Politics Makes Strange…..Pallbearers?
There are always back stories in politics, and good journalists are usually able to sniff them out fairly easily. But I’m just dying to find out how Northampton City Councilor Michael Bardsley wound up acting as a pallbearer for recently departed fellow Councilor Ray LaBarge.
It may not be anything more than a request from the LaBarge family. After all, he and Marianne LaBarge–two people Ray LaBarge didn’t always see eye-to-eye with–were there at the end, and I can tell you from personal experience what that means to a family member. But there are going to be people who will say that this was nothing more than a politically motivated move to grab some publicity in advance of what will be a hard-fought race for mayor.
I don’t know if that’s true, but I don’t want to believe it. I want to believe that Bardsley was there to honor a man who gave selflessly to the city they both love and have served for many years. I want to believe that he didn’t try to steal the spotlight and one-up Mayor Clare Higgins, who stood in the honor guard as a representative of the city. I want to believe he did it for all the right reasons, because even though I’m a pretty cynical person at times, I still hold out hope that there is still a sense of humanity in politics.
I want to believe all of that. The problem is, I’m not sure I do.
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Speaking of the LaBarge services, if you want to read a shining example of great local journalism, check out Bob Flaherty’s column on the front page of today’s Gazette. It doesn’t get much better than that–except maybe on Fridays on the Recorders op-ed page (just kidding Bob).
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Next week on the big morning show we’re going to be talking a lot about local food. It’s CISA Restaurant Week, and we’re going to be spotlighting some local hero restaurateurs who have been known to tap into the valley’s bounty on a regular basis. And then on Thursday at 8am, local food will be the subject of our latest edition of Eggs and Issues, live from River Valley Market.
More to follow…keep listening…
Collins