Here is one of my new features, along with the Daily Bread morning post. I have called it Register Watch™, and it will be a weekly review of the latest issue of our local, but dismal paper, the Whitewater Register. Going forward, it will appear one day after the latest issue of the Register; typically Register Watch™ will appear on Friday mornings.
(Quick note to my ignorant critics in municipal office: You acted wrongly and stupidly against America’s clear tradition of free speech. Your self-justification is both feeble and embarrassing. (See my post to your attention, To the Municipal Opponents of Free Speech.) You’ll not cow someone into silence; I have more to write than ever before. This feature is a small part of that expanded effort.)
The March 20th issue of the Register offers two front page stories on local or county elections, one on Leslie Steinhaus as a candidate for a superintendent’s position in Minnesota, and one more, beyond these. Ready, Whitewater? The largest amount of space, virtually everything below the fold, is devoted to an ode to spring, entitled (ready, again?) “Hope Springs Eternal.” Oh my.
Of course, the biggest story in town, covered only out of town and on this website, is the outrageous, wrong, and embarrassing conduct of our police chief against a lawful blogger. You may have heard something about this, on this website, in a series entitled, “Witch-Hunting a Blogger in Whitewater, Wisconsin.” It was also covered on the frontpage of our state’s leading newspaper, the Wisconsin State Journal. (See, “Front Page: The Wisconsin State Journal Covers Municipal Actions Against Free Whitewater Website.”)
From the Register there’s nothing. That’s nothing, as in not a thing. You should not be surprised. If a story does not support the stodgy, inept, narrow-minded town faction’s position, it will not appear in the Register.
You may guess why that is; I am not sure. I cannot confirm the rumor that the Register publishes the truth only in disappearing ink.
Dampier is listed as an editor at the Register, but that must refer to her editing duties at another publication, because her “Hope Springs Eternal” story is the worst-written and edited since, well…. memory fails, as my third grade studies were so long ago.
The stories on the candidates for election are pedestrian and predictable.
Is the Register really a Whitewater paper, may I ask? In the first section, of over forty-five prominent advertisements, only about ten are from Whitewater concerns (and this paltry number includes political ads for Whitewater candidates, and ads for the Register itself.) Why so few local merchants, and so many (wasting their money) from outside our city? You know why — the Register is the weakest link in a local chain. It’s hardly a Whitewater paper, though.
I knew about the Steinhaus story long before it made its way to the Register, and it’s almost as light as the fluff on spring. I chose not to write about it. Steinhaus is a first-round candidate for a position in Minnesota. All that requires is a brief paragraph. The Register runs the news from the front page to the inside. You’ll excuse me if, upon hearing of the possibility of her departure, I’ll not pour some Chivas quite yet. It’s waiting, though.