Dec 10, 2008

New Angle On Bill White

Today's Opinion Page at The Morning Call, has Ron Angle firing back at Bill White's blog, which criticized Angle for always being against something. Ron takes Bill to task for eating too much chili and his attacks on Emma Tropiano. Both these points have some merit. Bill White has at least four annual themes which dominate his column; food at Musikfest, food contests during the fair, hall of shame and Christmas lights. I made a similar complaint about his blog, being pre-occupied with movies. To his credit he answered my comment, citing his blog as a recreational retreat from the more serious newspaper column; not according to Ron Angle! In fairness to Mr. White, both his column and blog are apparently what both his readers and employer want to read. To curmudgeons like me and Ron Angle, if what you write doesn't annoy most people, you're just a purveyor of fluff. Now to Emma, for a guy like me who doesn't like to shave two days in a roll, and thinks a tie and sports coat should not be worn at the same time, she was the real deal. She never gave a power-point presentation or cited a grant funded study, but she told it like it is, and had practical solutions to real problems. I cannot comment on White's assessment of Angle, I don't follow Northampton politics, but anybody who defends Emma is OK with me.

13 comments:

  1. A quote to remember:

    "The bottom line is that the only thing [Bill White] is qualified to write about these days are little puppies and ham sandwiches."

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  2. con⋅tro⋅ver⋅sy:  [kon-truh-vur-see; –noun, plural -sies.
    1. a prolonged public dispute, debate, or contention; disputation concerning a matter of opinion.
    2. contention, strife, or argument.
    3. Ron Angle

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  3. I beg to differ. I thought Emma (May she Rest In Peace)to be out of her mind. This is a woman who wanted to control the sale of black magic markers to stop graffiti. That's not a solution to a problem, that's like taking a cough drop for the flu.
    Emma and Ron had a lot in common, and grandstanding is a trait they shared.
    My problem here is that Bill is being slammed because his position is not shared by some. I think that is unfortunate.

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  4. Glenn, That was funny. But Angle makes things interesting. Without Ron, I'd spend more time writing about Alentown.

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  5. chris, there is validity to the points, bill does spend weeks building up to the same themes every year, while allentown declines. certainly someone who posts a hall of shame, and identifies public nominations, should be able to be criticized by a local blogger. forget the magic marker and the sofa's, emma spent countless hours working on behalf on citizens who had little to no voice in this city. her phone never stopped ringing, her living room was never empty, and when you had a problem she was there.

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  6. You forgot another of Bill White's major themes: the grammar police.

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  7. I thought Emma's claim to fame was not magic markers, but a move to ban the sale of spray paint to minors, and banning the placement of upholstered chairs and sofas on front porches and yards.

    I'm afraid to say, in hindsight, she was probably right! Just ask those who live in Reading!

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  8. For the first time since White joined the MC as a employee (ask me why I'm not surprised that he's from, you guessed it: New Jersey), the paper has finally permitted the public to tell the MC what they think of pseudo- journalists like Mr. White.
    Ron Angle's reply to White, in what passes for a newspaper in Allentown these days, was a 'slam dunk', with the ball be jammed through the rim... the ball being the persona of one, Bill White. It was NO contest! If the powers that be at the MC (Kranzley, Erdman, Hilliard) had wisely decided to allow this criticism to take place years ago, the long term decline in paid subscriptions/ circulation would have been different from what we are seeing today. At least for the 'over 50 year old reader' demographic, who DO NOT read their news on the internet.
    This Bill White 'character', is a very divisive, and 'un-Allentown outsider', who was allowed to come into our area and foist his liberal and politically correct garbage on what has traditionally been a very conservative populace. The MC was very short-sighted in not foreseeing the negative consequences of White's thinly disguised left-wing editorializing (not too artfully presented as juvenile/ sophomoric humor). White has a very disagreeable personality, always pandering to the lowest intellectual demographic in the MC's dwindling readership.
    In my opinion, and in the opinion of lots of other former readers of the MC, the majority of the blame for the paper's loss of readership can be lain at the doorsteps of White, Kranzley, and Carpenter... for these very reasons mentioned above. They have also contributed to the decline of a once great city, by refusing to address and recognize certain obvious facts, which perhaps, could be characterized as 'insensitive' issues, and therefore painted with the cancer of being politically incorrect in the playbook issued to the Morning Call employees.... these have gone unreported for twenty years. The result: a city and area, which is becoming an uninhabitable jungle.

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  9. anon 11:10, your opinion is shared by many, but not by me. although personnel at the morning call are for the most part very liberal, and consequently that POV is only presented, i don't believe it sways public opinion that much. i'm still a fan of hardcopy newspapers, even the morning call. they are still a profitable venture, unfortunately the cutbacks were necessitated to fund a larger corporate structure with a upside down financial situation. most of the news and information i receive is still from the morning call. did they disenfranchise my campaign in 2005, absolutely. have their reporters pushed their own liberal agenda's, yes! are they responsible for the current condition of allentown? I don't think so, that's assigning them more power than they have. thank you for your comment.

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  10. "White has a very disagreeable personality, always pandering to the lowest intellectual demographic in the MC's dwindling readership."

    That must be why I like him so much. It's why I like Ron, too. We need them both. They're actually on the same side.

    Angle made a very good case defending himself against White, and everything is factually accurate. I know for a fact that Ron Angle was the driving force behind the federal investigation that sent two people to Club fed, including Reibman's right hand man, Michael Solomon. Angle did lead the charge on getting rid of the county hallwalkers. He has complained every year he has been on council about the need to do something about our bridges. He was doing this long before that bridge collapse and was mocked. He is the only one who is telling people the county pension fund is $65 MM short. Have you seen that in even one news account? Don't you think that little detail is important, especially since the county only brings in $80 MM per year? He is the only council member willing to take the heat for an unpopular decision to move the prison.

    Yes, he is a grandstander and has flaws. So what? he wasn't elected Messiah. Most of the criticism directed at him is uninformed spin by people who have never seen him in action or people who are in his sights. I have watched him closely over 10 years. He is a good friend, so I'm biased, but I'll take Ron with all his flaws over anyone else.

    He sits on several public bodies, something not often noted. He is on the LVPC and attends their meetings regularly. Do you hear a complaint that he is divisive there? No, when he is with reasonable people, he is actually a moderate person. But when he is surrounded by partisan hacks, he explodes.

    We could use a few more people who give a shit.

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  11. A few more Angles and a few less Dertingers perhaps?

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  12. Gee, that sounds like the sainted "community organzier" we just elected.

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  13. Many who laugh at Emma's agendy are the same folks who just love the gov't tell us what and where we can smoke and drink, what kind of oil McD's must cook in, etc. Woodrow Wilson must be smiling in his deserved grave.

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