John Aloysius Farrell - Making it up as he goes along.

When I read the Denver Post, I expect to object to whatever John Aloysius Farrell writes in his opinion column, The Nation. What really upsets me is how he masquerades as a journalist reporting on Republican ethics in his article of 3/27/05, GOP acts like Dems of old. Farrell builds his entire report on a single quotation from each of two actual Republicans; Newt Gingrich (who just happens to be pushing a new book and looking to create a little buzz) and Sen. John McCain, who never misses an opportunity to portray himself as the only politician who’s above politics. Furthermore, the limited statements by Gingrich and McCain are general in nature and do not support Farrell’s premise that any credible Republicans worry about their party’s leaders using unethical tactics like Democrats did when they held the majority.
In other words, the only person in this article who thinks that Republican ethics have gone south is Aloysius Farrell, and the evidence he presents are rumors, innuendoes and unsubstantiated allegations presented in lieu of honest objective reporting and facts.
So the question is, did Farrell successfully snooker his Post editors into running this GOP hit-piece as real news or is he simply following partisan orders? If the latter is the case then why stop with just Farrell? Why not hire Tom Daschele to report on how the Republican Congressional majority is obstructing the Left’s legislative mandate or go recruit Howell Raines out of retirement, to evaluate the Post’s journalistic integrity or how about just printing the entire paper in blue ink so everyone can see what’s really coming from a mile away! If the problem is limited to Farrell alone, then let him mindlessly, blather-on in his editorial capacity (if you must), but please, for the love of everything good and just, keep him out of the newsroom and revoke his reporters’ pass – ASAP!

Social Security Rx: Performance Enhancement

In his column, Fixes abound, but choosing is tough (3/13/05 Denver Post), John Aloysius Farrell contends that if only all us Puritan’s had adopted the Left’s prescription of “Free Love”, our future worker to retiree ratio in Social Security would be just fine. Farrell even bemoans the fact that our current Conservative Congress would oppose mandating new Federal legislation to accomplish (his) desire for more liberal-social engineering. From where I sit, there’s been no shortage of sex, only a shortage of babies born into America’s work force. If trying to mix social policy with fiscal programs is (his) goal, then perhaps the real question for Aloysius Farrell to ponder is “what shape would the Social Security system be in if our Country hadn’t sanctioned the abortion of 40 million future contributors?”. And by the way John, in general, how would you say that little Roe v. Wade thing is workin’ out so far? Do you like how that miracle of liberal jurisprudence has served to unite all Americans as never before, or like with Social Security, could it be that you, along with millions of others, are just now recognizing that there really is a problem, for which the do-nothing approach is no longer viable?

Caution: If after 40 continuous years of heightened sexual activity, free love and Viagra your society has failed to keep (its) birthrate up, it is recommended to see a doctor of a different political and cultural persuasion than John Aloysius Farrell.