Photo courtesy of Flickr/Gage Skidmore
Yesterday we published a brief piece about Donald Trump coming to town. "Get ready for a shitshow," my story began. After the what/when/where, it also made reference to Trump's "circus act." Pretty mild, as far as these things go.
In response, I heard from a number of people accusing us of bias, people who purported to be angry. "Really Ms. Sarah you had to put shit show & Circus," wrote a woman named Chris. "And there is the reason I don’t read your TRASH ASS PAPER. Suck eggs."
The comment section was predictably coherent as well:
Normally I wouldn't pause over a few pissy commentators long enough to fire off a tweet, much less respond on our website. ("Suck eggs"? That's the best y'all can do?) But since we're planning to cover Trump's visit Friday, I thought it might be a good time to clarify a few things first.
First, we are biased against Donald Trump. He's bad for America, and we are nothing if not proud to be biased against people like that.
And second, if your version of "great journalism" involves us feigning neutrality, you'd better find some other publication to read.
There are all sorts of thoughtful critiques of just why Trump is bad. They come from the right and the left and just about every point in between. You don't need me to restate the finer points; if you can read, you're already familiar with everything there is to say.
See also: Nobody Asked, but Donald Trump Says He Knows What's Next for Ferguson
But don't come to riverfronttimes.com and feign surprise that we're standing against a shyster and a blowhard, a man who joyfully craps all over the rights of Muslims and Mexicans, who condones torture and isn't quite sure how he feels about the KKK. We're against that. We're against all of that.
And you know what? Drumpf's event in St. Louis is going to be an unimaginable three-ring circus. The activists in this town are battle-hardened and ready to go. They've had a lot of fights in the last year or so, and that's only primed them to take on bigger ones.
It really makes you wonder what Trump was thinking. He probably thought he was coming to Missouri — purple, slowly turning red, Missouri. But he's not just coming to Missouri. He's coming to St. Louis. And in St. Louis, we don't suffer fools gladly.
I stand by my story: It's gonna be a shitshow.
We welcome tips and feedback. Email the author at [email protected]
