How Dare They?!

This morning I happened to be reading the Worcester Telegram when a bold headline on the local page caught my eye. For those who have not seen it, the headline of the article, which was written by Shaun Sutner, declared "ROTC flags raises issues" then asked directly underneath, "Was political event proper?" Well, after reading Shaun's article, I find myself once again dismayed by the glaring partisanship this paper continues to engage in. As it turns out, Shaun never once asked that question in the article. Nor does he ever explain how ROTC flags raised any issues. Instead, we learn a school committee member, Tracey O'Connell Novick and other critics of the event are the ones who raised any issues. I tried but I could not find any quotes from any flags. Novick is apparently very upset the North High Junior ROTC participated in what she believes was a political event held by a conservative group. (The reader is left to infer that by the article in which Shaun refers to critics who say it was a political event just before quoting Novick.) Her indignation is clearly focused on the participation by the JROTC at the event as an honor guard. Wait, didn't the headline read just ROTC? A seemingly small point but the Junior ROTC and the ROTC, which is generally made up of college students, are two separate entities. As far as I can tell, the ROTC was not at the event. It is not until the reader gets to the back page of the article that the proper JROTC title is used. Novick goes on to say in the article there should be rules against this practice if there are none already. Really MS Novick? Do you really want us to believe any students, including JROTC members, do not benefit from meeting a sitting US Senator? I cannot help but think if the Senator who attended was named Kerry we would not have heard from you at all. To Shaun Sutner's credit, he clearly stays neutral and allows Chris Pinto to give a separate point of view. Too bad the headline writer doesn't have the same principles. Maybe it's just me but I can almost hear Novick and others saying things like "How dare they have a get involved event!" They of course meaning Republicans and like minded people. Well MS Novick, here's something to think about. The silent majority is not staying silent anymore. I for one am thrilled you chose to overreact to this in this way because your true colors bleed all over the article! Thank you for that.