If you believe in daily newspapers ...

... you can believe in the Kilkenny letter.

I was the political reporter for The Broadview Journal for four years. I went to every Broadview Heights city council meeting and meticulously reported on it. If city council approved $10,000 for a new tractor, it was in my column. If Boy Scout Troup 720 was in attendance in order to earn a badge, it was in my column. If they approved a new part-time clerk for the recreation department, it was in my column. Local politicians loved me one day and hated me the next. They constantly (and unsuccessfully) tried to get me fired. The readers ate it up.

Broadview Heights is a small suburb of Cleveland, about 16,000 people. There were five other papers at the Journal's parent company Scriptype Publishing that covered five other area municipalities. I was buddies with all the editors and reporters.

I know how these small town governments operate. I've seen the fights and the backstabbing. And I can envision every one of Kilkenny's scenarios, similar ones played out before me. People, I really know this territory and I know that Kilkenny has her share of bias, but there's a healthy dose of truth in her words as well.

Tip o' the hat to a Baroque lady for this link.