I kind of had a feeling that the headline on Monday's print column was going to get a reaction:
"Welcome to 2020, let's all take a shower."
Yep, that's what headlines are supposed to do. They are supposed to suck you in, entice you to read the story below.
That one certainly did.
I got several emails from readers who said they were intrigued by the headline.
I also received lots of emails about the content of the column, in which I admitted I am not looking forward to the next 11 months, how I am tired of the overheated partisan bickering, the name-calling, the ugly Tweets, the inflammatory Facebook responses, and the racially tinged comments posted to so many stories on Delcotimes.com.
But I was intrigued by one particular response I got from a longtime reader. He has taken me to task before for what he perceives is my - and in turn the newspaper's - liberal bent.
He specifically wanted to offer a critique about the coverage we have afforded the installation of an all-Democratic 5-0 majority on Delaware County Council, the first time in history that has happened.
This is what he wrote:
"So you thought that 3 Dems joining 2 incumbents merited pointing out.Pointing out! It's been nothing but every week since the election.The day Trump took office you ran a picture of an abused animal on the front page. Just once I wish you would try reading your paper pretty much every day from the standpoint of what it might look like from the standpoint of a non-liberal, Associated Press included. ( I especially like how they make sure they get their spin into the headline just in case the reader doesn't want to read the article). As much as I disliked Obama and his liberal policies, I still enjoyed spreading out your newspaper and reading it while I ate my breakfast. That is no longer the case. Now I feel as if I'm part of some propaganda experiment meant to win an election for Democrats. This country is experiencing a great resurgence under this president that has never been seen before and I really don't give a rat's fat ass how presidential you think he is, nor do most Americans who now have employment opportunities that they didn't under your hero. People who can now take a vacation or buy something they never would have before. Trump is going to win by a landslide and I think you know it so you can keep pushing your personal agenda all you want but people are seeing through it more than you think. Have a good day."
I thought it was a great letter and I responded, first thanking him for taking part in the conversation, and then asking him if I could run it on our op-ed page.
Yes, I run letters and opinions every day that I don't necessarily agree with. It's part of the grand notion of the newspaper being something of a community marketplace of ideas.
That's when a funny thing happened, something that happens all the time, and which I have talked about at length, including in Monday's print column.
There is nothing that appears in the Daily Times that does not carry my name beside it. That goes with the territory. Beside every Tweet, every Facebook post, every blog item, every editorial (yes, I write the majority of them) you will find my name and photo.
As most readers know, we have a requirement for a letter to the editor. We require that the writer offer his or her name and town of residence.
Initially, the man thanked me for responding and said he would be happy to see it on the op-ed page.
But a few hours later I got another email from him, with a familiar conundrum.
His wife apparently was not nearly as thrilled as he was at the prospect of having his name and town appear in the newspaper.
"At the request of my wife, who is not liberal but has family members who are, I ask that you don't run the letter that I sent you this morning if it's not too late. I stand by what I said but also don't want my wife's family to take it out on her either. Thanks for offering to print it none the less."
Actually, I had already placed the letter on the op-ed page for the next day, but I was able to pull it before publication - and before it appeared online.
I alerted him that it would not appear and offered this response.
"Please tell your wife I know how she feels. Going to be a lot of these kinds of family discussions over the next 11 months."
You'd be surprised how many times this happens, how many times our harshest critics suddenly fall silent when they know their name is going to reside beside what they write.
Yeah, it's going to be a rocky 11 months.
Don't like what you are reading? You know where to find me (usually hiding under the desk). Feel free to disagree. But remember the ground rules. Have the courage not to hide under an anonymous avatar or moniker.
My name is right there beside everything I write.
I hope you would feel the same way.
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