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Wednesday
October 12,
2(X)5
This is opinion, not fact, just so you know
MAD
with Jesse Bishop
“Idiots are eating our
planet alive”
—Jesse Bishop
I thought I’d be
pompous and use my own
quote as an epigraph to
this column. And for those
that don’t know how the
epigraph works...well,
there’s not too much I can
do about that.
But I can set a few
things straight about this
here column. Someone
said I had some facts
wrong in a column from
two weeks ago. If memory
serves (and it does), that
column was on the Real
World morons that were
on campus.
But I’ve given them
enough flak for a while...
so on to the “brilliant”
offspring that penned a
letter to the editor, the
wrong editor for that
complaint I might add.
One of the SGA
senators, who has a bunch
of nifty letters after her
QaaS)%aA*
L.„'V? u_i
West (Senrgian
The University of West Georgia
University Community Center, Room 111
Carrollton, GA, 30118-0070
Editorial Line: (678) 839-6527
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Opinion
name (letters that I’m
pretty sure don’t mean a
dam thing) wrote to my
boss to defame me. Well,
I defame myself often
enough that he just ignores
whatever idiocy I’m up to
on any given week.
By the way, I am
not naming her because,
despite another letter to
the editor by a working
professional which said
I should. I’m better than
that...or am I? (Jeremy
King in the hizz-ouse! To
my students: this is called
language appropriation).
On to the problem
at hand: she stated in
her letter that I had my
facts wrong. Well, I’ve
reread the column a few
times and I don’t believe
that there was anything
presented as fact. But I’ll
up the stakes and say “So
what?” Who cares if I
bungle a fact or two?
I’m not a journalist.
I’m a columnist. There is
a big difference! It’s not
like I’m the president of
the U.5....0h, it’s okay for
him? Got it.
Any “facts” presented
in this column (and you
should know that a column
is not an article; it’s opinion
and NOTHING more) are
simply my interpretations
of said “facts.” That said,
this column should end,
but it won’t. I never did
learn to drop something as
quickly as I should.
What really chaps
my donkey is how she
purports to have all the
facts, yet she
sent the letter
to the news
editor, not
the EIC. For
those new to
newspapers,
EIC stands
for Editor-
In-Chief.
She
addressed
£ f
downfall of America, it’s
because morons cqWtreffih
anything anymore. M
the letter to Dave Word,
News Editor. But Dave
was kind enough to pass
it on to the EIC and he,
in turn, thought 1 should
have a chance to face my
accuser.
Ladies and Gentlemen
of the jury, I did it. 1 confess.
I’m sure somewhere along
the way I botched a fact.
Daniel Bell, Editor-in-Chief
Stephanie Smith, Advertising & Business Manager
Dave Word, News Editor
Bobby Moore, Sports Editor
Samantha Bishop-Bell, A&E Editor
Sunay Tamashev, Photo Editor
Samantha P. Bishop, Copy Editor
Amy Lavender, Copy Editor
Elizabeth Bounds, Webmaster
Doug Vinson, Advisor
eh President Sethna? In
fact, I’m pretty sure I
openly admitted to making
a mistake a few weeks ago
(see Mad Grad: “My turn
to take responsibility,”
Aug. 21).
Oh, I did do that.
And just for the record.
President Sethna
acknowledged both my
error and my correction.
Way to go!
But let’s return to the
issue at hand. This young
lady (President Sethna also
encouraged me not to refer
to people as farm animals,
especially women—and
he’s right you know. It’s
so unbecoming to refer
to fellow humans as
animals and the animals
don’t appreciate it either)
doesn’t know how to
read a newspaper, yet she
is going to send a letter
with the intention of
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establish
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances. ”
- First Amendment, United States Constitution
publishing it, chiding me
for inaccuracies.
Shame, shame, you
should know better.
There was a time
when I would have taken
such an insult personally,
but I’ve learned that it
takes all kinds of turds to
make a toilet flush.
Hunter S. Thompson
once said that the media
was responsible for the
downfall of America. He’s
right, you know. The media
is responsible, but only in
a tangential manner.
any more. There was time
when editorials stirred
up more crap than an
overturned porta-pot. But
back then people knew
how to read. And they
knew how to respond.
Call me old fashioned
but if one plans to lambaste
another, one should know
one’s Shinola (thanks for
Copyright Notice
The West Georgian, copyright 2004, is an official publication of the University of
West Georgia. Opinions expressed herein are those of the newspaper staff or indi
vidual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of university faculty or staff
Letter Submission Policy
The West Georgian welcomes letters to the editor. Letters may be mailed to:
Editor, The West Georgian, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA, 30118,
or sent via electronic mail to: uwgpapcr@westga.edu.
All letters must be signed and include a phone number and mailing address for
verification purposes Letters should not exceed 330 words and should be submit
ted by noon the Friday prior to publication. Editors reserve the right to edit for
style, content and length
the cultural lesson, Deb).
I get that people don’t
like me or my column. A
few of you think I should
be tarred and feathered,
and maybe you’re all right.
I should be smacked about
the bottom for the things I
say. If my mother weren’t
426 miles away, she would
do it, too.
Guess what UWG, I
write this column every
week to see how many
people I can tick-off. And
do you think I care when a
whiny “leader” gets hers in
a wad? Nope.
Because for every
one of you that complains
each week, three or four
of you walk up to me and
say, “I can’t believe you
said that. I’ve been dying
to say that, too.”
I could (and probably
should) go on a tirade about
responsible journalism, but
I’ve learned that I am not
a journalist. That persona
died Feb. 20, 2005.
There is no such thing as
objectivity, especially not
in this column.
The poet Dean Young
writes, “A poem should
be a noise and then know
when to shut up.”
I am a poem; shouldn’t
we all be?
If the
media
(newspapers,
magazines,
television,
radio, internet,
etc.) caused
the downfall
of America,
it’s because
morons can’t
read anything