TOM HORTON'S COMMENT THAT WAS DELETED ON THE OREGONIAN

[I have a problem with any press, media, reporter, or journalist who stands behind First Amendment Freedom of the Press, but then engages in active CENSORSHIP OF THEIR READERS/LISTENERS/VIEWERS FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH. So, here’s what I wrote, that Joe Rose and his OregonLive masters ultimately censored, twice. It was the first comment in this thread, then again the 54th comment when I reposted it; I posted it shortly after Rose himself linked his article to his Facebook Wall. I said (to the best of my memory)]:

You’re a jerk; you know that, Joe Rose?


Did your corporate masters force you to write that headline? And on the day that renowned columnist and White House Press Corps diva Helen Thomas passed away. She isn’t even in the grave yet, but shamed by the Fourth Estate you represent.

First of all, you need to get your dates right. The contract we’ve all been fighting over for years was back-dated to become effective December 2009 [Joe’s original story mistakenly said 2012, but he has since corrected it without apology.] TriMet’s union transit workers have continued working, every day “IN GOOD FAITH”, honoring the terms of the 2003-2009 contract as we had customarily agreed to do while negotiations continued. Now, we have, in fact, been working without a contract since November of 2012, “IN GOOD FAITH”, despite the lying, cheating, and stealing perpetrated against us and the public we serve by the District’s Management and their corporate cronies in the press—YOU!

And tell us, Joe, what exactly is, “Near-universal coverage?” Have you ever read the “Exemptions” in your Cadillac Health Insurance policy? There isn’t anything “universal” about it!

By the way, what exactly do you have against workers providing for their families in their post-employment years? You know I advocate for economic parity; for all workers to receive a living wage, Health Care for their families, a modicum of security in their retirement, and some peace of mind in the event of their early demise. So, is it that you get yours and to hell with the rest of us?

I don’t know what Cracker Jack box it was you got your journalism badge out of, but it wasn’t the Helen Thomas School. And as for that rag you work for, the Oregonian, it isn’t worth lining the cat box with because it doesn’t get delivered anymore —maybe that’s also because of you!

[I don’t believe this comment in any way violates any “User Agreement”, and at any rate, if Joe Rose can’t stomach a little healthy criticism he needs to find another, less exposed medium to expose his biases. That’s the best I can do to remember what Rose and his OregonLive.com masters deleted from the thread of comments following his article, twice now—CENSORED BY THE PRESS—the late, great Helen Thomas would be ashamed.]