by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

By now you’ve read John Tomase’s explanation as to how he and the Boston Herald came to accuse the Patriots of cheating to win Super Bowl 36.

To me, it sounds like reckless personal ambition trumped sound judgement and professional responsibility.  Because we now know the whole thing was predicated on the whispers of anonymous people who had no business claiming they knew anything. And a reporter who callously ignored that fundamental truth in the blind, self serving pursuit of being ‘first’.

Which is not the same thing as being ‘best’. You can never be the best when you truly comprehend the power of your words only after they’ve come raining back down on your own head.

For John Tomase, the long road back begins with a vertical climb. On ice.

For his belly-crawling bosses, well, they get to come back to work this morning secure in the knowledge they have a fall guy in place to cover for their own culpability.

The better for them to strike again, as soon as the heat’s off, and as soon as they find their next ‘story’ to root for, their next ‘subject’ to malign, their next voracious reporter oblivious to the concept of a public trust.

The next time they can distract you into debating whether you can trust one of their reporters instead of whether or not you can trust them, those who have the true power of the press.

Ownership of one.

Caveat emptor.

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