Crofton Online: SunWatch
'Coup Attempt' by Baltimore Sun Flounders; Republicans Running Scared; Disgust With Starr Grows

Democrats Prepare to Say 'No' to Glendening

As Marylanders prepare to go to the polls Tuesday [September 15], public disgust with the tabloid media and the tactics of Republican Ken Starr continues to grow. Incredibly, the public's rating of the Clinton presidency has actually risen in the past few weeks, as tobacco lobbyist Starr's best shot failed to accomplish its goal of toppling a popular government.

Democrats will get a chance Tuesday to let Gutless Governor Glendening know exactly what they think of his spineless behavior without voting for Ellen Sauerbrey! No one is actively running against Glendening in the primary, but several individuals remain on the ballot. If the total vote for Glendening drops substantially even with no active opposition, the Governor will "get the message," according to political analysts.

Meanwhile, after nine months of telling the public that President Clinton must leave office, the tabloid Baltimore Sun is preparing a face saving shift. Rather than acknowledging the irresponsible journalism of Susan Baer and its other reporters, the Sun will begin to attack Republican Starr and the hapless Linda Tripp.

Nervous Republicans are running scared, afraid of an on-the-record impeachment vote. Despite claims in the media to the contrary, voters are fully aware of the GOP's role in trying to undo the 1996 elections through a gross misuse of prosecutorial power. The funding of Republicans Starr, Linda Tripp, and Paula Jones by extreme rightwingers in the Party is widely recognized, despite the tabloid press's downplaying of the story.

No one condones the private actions of Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton, although most realize that private sexual behavior between consenting adults is no one else's business. The attempts of the Sun's reporters to use what essentially amounts to blackmail in order to achieve its political agenda, however, is not being tolerated.

Condemnation of the Sun's "reporting" is not limited to any one political ideology. Indeed, its recent attacks on Ellen Sauerbrey's environmental record disgusted readers on both ends of the political spectrum. The newspaper apparently feels that its reporters are the cultural elite and that the public must get in line behind them.

Unfortunately for the Sun, in November each one of its reporters gets the same single vote as each individual citizen.

For the first time in history, freedom of the press is no longer limited to those rich enough to afford a press. The Baltimore Sun, ABC News, and the rest of the tabloid media are going down in flames, and there is little they can do about it except whine louder and louder. Fortunately, we no longer have to listen.