Union Sun & Journal's Marren The Real Coward In Lockport

It's been a long time since I mentioned the name Tim Marren, primarily because I don't get the Union Sun & Journal. The idea of paying 50 cents for a paper that has such little success at keeping me interested simply isn't worth it. I'll periodically take a quick look at the online version of the paper, but it's such a watered-down version of hard copy that even wasting the three minutes out of my busy day which it takes to read the online version holds little value for me.

However, when I friend drew my attention to an editorial that Marren, the Editor of the USJ, published in the October 10 paper, I figured I'd take a peek.

The piece, which is entitled "Council let taxpayers down", centers on the removal of a complete curbside recycling program from the city's 2010 budget by the City of Lockport's Common Council.

Now, on the surface, I don't disagree with Marren. The city should have a full curbside recycling program, and I believe they someday will. Where Marren goes woefully wrong is in two pieces of the editorial.

Firstly, he calls the council cowards. Maybe he thinks that this is the way to get things done, by labeling people and lobbing personal attacks at them. Maybe in the Marren household, Marren comes home to whatever poor soul took his hand in marriage and says, "Honey, I called the Council cowards today! Aren't ya proud of me?" And maybe that poor, poor woman says, "Oh, Timmy, you're such a big man! Maybe some day you'll move up to editor of the Metro Community News! You keep hurling those insults and personal attacks, sweetheart!"

In the real world, that's not how you accomplish things. You come up with substantive and productive ways to convey your message. Obviously Marren has never learned this.

Where Marren goes even further off track is in his labeling the Council cowards because the "council wasn’t prepared to make the necessary cuts needed within the current budget to afford adding recycling". Marren goes on to say, "Cut, cut, cut. Find the money."

Here's the problem with that, and it is absolutely indicative of just how weak-minded Marren is: Any idiot can say "cut, cut, cut". Marren has been in the community for many years. He says that he knows the people of Lockport want recycling, so he obviously has the pulse of the people. So, what do they want cut, Tim? Police? Fire? Streets? Parks? Garbage pick up? Roads plowed?

The real truth is that Marren is the coward. He's a coward because he can say that we need to reduce personnel. He can say that the city should look at privatizing of the fire department. He can say the city workers must contribute to their ever -increasing health insurance and pension costs. But he won't because he's a coward.

That being said, I do want to thank Marren for reinforcing for me the reasons why I don't get the USJ. It's a rag, he's a punk and the paper itself is barely sufficient to line the the bottom of the cage of Scott Leffler's new hedgehog.

Keep up the good work, Tim. I'm sure circulation will be down to nothing soon enough.