Thursday, March 23, 2006

The Big Stink

Karen Dillon wrote an excellent story about this city's sewers. Sounds like a crappy subject, but sewers are a pretty compelling issue for anyone in who cares at all about KC.

What makes this story great is that it clearly takes the perspective of the reader. It has a healthy dose of righteous indignation. It's fair and balanced, in that it allows the city officials to have their say. But it still accurately portrays these so-called leaders' comments as complete bunk.

I wish that daily newspapers -- not just theStar -- would make this kind of story the norm rather than the exception. Too often government stories read as if the reporters are scared of what the government officials will think of them. I know it's hard to get those folks to cooperate after they're knocked around with a kick ass story. But, you know, they're not really the audience. They're the ones who are screwing up.

And good God are they screwing up.

How can we even think about building arenas and an absurd rolling roof for the football stadium and a convention center and all this vanity crap when we've got a multi-billion-dollar sewer problem?

Idiots. Total freakin' idiots.

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