Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Now I'm embarrassed to be in Omaha


I really don't know which issue to start with.
Since last year when Omaha and the M-F Empire began their journey to conquer the world one suburb at a time, I have done my little part to argue against them. Ever since I've known better, I've realized that the Omaha World-Herald (OWH) brings biased news to my doorstep every morning. I just didn't realize that today was going to be the day to showcase all of it:
What district allows you to skip the lines at the county offices to change party affiliations? OPS! You brought the papers on school grounds? You are handing out Osborne for Gov. (we'll touch on that later) paraphernalia across the street? The news last night showed an OPS teacher (OK, I know she was a few years ago, and she's not at retirement age...I could be wrong) pointing out where you change your party affiliations, apparently in the TAC Admin building. How unbiased is that? Ever since I wanted to be a teacher, I was told that I was not there to push my beliefs on others in public. So, if my district doesn't get our way, then I can do that?
Speaking of biased, the OWH: I'm sure OPS and Dr. Tom are ecstatic that on the front page of my paper read in extremely large letters "Osborne is against LB 1024." Have you heard of David Hahn? You mentioned, albeit on the 2nd page in one line, that Hahn is the only Democrat running for governor. You failed to mention that Hahn commented on the issue on April 14, 3 days before Osborne. Congrats to Tom for following in David Hahn's footsteps! Although I am a Democrat, I understand that the governor's race will probably be decided in May with the Republican primaries, but when does a self-proclaimed reputable paper (well, I guess I've never heard that claim) start to pick sides? It truly outrages me. Why don't you save some trees and just stop printing the paper? You're really wasting your time.
Of course Osborne is going to do the opposite of what Heineman does. How else is he going to get votes? Heineman had the suburbs locked up with his opposition to the original takeover scheme, so Osborne has to do something to get his name back in the headlines. You even mention it later that Osborne necessarily isn't opposed to the bill, he just wouldn't have signed it. Could've fooled me by the paper headline.
As a Nebraskan, I'm embarrassed that OPS has gotten themselves into this huge, worldwide issue (sources indicate that this story was in the Sydney, Australia online newspaper). Ernie Chambers got ticked that you went behind closed doors to try to get what you want. Since Sen. Chambers is on his way out, he found the perfect situation to go behind close doors, take his built up animosity, and blow your plan up. This is how we are teaching our children to handle adverse situations?
As a Nebraskan, I'm embarrassed that the largest paper in the state continually resembles one big opinion rag. Report the facts, not just what you think will get you liked by those with some clout. You realize that people are going to vote for Tom Osborne because he won a football national championship at Nebraska, so you figure that if you be nice to Dr. Tom, the public will like you more. Nice thinking.
As a Nebraskan, I feel its absurd how childish OPS, the city of Omaha, and the OWH have made us seem. Please, please, please. If you are from outside the area and are looking to these people to be our ambassadors of goodwill, look some more. There are plenty of good people doing outstanding things in this town. Omaha is growing and has a lot to offer. Unfortunately, its not important enough or won't generate enough money for it to be noticed. Take my word for it, not theirs.
A special thanks to the New Nebraska Network for the link to David Hahn. I picked up their blog from the Plains Feeder, two highly readable blogs. Just beware of Cindy Sheehan's stomach at the Feedlot.
David Hahn for Governor!

2 comments:

ptg said...

I knew Mr. Hahn when he was in law school. Interesting cat. Heh, heh.

Hosh said...

I like the PC way you put that.