There’s been some reaction, positive and negative, to comments made on the upcoming elections, local and national, in the Pulse and on our online discussion sites.

“You can’t come out and support one candidate,” “That’s totally biased, irresponsible journalism,” “You guys have an agenda,” “That’s not fair,” “I’m reporting you to the attorney general” (seriously?), etc.

For one thing, I’ve said it once and I’ll probably say it again, we’ll print what we please in our publication. That’s one of the few upsides of spending most your life publishing a paper. You can print what you want. Secondly, the individuals who make the statements like “newspapers and media organizations don’t tell people who to go out and vote for; they present the facts and let people make up their minds” must not pay very much attention at all to newspapers and media organizations.

To the contrary, they often tell people who to vote for. In fact, four years ago, The Tennessean’s editorial department printed an endorsement along the lines of “Why Obama is the best choice for president.”

Someone literally made the comment to me that “The Tennessean doesn’t tell people to go vote for Obama.”

Trust me, I see the value of objective journalism, or the theory of it at least, since no piece is ever 100 percent “objective.” However, I feel it’s much more ethical and honest for a media outlet or member to say “this is what I think, and this is why I feel that way” and present an opinion piece than for a clearly biased news source to present something as “fair and balanced” when it is obviously not. You may argue otherwise, but that’s how I think and I just put it in print. You are free to send me a note or letter with your agreement or disagreement. I’ve decided that a lack of a reply in any discussion means that I am right.

Remember, there is very little that you really need. When I am asked if I need anything, I can have trouble thinking of anything.

I believe I have everything I need, water is generally the closest thing to a need I ever experience.

But speaking of water, and preparing for doomsday scenarios it may be a good idea to stock up on some drinking water in the event of something . . . atypical going down.

It’s spring. Dig in the dirt! Ride a bike, preferably in the Tour de Fun, plant a garden, or some bamboo, visit our neighbors up on Hippie Hill, Run, Cougar, Run, eat something from the ground.

We can play our hide and seek (a.k.a. “go go hide”) outside now. It’s great that Jr. wants to play the game with me, but sometimes I think he asks me to go go hide just to get rid of me.

“That’ll get old Dad out of my way for a few minutes while I pillage and plunder in peace,” he thinks. Or maybe he just forgets . . .

Peace,
Bracken Mayo
Editor in Chief