I just received the latest barrage of Richmond political flyers in today's mail. I asked the mail carrier to not put them in my mailbox but he said he was obligated to do so since they were addressed to me.
Then, while I stood there holding the mail, I realized I can turn a negative into a positive. Since I'm watching college football but I'm low on toilet paper, I don't have to miss any action to leave the house to purchase Scott Tissue for a while.
(As a side note, the amount of Moving Forward flyers accumulated so far will allow me to never be "caught with my pants down" all the way to the Rose Bowl.)
In the pile was the latest flyer from Tom Butt.
It claims to have "an objective journalistic comparison of the Mayoral candidates" with a reprint of a September 24, 2014, East Bay Express op-ed, "The Battle for Richmond's Soul" by John Geluardi.
Two observations regarding the "objectivity" regarding the "comparison".
Uche Who?
One, is that there are three candidates for mayor but only a two-sentence paragraph that just glosses over Uche Uwahemu. No in-depth analysis other than
"The third candidate is Uche Uwahemu, but he's facing an uphill battle against Bates and Butt, who both have far greater name recognition and much more experience in Richmond politics. Uwahemu is not expected to garner a significant number of votes."
Who
would expect him to get many votes when nobody covers him?
With a title that portends that Richmond is standing at the precipice of eternal damnation, you would think that readers would be asking "but what about the third option"?
Sad To See Him Go
Two, is that John Geluardi wrote the article. A journalist who used to cover Richmond in the West County Times and almost invariably seems to quote Butt in the articles he writes regarding Richmond.
When Geluardi moved on to the SF Weekly in 2007 Butt wrote about it in his e-mail forum:
"While we wish Geluardi the best in his career change, we are also sad to see him go. He has been able to develop a remarkable knowledge of the inner workings of Richmond’s political machinery and to share that insight with the readers of the West County Times."
Instead, what the Butt flyer should say is "a journalistic subjective OPINION".
A Trip Saved
Regardless, with the World Series and football this weekend, I'm still grateful for being able to defer my trip to the store for a few more days.
GO GIANTS!!!