Andy Marlette Leaving the PNJ

 

Early this morning comes word that cartoonist Andy Marlette is leaving the PNJ.

And of course as he has done dozens of times for 15 years he features me in yet another cartoon on his way out the door.  LOL.

Speculation abounds.  Was he fired?  Did he push the envelope just a little too far last week with his racist BLM cartoon where he made fun of BLM and denigrated them?  Was it his misogynistic attacks on female employees of elected officials?  Was it his use of the "n" word in his cartoons?  Did he do something too stupid one too many times?  Was Andy Cancelled??

OR

Did he get (insert image of me doing a giant airquote) "Promoted" By Gannett or his cartoon syndication company?  You know, how some folks get these giant so-called "promotions" with more money and fancy titles and then are shipped away from enjoyable high-paying, high profile gigs to a cubicle somewhere in the bowels of the "Death-Star" of a corporate headquarters so they are "out of sight...."  Maybe it was one of those deals?

Who knows? we may never know.  Too many questions...  But you knew it had to happen sooner or later as this guy was so completely and 100% out of step with the center-right majority in this market.  How he lasted this long here is a real mystery....(wait, no it's not.  He blasted the last President mercilessly and unfairly, appeased, served, and pleased the liberal types in Gannett and the syndication company who hate conservatives by doing it--and got a syndicated cartoon strip for his efforts there which generates CASH money for he and Gannett!  Ka-ching!$)

I'm glad, at least, that his final editorial was classy, too. (but wait, it wasn't).

Angry, bitter, cynical, untruthful, sprinkled in with praise for his co-workers and loaded-up with a heaping dose of disdain, scorn, contempt, poison, venom and outright hatered for elected public servants.  That's what this moron's swan song editorial is.

What a total pox this guy has been on this area, in my humble opinion. 

After his dozens of cartoons where he disgustingly lies about me and actually "projects" by insinuating I am a racist and homophobic-----pardon me if I take a modicum of pleasure in this tool's departure.  "See-ya, would NOT want to be ya."

Inaccurate cartoons, biased jibberish editorials, out of step with the community and racist to boot.

Goodbye Andy and good luck.  You and all the rest from 2007 are gone now.  Gone, and I'm still here.

Buh bye.

Here's a line you can use on your next cartoon: "Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya!

I Normally Don't Do it, But......

.....This time I did.  I Picked up the phone and made the call.

Yes, I normally do not return calls where the citizen is irate and yells at my aide(s) or is rude, threatening, or just plain onry in their call to our office.  I especially avoid the ones where they make a threat or an ultimatum.

Because, what is the point, right?  Obviously this individual--whoever they may be at any given time--has made up their mind and have picked up a phone and taken the time to call my office to enunciate the fact that:

1.) If I vote for "X"--they will never vote for me again or 2.) They will never vote for me again because of some "thing" I purportedly did or 3.) they think I am somehow engaged in criminal conduct or 4.) all of the above.

These are not every day occurrences, but these sorts of calls do come in from time to time.

And I normally don't do it, I normally don't call back--especially when they explicitly tell my staff "not to bother having Bergosh call back."  But this time, along with the "don't bother having him call back" --the individual actually left a name and number.  So I did call back--and I am glad I did.  I actually had a productive conversation with the original caller and one of this individual's relatives who listened in.

The setup was this:  I am apparently not worthy of continued support because of the state retirment plan others on the board take.  And the article in the paper was infuriating to this constituent!

So, again, I called her and asked her about it.

"Look, I read that article in the PNJ, and it made me so angry!  It's not right that the commissioners are taking an extra $40,000.00 per year over and above their $85,000.00 salary for a part-time job--and I am mad!"  She continued..."Look, I know you don't take that plan, but you voted for it and so I am not happy about that either!"

I listened to her speak, and there is no doubt she was angry and worked up.  So I listened, and then we had a back and forth dialogue and she listened as well.

"I understand you are angry, but that was not a news piece you read--it was an opinion piece from the local cartoonist, Andy Marlette.  And, it is full of lies, half-truths, and falsehoods." I stated flatly. 

"Look, that guy is constantly taking shots at me, he has for the last 16 years.  Cartoons, hit pieces, and flat out lies, slander, and libel about me and other elected conservatives.  He is a sack of garbage, a liar, a misogynist,  a racist, and he is not anyone who is trustworthy in any sense of the word" I explained to her.  "I'm astonished you even take the paper locally--it is so bad, they LIE so OFTEN and so many I know have cancelled their subscriptions!" I stated.  Then I asked her how, if I was such an horrible dishonest politician as Marlette insinuates falsely--"how in the world could I not have been ever accused of doing anything unethical, illegal, or immoral in the last 16 years as an elected official where my entire life exists under a microscope for everyone to examine?"

We talked for a while, and I asked her if she has seen the toxic garbage lies this same individual, racist liberal activist and conservative Christian-hater ---Andy Marlette---  puts out about our Governor, Ron DeSantis, and our Senator(s) Marco Rubio and Rick Scott.  "Yes, I have" she conceded.  "And yet you still support those elected officials though?"  At which point she expressed support for these men while also volunteering the fact that she is/was a Democrat that "votes for the person, not the party, and at the last election I voted straight Republican."  

Then I asked a rhetorical.  "So, you support those Republicans, and do not believe what the PNJ says about them---but the Republican Commissioners---you believe what the cartoonist says about us?

Then we talked at length about the FRS, the 401(a) the differences and the costs for both plans.  I went through the plans in meticulous detail, including the fact that these plans have been in existance in the county for 25 years, the commissioners did not "invent" these plans, and I have not voted for these plans.

We talked about all the employees and elected officials who have expensive pensions, the employees who retire with 100% of their pay for life, and also the exorbitant costs associated with the pension plan for constitutional officers like, for instance, clerk of the court Pam Childers--who's FRS pension costs to the taxpayer are nearly DOUBLE every year (nearly $80K) what the county commissioner's plans

Fight the Power! Part I: How Do You Fight a Goliath?

When attacked unfairly over and over---It becomes time to fight back!  How about starting out by depriving the attacker of about $100K yearly in revenue?  It's like Matt Damon's seminal question in Good Will Hunting..."Do you like Apples?.....How about them apples?!"

No, this post isn't about the Public Enemy song.  (It's more about this Kid Rock Song!, but not really)

It's actually about something far more important; it's about fighting against something that many locally perceive as a "Public Enemy."  Our only local daily print newspaper, the Pensacola News Journal.

Hypocritical, biased, and unprofessional.  Many have cancelled subscriptions, which is good, but that doesn't solve the problem.

The PNJ are hypocrites.  They allow an employee to remain---no they PROMOTE the employee----- who uses disgusting racial and misogynistic tropes---including the "N-Word"  in his cartoons.  Disgusting and unacceptable in 2021 that this goes on unabashed.  Others get cancelled, this guy gets a Gannett promotion and a syndicated cartoon!?!  See--it's all about the money for these folks.  More on that later in this post...

Is this sort of garbage acceptable in 2021?

The PNJ endorses the cartoonist's behavior and they simultaneously, incessantly bash others and report half-truths and incomplete information.  

Is this sort of garbage acceptable in 2021?

They selectively disallow certain folks and elected officials(like me lately) from submitting letters or viewpoints to clarify positions and correct the misreporting.  It's all about message control.

They do the bidding of powerful, local business intersts and allies and carry the water of these selected individuals by tailoring "news" pieces to the whims and desires of these folks--and then--insidiously--- they write editorials that are scathing and based on the very source articles that are inaccurate and present half-truths to demonize those opposed---particularly elected officials.  Kind of a nifty little trick they employ, right?  Nifty if you are not the victim of it.

But what's the PNJ's objective?  It appears that the objective is to marginalize the voices with whom they disagreee, and to "amplify" the topics of their selected patrons to a level that does not represent the community's level of interest.

A vote goes the way they don't want it?---they demonize those who made the vote until it is rescinded.

Want a change in the makeup of a board?--they jump on the bandwagon to oppose those they dislike--with unfair, inaccurate characterizations and hatchet job cartoons.

Can't control the vision and initiatives of a duly elected body?--amplify small numbers of voices that want governance models altered.  

Because now It's no longer about reporting the what, when, and where,-----the facts.  

No.  Now its more about shaping the message and social engineering.  

And more to the point---it's really, at the end of the day, all about three things:  Power, Control, and MONEY.

Gannett and PNJ purposely promote their cartoonist--the guy who uses the N-Word in his cartoons-- because he generates MONEY for their paper.  It's all about the money.  As if this isn't bad enough--they then do dozens and dozens of cartoons insinuating elected officials (with whom they disagree) are racists!  Talk about PROJECTION!  

We have African American employees in our organization---including an African American member of the Board.  We have a significant population of African Americans in our community.  It's disgusting, disappointing, and unacceptable that this form of racism is tolerated.  That's about to end.  I'm not going to tolerate it, I'm going on offense.

Andy Marlette of Gannett's PNJ says you can trust him:    ---he'd NEVER use the N-Word in a cartoon!  Who are you going to believe?  Him, or your own lyin' eyes?

So how do you deprive a GOLIATH in the community of what they love and covet above all else, MONEY--when they hold a MONOPOLY on the daily print media in a community? 

Easy:  Go after what they covet, money.

Escambia County spends as much as $100,000.00 yearly purchasing "Legal Ads" and notices, required by law, in the Pensacola News Journal.

As of the end of last month---we are cutting off this gravy-train income source the PNJ has enjoyed

Trussssssssst Andy Marlette: He's not a racisssssssssssst.......

Andy Marlette Uses the N-Word in his cartoon.  Fake news media and others allow it, and reward it..