Snake Oil comments today on the ongoing Eric Benjamin story–a story which, if we are unfortunate, will be with us for awhile as successive layers of his claims turn out to be unsubstantiated and unsubstantiatable. (click on the image to get a readable picture) Today’s Benjamin piece will only add fuel to the fire with his refusal to deal with the now publicly documented problems with his first story and his leveling of new charges attributed to unnamed sources.
Now what can Snake Oil do with the claim that some employer is intimidating its employees? Who was it that issued its employees anti-fiber petitions to carry around in their trucks? (And then quietly backed off when they didn’t partictularly like that.) And who was it that threatened the jobs of Cingular employees if Lafayette was to get in the way of maximizing its profit? And which corporation was it that brought the president of the Louisiana company in to talk to small groups of its employees, demand 5 names and the home phone numbers of friends and family who would vote against fiber and pass out fiber 411 propaganda? I know what I could do with that and I don’t have half the artistic talent of Snake Oil.
Oh yeah…Snake Oil did do something with at least the Cingular threat, in his “Suspect Device” series once…try panel three. Now imagine that he could devote all four panels to good ole BellSouth’s beneficent ways of treating its employees. Or imagine that Benjamin were to add a little context or balance to his storys…No, don’t bother–go back to imagining a 4-panel Snake Oil on BellSouth’s treatment of it’s employees. That’s something that is imaginable and would be take some of that sour grapes taste out of your mouth.
(And what’s really wierdly ironic: the cartoonist piece would be truthful.)
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon on a daily basis.
Thank you for great article. I look forward to the continuation.