Delaney defends his publisher - or does he?

I’m glad to see Paul Delaney is back at the Cheney Free Press after a year and a couple months hiatus. I hope his “failed retirement” wasn’t because of those “half-dozen citations” from me to which he’s laid claim (CFP, 5/21/20).

Paul has decided that among the many and varied issues it’s important he address — the coronavirus pandemic, the exploding national debt, cancer causing chemicals in Airway Heights water, Eastern Washington rural hospitals nearing financial collapse — defending his publisher, Roger Harnack from my criticism (CFP, 5/7/20) tops the list.

Harnack is buying the Cheney Free Press from long-time owner Bill Ifft, adding to his posse of Eastern Washington news outlets spreading the gospel of Libertarianism to the faithful.

Given Harnack’s impressive resume —he’s a past winner of the Golden Quill Award — you’d think he’d be able to defend himself, but Paul, realizing how busy Roger must be managing the half dozen or so papers he owns/publishes, decided to help out with his own pithy point/counterpoint. Too bad Paul missed the point, i.e., Roger was playing fast and loose with the facts concerning Gov. Inslee’s rules for dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.

I find it touching that Paul, in defending Roger for not including “statistics” on the pandemic, throws in some statistics of his own. I’m sure Roger is grateful. On the other hand, Roger may cringe reading Paul’s implication that COVID-19’s not that bad because mostly old people are dying, and in any case, look at all the people dying from cancer and heart disease.

Keep this up, Paul, and you’ll earn many more “Badalamente Badges.”

Richard Badalamente

Richland, Wash.