Thom's Consistent

Is Thom Marshall the PR flack for whatever the City of Houston decrees to be good and just in the world?

Because just a few days ago, there was that terrible piece on the Valentine Foundation that he didn't bother to research.

In this column, Thom's just happy as heck that the city has decided to raise zoo rates because, gee whiz, it's still a real bargain, and that's just swell!

You have got to be kidding me. I know there are editors who periodically review this idiot's work, because I got an email from one of them the other day. But it seems they don't review it very carefully. Can anyone explain to me why this column should appear in a major metropolitan daily? Anyone?! For gawd's sake, it reads like a zoo press release.

Incidentally, being the compassionate conservative that I am, I am NOT in favor of making the zoo less accessible to the public -- if we are going to have a "public" zoo, then it damn well out to be public. And that means affordable. The bastards in city hall rake in enough revenue to provide a few public amenities that improve the quality of life in the city. If we want the zoo to start paying for itself, then I say let's fully privatize the SOB. But don't price some parts of the public out of going to the "public" zoo!

A better idea might be to cut Mayor Pothole's travel budget. Not to mention all sorts of patronage positions within his administration.

There's one for Thom Marshall to think about.

[Posted at 23:53 CST on 06/14/02] [Link]