Sunday, March 04, 2007

Paging Cotton Mather

One would think we modern folk gave up the idea of blaming our problems on witches years ago.

Not so, it seems -- or at least when pointing fingers for the failure of the Sonoma County gay newspaper We the People.

Hal Campbell, a former We the People staffer, said there were many factors that led to the newspaper's demise, including loss of advertisers and distribution locations; rising costs and shrinking revenues; and the resignation of all the parent company's board members.

"Despite Bush's so-called 'booming economy,' many mom-and-mom and pop-and-pop businesses went belly up and never paid us for what they owed us," he said.


Yes, of course, because we know it's Bush's fault. Despite studies that indicate 33% of small businesses fail within the first two years, half by four, and over 60% by six years, the reason that gay-owned businesses do so is because they were hexed by Bush.

According to psychologists and folks in the know, accusing people of witchcraft back in Salem days served two useful functions -- smearing people you didn't like and, most importantly, avoiding the notion that your actions might in any way be responsible for your problems.

I guess it's easier to blame Bush than to change your business plan.

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