Cleanup in aisle four
If I counted up how many columns I’ve written in the last 21 years it would number in the thousands. So you’d think by now I’d know which columns are going to strike a chord or tick people off. Nope. I still get surprised. Case in point the column from two weeks back on a CNN journalist who I said wasn’t behaving like a journalist. Boy did that column anger some people.
It’s my fault really. I underestimate how much some people really don’t like our current president. And believe me I get it; he does and says things that make you cringe or want to pull your hair out. I could never work for the guy. I’d break his thumbs before he could send out his next tweet and then the secret service would have to thump me in the head.
Some people did like the column so they started sharing it on social media and that just lit a fire under people who hated it and sent them with pitchforks to get me, the monster, out of the castle. I’m still standing of course although my backside is tender from being stabbed by those pitchforks so much this past week.
What surprised me, at least with that column, is how the people upset with what I said about the guy on CNN completely ignored the fact that I called the president a rude bully. I mean if you don’t like the president doesn’t’ that get me some extra credit? Nope, they just saw red. I try not to read any comments about the things I write, good or bad, because I don’t want it shading how I write. Even if you don’t like me or everything I write I want you to be able to say someday when I’m no longer doing this, “Hey, I thought he was an idiot but at least he was an honest idiot. He didn’t pander.”
A friend of mine on Facebook shared the link and tagged me in it so I accidentally looked at some of the reaction. It hurt my feelings to see some people take personal shots at me. Hey, attack my ideas and arguments but don’t attack me. There were also attacks on this newspaper and its readership. Someone said they’ve followed me for years and never been impressed by my 3rd grade writing ability. Gosh, I thought I was at least up to 5th grade by now.
Ten years ago I would have jumped on the page and tried to defend myself saying stuff like, “Oh yeah, well how many Emmy Awards have you won buster?” But I’m smarter than that now. I’ve learned that when people get personal they are looking to get a reaction out of you so no matter how you respond it only makes them happy. So I clicked out of the page and went on with my life. If someone wrote me an email I did respond to every one of those politely no matter what they said.
I’m happy that a judge let the reporter back into the White House. He never should have been bounced anyway. As I said in the column, running a press conference isn’t complicated. You call on people, if they won’t sit down or give up a microphone you just don’t call on them anymore. That’s not an assault on the freedom of the press; it’s an affirmation to civility. But there was no need to ban anyone.
Hopefully, me bringing all this up won’t earn me a fresh batch of rebuke but we’ll see. Just know that I know I’m not perfect and it’s OK if we disagree sometimes.
In other political news it’s a good thing I don’t bet on things. I was certain Governor Cuomo was going to take a run at the White House in 2020 but he’s ruling it out. I know the field of potential candidates is large but he’s sharper than most of them on his worst day. He especially would have done well in any debates. Keep your eye on Kamala Harris now.
I’m still convinced if Joe Biden had run two years ago Donald Trump would be back hosting a reality show on NBC. Billy Bush would probably still have a job and a lot of the events, good and bad, of the last 18 months never would have happened. Is it the Chinese who say, “May you live in interesting times?” I think we can definitely check off that box, at least when it comes to politics.
My final thought is on those public pools in Troy. I saw recently there is new talk of finding the funding to fix them up and getting them open. Please do it. Growing up on Mann Avenue in South Troy my house was about two football fields away from the public pool. None of my friends had a pool so on the hottest days it was truly our only refuge.
Every year I see the state budget allocate a king’s ransom for all sorts of things, especially to places with a downstate zip code. Perhaps, just this once, our local lawmakers could convince the bigwigs in Albany to carve out a couple million to help Troy fix the pools. It wouldn’t be unprecedented for state leaders to bail out a local city struggling to pay its bills. Besides you’ll be making children happy and who doesn’t want that.
John Gray is a news anchor on WXXA-Fox TV 23 and ABC’S WTEN News Channel 10. His column is published every Wednesday. Email him at johngray@fox23news.com.