Is this morning's Nancy Hicks piece in the Journal Star about LIBA director Coby Mach anything more than a petty hatchet job designed to stir the masses into a froth? The gist of the story is that Mach, who champions low local government spending to keep taxes in check, has received a series of raises over the past few years. In three years his salary has increased 25%. This, according to Ms. Hicks, makes him a hypocrite.
I don't follow.
Don't get me wrong. There's plenty of hypocrisy out there in the world and I'm sure Mr. Mach is just as guilty of it as the rest of us. And as a public figure, Mr. Mach is fair game for extra scrutiny. But this? Ms. Hicks' article is a lame, anti-intellectual, class warfare opinion piece disguised as news.
Look, LIBA is a private organization. Their membership is welcome to pay their director as much or as little as they want. Coby Mach could make a million bucks annually and still not be a hypocrite. That's not how hypocrisy works. Claiming otherwise is not how journalism works. It's more along the lines of what I would expect out of a hack blogger like ... well ... me.
If the Journal Star wants to torpedo Mr. Mack there are plenty of ways to do it. A fun one would be to catch LIBA with its hand in the federal (or state or local) tax-funded cookie jar. Now there lies hypocrisy. Or uncover evidence of inappropriate tax evasion practices by the members or leadership. Again, that would be good stuff.
Coby Mach may not be your favorite local notable and LIBA may not be your favorite local organization, but to impugn Mr. Mach's and LIBA's integrity over Mr. Mach's salary is lame. The only ones with egg on their face right now are Nancy Hicks and the Journal Star. Shame on them.
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It’s a sad state of affairs over there at LJS when such a nonsensical story sees the light of day. I just don’t get it.
It’s pretty lame when the Journal Star forces me to defend Coby Mach. What a poor story. Makes you wonder who is running the ship over there.
I think no one is running the ship. I look forward to the layoffs that Deena has foretold. Sadly, somehow, Don Walton will still be standing, I am sure. Not sure why I still subscribe.
Agreed on the lameness of the article. It’s a non story and now the story is about the LJS and its standards. It’s also really funny to hear the KLIN morning show get all indignant about journalistic integrity before handing off to Rush/Hannity for the rest of the day.
Don’t confuse commentators—political or otherwise—with journalists.
Hypocrite! Maybe they’re waiting until you unsubscribe to lay Don Nelson Obama Walton off?
I’m not surprised by such a story, and I’m glad that others are finally realizing what I’ve known for 15 years now.
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