It’s been a busy day (lie). I didn’t get around to seeing the newspaper until just now (truth). I’m sorry I did. Because now I’m dead. Steve Blow killed me. Again.
You see, he read the recent New York Times story about the Wyly Bros. and their trouble with the SEC. The dateline for the story was Aspen, Colorado, where the Wylys escape the Dallas heat every summer. And he’s outraged. I’ve removed the paragraph breaks after every sentence to make this excerpt more readable:
But if you are Sam and Charles Wyly and you want to fight your image as tax-dodging, self-dealing plutocrats, do you really start by summoning the New York Times to your summer retreat in Aspen? Forgive me if my heart wasn’t melted by the Wylys’ claim this week that they’re just victims of nasty bash-the-rich politics. All I could think while reading the article was — mmm — “August in Aspen.” How nice it must be to have a home in Colorado and a few hundred million dollars sheltered in the Caymans. And if that’s a poor attitude, forgive me. It probably didn’t help that the Wylys’ interview was published on the hottest day of summer, when temperatures hit 110 in parts of Dallas. In Aspen that day, the temperature climbed from a nippy 49 in the morning to a scorching 77 in the afternoon.
What? Who cares that the Wylys summer in Aspen? I mean, I care. Because it sounds awesome. But I don’t hold it against them. Because that’s what wealthy people do. A whole bunch of wealthy people in Dallas get the hell out of town when it gets hot. Even some just plain rich people do it. If I could afford to do it, I would, too. So would Steve Blow. He goes on to say:
If the Wylys really want to connect with common folks, let ’em make their case to a few rumpled Dallas reporters in a corner booth at the Circle Grill. I’d spring for the iced tea.
Who says the Wylys want to connect with common folks?! They want to connect with people who read the New York Times! They want to connect with the people who might have a bearing on their case with the SEC.
I’ve said it before. Once again: it’s embarrassing to have a city columnist like Steve Blow writing for the newspaper of record in a city the size of Dallas.
