There's an old adage I picked up a long time ago from my pals in the sports department:
There's no cheering in the press box.
That means you can't join in those chants of E-A-G-L-E-S!
That's one of the reasons I'd never be able to be an Eagles beat writer. It would take long before one of my classic rants after a particularly questionable coaching decision got me ushered out of the press box.
On this end of the news racket, sometimes that notion of being impartial can be a little harder to do.
Just ask our readers.
Many of them will tell you I am anything but, that my liberal bent is evident in the pages of this newspaper every day.
Of course, this week there's an even bigger spotlight on this issue.
It was election week.
And here in Delaware County, it was a big day for women and Democrats.
The local GOP? Uh, not so much.
Here's a confession. I like Tom McGarrigle and Jamie Santora.
It was not a good night for either of them.
McGarrigle was beaten in the 26th District state Senate race by Democratic mayor of Swarthmore Tim Kearney. Santora lost to Democrat Mike Zabel in the 163rd state House race in Upper Darby.
I was reporting the results of the election live on Twitter Tuesday night.
McGarrigle and Santora lost. I didn't make it up. It wasn't fake news. Both men actually conceded fairly early.
But that did not stop some folks on social media from taking me to task. They apparently believed I was somehow enjoying it.
One woman took to Facebook to castigate me.
"As an editor, you seem to be glowing over the Democrat wins," she wrote. "I thought the paper was supposed to be unbiased."
It is unbiased. I was merely delivering the news the way we handle breaking news these days - on Twitter and Facebook and posting to our website. All of that happens long before those stories ever hit print.
I have a love/hate relationship with social media. I swim in this stuff all day, and I am increasingly disheartened at much of what I see. I think it plays a huge part in the bitterness and coarseness of our political discourse.
But I was heartened at one person who went on Facebook to defend me.
That would be Jamie Santora.
"I will say Philip Heron has always been fair to me," the state rep replied to the woman who had called me out on Facebook. "I cannot remember a time that he slanted a story against me. I would even say the majority were in my favor. Thanks for your support. Phil is just reporting the news in this case. Thanks everyone."
That, folks, is what you call a class act.
Harrisburg needs guys like Tom McGarrigle and Jamie Santora.
They will be missed.
By the editor as well.
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