Nuthin' Funny About this Funny-Business

When I woke up this morning, I thought maybe I had over-reacted in my anger the night before when I realized that the London Free Press had screwed up and didn't even run Friday's edition of the 'Funnies.' The whole page was a re-run. That would be okay when they used to re-run 'Peanuts' after Charles Shultz died. Or the current version of 'For Better or Worse.' But the storylines in both 'Funky Winterbean' and 'Rex Morgan, M.D.' had been gathering momentum for the big Friday cliff-hanger.

And when I went to the Free Press blogs, intending to ask about it, I got even more angry when I read the 'Editor's Blog' and Editor-in-chief Paul Berton admiting, 'Oops we screwed up today - we ran yesterday's comics instead of todays.'

Now, I can understand. Mistakes happen. Just listen to Radio 980-AM any Sunday if there isn't a game on after the Roy Green Show. Incompetence runs rampant in our society, it is something we are all guilty of - even me on occassion. But incompetence aside, what really pissed me off was - that you didn't rerun "yesterdays" comics, Paul - they were from the day before yesterday, that being WEDNESDAY.

I'm seriously beginning to wonder if this guy even reads his own paper. He sure don't read the 'Funnies.' In a post from about two weeks earlier he was talking about 'Doonesbury' and how good it was and recommended that us readers should check it out. Well, if it's so good - why aren't you running it? If it's so good, why is my wife paying a subscription? And more importantly, what's the point of being the Editor-in-chief of a mid-market daily newspaper if you can't even use your power and influence to have them run your favorite comic strip?

But like I said, I woke up this morning and realized I had over-reacted. It's only one day of the funnies, after all. And Paul had promised to run yesterday's real comics today along with today's crop. Which they did.

So I picked up today's Free Press and after I finished two pages of comics, I started at the front. On Page 2, Paul Berton had his usual Saturday column, 'From the Editor's Desk' all about the trials and tribulations of being a newspaper editor.

And that's when I got mad again. Earlier this week, apparently in the early evening, someone walking down York Street in our downtown area had taken a rock "the size of a grapefruit," and had hurled it with enough force for it to pass through two thick panes of glass and land on Paul's desk. While he was across the street having dinner.

Now, this is pretty serious. It's a not-so unsubtle THREAT. Obviously a reaction to something that Paul had written or something that Paul, as Editor was responsible for being printed.

But that's not how Paul sees it.

And this is the hilarious part - and I quote - "... I returned briefly from dinner to assess the situation. What a mess. I decided immediately the rock probably wasn't meant for me. My office at the Free Press on York Street has more windows than most others, so I'm guessing it was simply a matter of percentages (or bad luck.) The culprit was not apprehended, but I'm guessing the person was probably under some kind of influence, and not aiming at me in particular, or even The Free Press, but who knows?"

Geez, what fukkin' world is this guy in?!?

The modesty is commendable but the denial and naivete are downright troubling.

Paul, baby - this wasn't a matter of some teenagers letting off steam. Or some downtown ne'er-do-well hauling a thirty-pound rock around to throw through any window when he got tired of carrying it.

Whoever threw it, wasn't aiming at the office next to yours or the broom-closet on the other side. He obviously knew the lay-out of the building and just whose office is whose. They didn't throw it through the window of the TV-station or CJBK or Jeff MacArthur's office window across the street.

No, they went to a lot of trouble to missile it through the window of the Editor-in-chief of The London Free Press. They went out of their way to throw it through YOUR window, Paul. This particular rock only had one person's name on it.

Shit, you don't have to be J. Jonah Jameson to figure that one out.

"I decided immediately that the rock probably wasn't meant for me. ... I'm guessing the culprit wasn't aiming at me in particular, or even The Free Press."

That's like George Bush looking at the New York City skyline the day after 9-11 and saying, "Well, we still don't know who did this - but you know, I have a feeling they weren't really aiming at US."

This is the kind of curious, investigative mind at the helm of The London Free Press.

Well Paul, windows can always be replaced. But as for our confidence in you as the Editor of our only daily newspaper is concerned, that will be a lot harder to repair.