Cabalista Barnwell the New Blum?

Our newest cabalista, SB Council Member Brian Barnwell, got skewered today by Travis Armstrong who got so low as to bring up a personnel matter related to Barnwell's wife when she was working for the News-Press.

Interesting that on Wake Up Wendy Wednesday this "opinion" piece comes out which used the words "free press" and "independent editorial voice" like Ampersand is being criticized without cause. He made a very clear attempt to play Barnwell off of Council Member Williams like Brian doesn't play well with others. Also, yet again -- Armstrong does his bit of revisionism and tries to make Barnwell a friend of developers. Much like with Blum, if you make an unfounded accusation enough times, it must be true. Rather than show proof of his accusations, Armstrong plays the ad hominem game like a pro and simply says that his proof has been recorded already in the News-Press. "Independent editorial voice" must be the theme of the week over at the News-Press. How Karl Rovian of them...

At the risk of being accused of being "moody and impulsive" by Mr. Armstrong -- I don't care if he expresses his opinion but I'd be much more willing to hear him out and respect his writings as just opinion if he backed it up with facts rather than invective. As I've said before, if things start changing on these counts -- I will be the first to acknowledge it.

Conversations he has had with people like Barnwell are hearsay and shows a lack of professionalism on his part -- as I doubt Barnwell was told that the conversation would be saved for future use. The dog-bite episode Armstrong says "raised questions"....well, with whom? Now Barnwell is a friend of developers -- well, where's the beef? Break it down for us! Bringing up Camee Cohee -- who was an excellent reporter -- and revealing her personnel file was another act of betrayal to the newsroom and to his readers. Are the reporters who are left at the News-Press to assume that they will be the subject of his ridicule someday on the editorial page? Does he himself have no ill will toward her or Brian because of their history? -- if so, he should acknowledge his bias. Today's editorial shows that he is not committed to eliminating bias from the newspaper.