Dear Washington Post Ombudsman,
While the Washington Post runs a photo of an Oakland Policeman petting a cat [ASK THE POST: Occupy Oakland: What's with the Kitten photo?],
a veteran who survives two tours in the Iraqi war [Scott Olsen] gets critically injured from a projectile fired by the same police force, and this is relegated to the video blog. While this can be viewed merely as unfortunate timing, the placement and presentation leaves little doubt the two incidents exemplify the Post's inside-the-beltway disconnect from what concerns the majority of Americans, both within their city and the nation. Below is a still from a YouTube video showing the explosion of a flash grenade tossed by police at protesters as they attempt to come to the aid of the critically injured veteran serviceman. The irony is increased by links at the bottom of today's Post web-page under Special Reports that include "Faces of the Fallen," and "The Civil War 150," with no update on Scott Olson's condition, which remains critical. Is it any wonder the younger generation abandons newspapers for the internet for their news. Surely this is worthy of ombudsman comment, or has the Post really abandoned all concern for relevancy to the public, and only wishes to reflect to those holding the reins of power views which they find most comfortable. The vacuum created by such professional ineptitude means more suffering must occur before the inevitable course correction by leadership can occur.
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