Oh, I've been irritated since they replaced Richard Alain with that Jay Grelen guy. Oh well, at least we still have Mike "Crazyface" Masterson and metaphor contortionist Wally Hall!

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Ah, Captain Ahab, up early to smite at the pale leviathan from the murky depths, are ye?

I'm having trouble sharing your outrage over the demise of this particular column, however it may have transpired, and if I may borrow your "if I were in charge over there" hat for a moment, let me say that if my "mommy" columnists, who moonlight as news reporters, were writing about politics, I would not be happy. I might even pull the plug.

As for "people in the newsroom" not named Murphy or Frye who have concerns about it, my borrowed hat says they probably need to find a new line of work because they badly confuse freedom of speech with journalistic ethics.

If only the mommy writers had stuck to what Murphy in her swan song so poignantly described as "the disgusting excretions of our children," we wouldn't be left to speculate on what did or didn't cast their baby out.

Hmm, I'm seeing parallels to other blog column opinionators out there.

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24, you saying mommies should not be interested in politics? That's reeks of elitism, wouldn't you say?

Politics do impact our children.

But then R's would prefer that more people not be able to vote.

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@ 24fps: "...if my "mommy" columnists, who moonlight as news reporters, were writing about politics, I would not be happy. I might even pull the plug."

That reminds me of a truth a colleague shared with me many years ago that I have found confirmed by long observation and experience: "EVERYTHING is political." I have even detected politics in the ADG's news coverage before, not just in the "Forces of Nurture" column. It shows in selection of stories to cover, the space given them, the duration of coverage, placement in the paper, and on the pages thereof, etc.

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Thanks for the background Max! Sorry to see Cathy's column eliminated. Always found her columns informative wheather I agreed with it's contents or not and that's about as close as I'll ever come saying anything positive about the weird leaning D-G.

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Snapback, try to see if the driver in a car accident who was killed was wearing a seatbelt or not. The ADG doesn't like that law so they ignore what could be a great public service by showing what happens to unbelted people when they are propelled at 50-60 mph out of a suddenly stopped vehicle.

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24fps was obviously "thrown clear" in the wreck of logic and common sense. Get your "borrowed hat" out of you ass--21st century, dig?

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I didn't read the original column but did notice a letter of complaint about it on the Voices page. Suspicious cancellation timing for sure.

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And down we go in the maelstrom of "new journalism," leaving on Ishmax to tell the tale, apparently. Tale, as in nobody here knows the truth, but everybody knows the "truth."

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"only Ishmax," that shoulda been.

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Somehow we seem to have missed the lesson plan on the Golden Rule. You remember, he who has the gold makes the rules.

As I see it, in this instance, the D-G Editor has the ability to do as he chooses with those that write columns that would go in the publication that he oversees. If he chooses to stifle an opinion that doesn't jive with his viewpoint that is certainly his prerogative - but it tarnishes his image as a supporter/participant in the free speech and open debate arena.

Alas, is this any different that otherwise demonstrated behavior in the free speech arena by either side of the political fence? Liberals hang with liberals and NeoCons hang with NeoCons.

In the end, the best we can say is that the D-G editorial staff is obviously well known for not participating (or otherwise engaging) in open-minded debates that don't match their deep-down opinion of all things Government.

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The ADG's politics are the main reason I don't subscribe to them. It infuriates me to no end how they just cannot say "gay and lesbian" most of the time instead of "homosexual." Instead of "gay rights" it's "homosexual rights." Blah.

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When you own the company you can do pretty well with it what you wish.

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Is Cindy Murphy's husband a former D*G reporter who recently left the paper to tke a state job? If so, any sour grapes here?

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Every time I begin to doubt my long ago decision to cancel my DoG subscription, that asshole Hussman reconfirms how right I was.

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Was one of the two "mommy" columnists a blonde who wrote about hair extensions? Seems those things take hours to do and a pile of money. Between that column, Helaine Freeman's fashion advice and what's new in the make-you-fat-fast food columns, I gave up on the ADG columns. I'd kinda come around to Meredith Oakley, or maybe she came around to me, and look what happened there.
Seems papers are going the way of magazines -- sheesh! even Southern Living -- and devoting much of their "story" space to: Look what you can buy! Well, my mailbox is not as busy now although it took several years to reach this point thanks to magazine billing statements replacing renewal notices. (Did I renew in my sleep??? Oh, well, guess I'll pay it.)
I've already cut one paper out of my life and truth be told, I've read much of what interests me in the morning news from other sources by the time my paper is delivered.
Hmmm. I'm thinking. I'm thinking.

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Wasn't this the reporter whose elaborate report from Haiti, including direct quotes from Haitians she met, turned out to be fiction?

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So, fiction is OK but the truth is not??

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Maybe it's just me, but here's one column I doubt you'll see in the ADG.

"To The American Media: Time To Face The Reality Of Election Rigging"

http://www.opednews.com/articles/To-The-Am…

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Thanks NormaB. Hope all our devoted voter-bloggers read it

and this one as well

"The Likely Voter Cutoff Model:
What Is So Wrong With Getting It Right?

http://electiondefensealliance.org/files/T…

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Doigotta,
I took a look at Mamma's blog for the first and last time. You nailed it.
Hard to distinguish between ad and column.

Websites are perfect for what I call Paul Harvey Journalism, the kind where the story always morphs into an advertisement and neither one is very true.

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Doigotta--I think the columnist you're referring to about the hair extensions was Jennifer Christman's. I am not really a fan of her columns or Helaine Freeman. I did enjoy the "Forces of Nurture" columns though because they showed a lot of insight into the joys and challenges of working moms. My kids are long grown but I could still enjoy the human interest stories that the columns provided.

As for the "LittleRockMama's" website--there are are a lot of ads especially on the main page. But that is true on any website these days--this one included. Several of the specific blogs are interesting--such as "Stepping on Cheerios" which is by Vic Snyder's wife. It provided insight into his decision-making last year when he chose to not run again. I can't say that I'll make regular visits to it to keep up with the ousted columnists but I will miss seeing their column in the paper. It will be interesting to see what replaces it in the ADG.

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Burvul, which I believes translates to Berryville, since I am an old Carroll County boy, said what I was going to say. Frye should have lost her job years ago because of bad reporting--writing fiction as fact, If you do it once, how do we know you don't do it all the time. If you want fiction, you can buy a novel.

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"Paul Harvey Journalism." Great phrase, eLwood. I suspect that's become the norm now.

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Nothing like the late Paul Harvey endorsing Bo$e Audio products in his latter years (when his hearing was obviously diminished) to his listeners.

This latest stunt does not surprise me. I was a PayWall-only sub to the AD-G but have let that lapse (unrelated to this move). I hate to see a daily newspaper like the AD-G turn into a mini Washington Times but sadly that is what the ARK DEMOCRAT is these days. I do have the PB Commercial as an alternative (and local daily) but their PayWall policies are even more over the top than the AD-G's.

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I won't miss the columns. I felt they were a waste of space, but likely no more so than anything else in the "style" section. I guess that means I'm not the traget demographic here. The really important question here I think is what the hell happened with the rest of the crossword in the Sunday ADG? Columns, schmolems. Let's get that puzzle printed in its totality.

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Yes, Holy, I missed it also, and if you cut off the bottom of a crossword puzzle, there's no telling what else you will eliminate to save space.

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