failed far-right ideology?