It's quite OK with me for The Standard Times' William T. Kennedy (Publisher) and Robert Unger (Editor) to belong to an ideology and even to espouse the ideology on a daily basis. What is not ethical or acceptable is the practice of controlling the news in their "news"paper. This does enormous damage to the sacred constitutional right of the freedom of the press.

Kennedy has been caught red handed on certain things such as using his paper to keep vital information from the public regarding problem after problem with the idiotic "Oceanarium" project. Unger does this on an hourly basis as he vets through the news streaming in and decides what he believes will help or harm his agenda. They carefully vet out what is acceptable information for their useful idiots.

This week though, I as well as national media believe the mainstream media including the Politburo of the local newspaper has been as brazen and obvious an example of what is ultimately the root demise of journalistic integrity.  Representative Barney Frank is up to his ears in the $700,000,000,000.00 Wall Street bailout by the US Government and even though he represents the area which the New Bedford Standard Times covers, the paper has not printed one word of condemnation nor one negative syllable about his personal performance as The House Financial Services Committee Chairman or his past record as ranking member there in Washington.

Barney Frank who on September 11, 2003, told the nation that President Bush was manufacturing a problem that didn't exist at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Frank was provably wrong and stopped reformation of a company which he:

1) Accepted over $40,000 in campaign contributions.

2) Had a sexual relationship with an executive member there. Herb Moses who Frank called his lover for ten years and who was provided by Rep. Frank with a spouse pass on Capitol Hill for parking and several other amenities. Story

Today, the S-T allowed the first and only information on the issue to be presented. They waited for Barney Frank to inform the locals about the bailout as he sees it. No objective reporting on facts that cannot be refuted is to be found. Instead one can pretty much envision the growing nose on Congressman Frank as he belittles the ability of the Democratic Party between "1995 and 2006" since they were in the slight minority, oh and he must have been crippled from the minority Republicans for the 18 months he acknowledges Democrats did gain control. How is it he can blame the minority Republicans for the woes of the nation while the Democrats are in control of both houses? How is it he can berate lobbyist influence over Republicans on all issues but scoffs at the idea that lobbyists could influence his school of thought? Is that not the symbiotic relationship he himself suggests is what is wrong in Washington? Where are these questions or ones half as tough as these anywhere in the New Bedford Standard Times?

If Bush allowing Enron's Ken Lay audience with the president was front page news for the New Bedford Standard Times, how is it that Barney Frank's cozy relationship with Fannie Mae isn't? Bill Moyers of PBS might have put it best when he wrote, "Sadly, in many respects, the Fourth Estate has become the fifth column of democracy, colluding with the powers that be in a culture of deception that subverts the thing most necessary to freedom, and that is the truth."

Bill, Bob..the silence is deafening.  kp

P.S.
Page 13 in Section K in Saturday's edition doesn't count*