By Al Hooper

History tells us that Dean Martin was the first resident of Planet Earth to observe, Everybody loves somebody some time. Dino didnt enunciate too well but we took his word for it. Man seemed sincere.

And when the singer died in 1995 we said, Too bad. Ol Dino hit some good notes.

All those folks who are still rehabbing after last weeks Michael Jackson funeral extravaganza may not recall Dean Martin. He was very big in the entertainment industrys Paleolithic Era. And yet when it came to his funeral, despite his renown, hardly anyone fell into a tearful faint or delivered seven-day eulogies.

Different eras, different impulses.
Which is why you and I thank a benign fate for letting us spend our ever decreasing days in Edmonds By The Sea, hopefully for the duration.

Life is more grounded here. Mass hysteria is harder to promote. At this latitude were spared the grotesque excesses that occur routinely in other precincts across the land.

Example: A New York jury recently awarded a city detective $4.5 million for a wound sustained while seated at his desk. The detective fell off his chair, discharged his firearm, and shot himself in the knee. Bad chair, his lawyer argued. See, it can be tipped! And the jury agreed. We kid you not.

Example: An 8-year-old boy in St. Johns, Arizona, took offense at something his father said. The boy went off and came back with the family gun, pumping four rounds apiece into his daddy and a visiting family friend. Both died on the spot. The boy told police, Just like PlayStation 2! Except, of course, it was not.

Example: A 62-year-old woman in Arlington, Washington, explained stealing $73,000 from her church this way: Satan made me do it. Her lawyer insisted she should be let off. Why? Satan had failed to respond to a subpoena.

Example: A Florida tourist got drunk and fell down a flight of stairs. Never mind that hes an admitted alcoholic. Hes suing for compensation. Blames the bar at the Marriott Resort for getting me drunk. Hey, its Florida! Bernie Madoff would be proud.

Here in this gentle enclave, such colorful behavior is pretty much confined to the letters-to-the-editor section of your everlovin Beacon.

Most of our letter writers are sterling characters who would sooner eat raw fish than exaggerate a claim. But not all.

Some of them are so caught up in a cause they choose their facts selectively (i.e., ignore them).
Others are agenda-driven to a fault (i.e., the end justifies the deed).

A few merely lie a lot and hope no one notices.

Its why the Beacons policy is to solicit a response from anyone targeted in a letter whether mayor or council members or political candidates or civilians or SpongeBob.

Sometimes a letter writer simply gets his facts wrong. In which case he goes away enlightened by a knowledgeable response, as do we.

Other times a writer makes false and malicious statements just to stay in practice. If such a letter gets by us, we hate ourselves in the morning.

What we try to do is eliminate irresponsible and unsubstantiated claims that go unchallenged. Its true that other newspapers print such rants all the time, then smugly tell anyone who protests, Dont blame us! The letter writer said it.

Oh. And who printed the slander?
And who then is more responsible?

Some see your everlovin Beacon as Quixotic. Do we really think a belief in principle can fan out from here and restore some semblance of fairness and decency in Media Land?

Will any action taken in this small backwater affect a media landscape terminally corrupted by crooked talk shows and propagandists whose use of the truth is to twist, bend, spin and trample it?

Sure, why not.
Has to start somewhere