BEHIND THE MIKE

This column appears in over 1,500 newspapers, magazines and electronic periodicals across the US and 40 other countries. Many of those entities are kind enough to send me the hard copy editions of their publications.

I actually take the time to review the stories that appear in many of those publications. I always come away heartened by the things all these small communities have in common, good and bad.

It is fun and enlightening to read the Letters to the Editor section. The thing about small town newspapers is the crusaders are not afraid to hurl a letter-bomb when they disagree with something that is going on in their communities.

Some of these are warranted. Others are just folks opining about the other side of an issue. When I ran for the House of Representatives in South Carolina, I got my clocked cleaned, which as it turns out, was the best thing that happened to me.

What I learned in politics is you are going to make some glad, some mad and some sad. Why? Because something you did or said was…. well, BAD!

It is the same for readers of the Rappahannock Times in Tappahannock, Va., as it is in the Lexington Chronicle in Lexington, SC, or the Osceola County Newspaper here in central Florida.

Whether it is a Meat House dedication ceremony in Virginia or a Parole Hearing in the Las Vegas Tribune for a woman in Clark County, Nevada who fell asleep at the wheel, running over six teenagers doing court appointed cleanup as part of their sentence… you get to read about the good, the bad and the ugly of every community in all 41 of the countries where this column appears.

Liberals and conservatives seem to be divided evenly. Each side passionately defends its position. Still it is refreshing to see where the Farmer’s Market will finally be open after a harsh winter.

The mast head for the Las Vegas Tribune quoting Voltaire says it all: “I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it!”

The Lexington Chronicle states it differently but fundamentally means the same: “Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.” In fact, the weekly newspaper may be the last bastion of free speech that exists.

If the hacks that peddle their nonsense on the various cable channels each night would become more like their neighborhood newspapers, maybe there’d be more harmony in the country today. The commentators are too busy making the news and not reporting it.

The Houston Style Magazine, another periodical that carries our column, is a good example of people treating people fairly. Not only did they praise the late Barbara Bush, but others like the Houston Astros and other groups in Texas paid great tribute to her when she recently passed away. Sadly, that used to be the rule and not the exception.

So whether you are like my friend Jerry Bellune, editor of the Lexington Chronicle who is not afraid to call out a utility company for a $9 billion mistake or simply a reader who decided to call out a columnist for being too conservative… weekly periodicals do not mind telling it like they see it.

Most all these weekly publications have at least one full page of Church Directory ads. After treating one another like dirt all week long, we have the church for repentance and salvation on the weekend.

We Catholics have the doctrine right. There is a place between heaven and hell to go for repentance called Purgatory. It is like a halfway house for repeat Catholic sinners.

We also have confession. You can beat the hell out of your neighbor all week long and then get full absolution at the weekly confessional. What a deal!