. . . rent.
That's the only way to characterize the Chronicle's . . .
. . . Sunday obituary for Marine Corps veteran Eldon Elbert O. Wood. (Rebecca Heliot, "WWII vet got help for house damage")
[And redfaced the only way to characterize my own careless error, marked above.)
In February 2013, the house the [Wood] couple shared for nearly six decades was vandalized by two teenagers while Woods [read Wood] was at a dentist appointment.
After the suspects were arrested for burglary and felony criminal mischief, Woods [read Wood] received help from all over the Houston area.
Marines, contractors, and builders pitched into help repair and even renovate the home. A state-of-the-art security system, walk-in shower and even two flag poles were added.
Brent Harvey, one of the builders who worked on the house last year, called Wood a hero.
"I was proud to help him with his home," said Harvey.
Besides getting Mr. Wood's last name wrong, repeatedly, the Chronicle omitted the name of the man who organized the whole home-repair and -renovation project. (And, of course, I got it wrong too.)
Houston radio talk-show host Michael Berry.
How do we know Mr. Berry organized the Wood project?
From "Talkers" magazine, February 13, 2013:
Houston Talk Host Michael Berry Helps WWII Veteran and Vandalism Victim.
After 93-year old decorated World War II veteran Elbert Wood's home was vandalized in mid-January by two local teenagers, KRTH, Houston talk host Michael Berry got the word out about the caase via his radio show. Very soon, more than $45,000 in cash donations had been pledged and local contractors promised to help Mr. Wood restore his home. The work was completed and Wood is living in the home. The case has been a big local story in Houston for the past month.
If anything, this account understates Mr. Berry's contribution. In all but name, he was chief fundraiser and general contractor. Here's another good account.
So why would the Chronicle fail to mention this in Mr. Wood's obituary?
Simple incompetence is one possible explanation. An obituary that misspells the deceased's surname four times can hardly be expected to get a story, even a simple one, right.
But the real reason, I suspect, is that Mr. Berry is No. 1 (with a bullet) on the Chronicle's long list of Houstonians it detests. Giving him credit for doing this simple good deed would undermine the left-liberal-progressive narrative that Mr. Berry is a rightwing hater.
More evidence, this is, of the truth of the south half of two paired Limbaugh axioms:
Liberals are never held to account for the destructive consequences of their policies and beliefs, their alleged good intentions being all that matters.
Corrollary: Conservatives are never given credit for the good consequences of their policies and beliefs, being -- as they are -- evildoers in thought, word, and deed.
It's wrong, it's pitiful, and it regularly distorts the one thing the Chronicle is tasked to do, which is to report the news fairly, accurately, and completely.
One other thing needs to be said: Mr. Wood's life and death did not receive anywhere near the coverage they deserved because Marine Corps veterans, even elderly ones, are not on the left's list of approved victim groups -- those entitled (perverse word) to attention, care, and -- inevitably -- the the wettest or the left's wet kisses: a taxpayer-financed "program."
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