A few days ago, an interesting article appeared in the Mountain Xpress reporting the removal of newspaper boxes from the front of the county courthouse. The county has since allowed three newspapers to return their boxes. The first to come back was the Asheville Tribune. The obvious conclusion is that the hopelessly corrupt power structure is spoon-feeding the idiot that paper assigns to cover those meetings propaganda, and said idiot is compliantly regurgitating it. For the record, the identity of said idiot may be discovered by looking at the byline of this blog.

Ten years ago, I got involved in critiquing public policy to fight un-Constitutional activities at the federal level. I was demoted by local partisans to covering local politics. The next demotion took me to he-said, she-said reporting of what the beautiful ones were saying Tuesday nights. I thought I still served a public purpose, but today I feel like a mindless lapdog.

Check out the article in the Mountain Xpress with a photo of an Asheville Tribune box all by itself in front of the courthouse. Jeff Fobes, representing the Mountain Xpress, declared,

What more natural place is there to distribute newspapers than in front of local government buildings? A key role of newspapers is to watchdog government activities. And these buildings are where citizens go to petition their government.

County Manager Dr. Wanda Greene wants more rules and regulations for the boxes. She will work out a more permanent arrangement for the unsightly boxes after the Bele Chere madness is over. Greene says she has spoken with David Morgan of the Tribune and Fobes about this. Fobes said neither the conversation nor an attempt to request it ever took place.

My sense of purpose was so much stronger in the days when, for example, I found a loaded baby diaper in a Tribune box.