It's The Same Old Whine On The Borderline!

Once again, the self-appointed keepers of freedom's flame at the ontheborderline.net blog site have climbed up on their self-righteous soapbox, whipped open their Colombo trench coats and exposed their limp version of the truth. They are charging the Hudson Star Observer with over-editing a recent letter to the editor. Apparently, the HSO of edited out 250 words from one of their high priest's editor letters. (Note: Sometimes writers are their own worst editor and it takes a professional to clean up their mess.)

Evidently the high priest had a conversation with the acting HSO editor that wasn't leading to the hoped-for result, i.e. getting his way. An OTBL'er ain't happy and it sounds like someone in the conversation was being way too curt. (Note: Wasn't there an incident in Hudson last June where two people would not play be Roberts Rules of Order at a Hudson school board meeting and had to leave early? Didn't we hear this same old censorship whine back then?)

In an OTBL post titled "Censorship Alive and Well At The Hudson Star Observer," we learn, "So much for fair and balanced reporting here in Hudson. What we are seeing is cut throat politics at its very worst. Taxpayers be damned. Here is my letter in its entirety. The highlighted area is what was deleted by Mr. Hanson and Mr. Dzubay in a deliberate act of censorship." (Note: If you plan to climb into the wallow of self pity, it's best to do it with the pigs you know best.)

You can go to the OTBL web site to read this complete post.

It's interesting that an OTBL'er would expect a news organization to be "fair and balanced," considering the number of posts OTBL does that are linked to FOX News. "Cut throat politics?"...that sounds like what OTBL'ers do on a daily basis. As the outhouse keepers of individual liberty and boot-lickers of liaise-faire selfishness, it's baffling that the OTBL blog site would allow a private business like the HSO to be shamelessly attacked for running it's business the way it sees fit. That would be like me calling up someone who runs a business on the internet, telling them how they should run their business and then getting mad at the business owner for not doing it my way. That's nuts!

Of course, as followers of the aimless ramblings and incoherent rantings of the discarded and discredited political and economical hearsay that litter the OTBL archives, we at this blog site have come to expect the extremist belligerence of their hypocritical tirades. Simply put, OTBL babies pout when they don't get their way.

OTBL'ers please note, a newspaper can print what it chooses. You send in the letter and the editors makes ANY tweaks they see fit. I've submitted many letters to the editors and I haven't always been happy with, or understood the rationale behind, the editing. If you're going to play in the letter to the editor game, you've got to play by the rules. The rules are made up by the newspaper and these rules can change like the wind.

Enough of my soapboxing, on to the hypocrisy on the borderline. Let's say you want to join in the conversation, discussion, debate, pity party, etc. at OTBL. You click a little box on the left side of the blog site that says REGISTER. Once in there it will ask for you name, phone number, etc. After filling in this info, you get to read the "fine print" of the hypocritical, "free speech" practiced at OTBL. (Note: Whenever I read or hear an OTBL'er use the phrase "free speech," I substitute the phrase "cheap talk.")

It reads as follows:
"The opinions expressed herein are the opinions of each individual. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the administrator of this site. This is a private blog and all postings and comments become property of the administrator of the blog. Each and every participant of this blog also acknowledges that any posting or comments may be modified, edited, screened, or deleted without question. Additionally, the new registrant also acknowledges that they may not be allowed to post or comment. New registrants will be put on a moderated status and allowed to submit a comment. However, It may take a while for the comments to get approved and posted. Again, the administrator can modify, edit, or delete any submitted material without question. The users of the blog system, also agree to self moderate and use their best judgment as to content provided to the blog. The admin is not responsible for inappropriate material submitted by others and will delete once he is made aware of it. If you agree go ahead and press register. The admin may also use the supplied phone number only to contact the registrant to confirm that the identity of the registrant and will keep any such information confidential. A password will be emailed to you."
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Maybe my powers of interpretation are flawed somehow, but the OTBL rules of engagement seem to cover the same thing their high priest is complaining about above. They will slice and dice your comments to fit their political spin and, if you don't toe their line, they'll kick you off the blog. Now Chris Kilber, the administrator of the OTBL blog has stated in posts before that his blog is a "private blog" and the conversation that goes on within the confines of his blog is private and not open to the public. Of course, he writes letters to the editor and tells everybody to come visit his blog and see what a wonderful asset it is for expanding and enhancing the community's conversation. Piss and lemonade look the same from a distance, but taste it and you'll learn the difference. Ditto for OTBL.

No OTBL'ers, this isn't an issue of censorship. This is a case where the home owner shot the dog in the ass with a BB gun to keep him from pooping on the lawn. Now the dog is back in the OTBL kennel howling indignation and the other dogs are intermittently joining in the chorus and licking the wounded dog's backside.

Always remember, the OTBL'ers portray themselves as "freedom loving " guys who speak only in the best, benevolent interest of those of us who make up the ignorant masses. "Freedom" is the mantra chanted by the OTBL bloggers as they exercises the iron fist
of conformity and delete all who enter that blog speaking positively about public education, unions or bettering the community.

They fight for "Freedom" as long they get to define "freedom." OTBL is control freak central and it's run by a computer
programming geek who provides space at the shallow end of the social/political/economical cesspool for anti-community misfits who continue to try to pawn off their desperate dog paddling as Olympic-style synchronized swimming. Maybe it's time the OTBL'ers stop humiliating mongrel dogs by using one as their mascot. Maybe they should instead adopt Hal from "2001: A Space Odyssey" as their mascot.

What a crock!