Being the editor of the local newspaper often means having a target on your back.
The "red" legions believe we tilt to the left, taking unbridled joy in knocking the local Republican Party from their perch.
That's what I have been dealing with since the November elections, when Democrats continued the "blue tsunami" that swept over the county. The Dems took all three seats on County Council, giving them an ironclad 5-0 rule, as well as the D.A.'s office.
The backlash has been constant, with longtime readers of the GOP stripe complaining about what they perceive as the newspaper's role in all this.
My response is always the same. Don't just complain. Pick up a pen - or a keyboard - and join the conversation.
Bill Brogan decided to take me up on it.
The Swarthmore reader is one of my longtime critics. But the thing I like about Bill is that he's willing to put his name where his mouth is, something that many critics shy away from.
Now, I'm learning that - at least according to some readers - it's possible to lean too far in the other direction.
I ran Bill's op-ed piece this week. It took the entire op-ed page. Yes, I wondered about giving up that much space. But I made the offer, one I make all the time, so I was not exactly thrilled about the prospect of backing away from it.
Not all readers were amused, nor in agreement.
One reader took me to task for running Bill's thoughts, in which he repeated compared the treatment of President Donald Trump to the way the media - in his eye - "fawned" over President Barack Obama.
The reader took to social media to rip me for running the item.
I responded, reminding him that this was not my opinion, not that of the newspaper, but that of Brogan's. I may not agree with it, that does not mean I don't run it. That's called censorship, and it's a very dangerous slope.
The reader clearly did not agree, saying I'm the editor and it was up to me to "edit." He finished, of course, with the classic salute, denigrating the paper and wondering why he continues to buy "this rag."
Is it Friday yet?
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