Ken Herman —30—

Ken Herman —30—

A newly formed political action committee calling itself Austinites4MercyOnUsAll has submitted to the city clerk what members say are sufficient petition signatures to recall Austin American-Statesman metro columnist Ken Herman from his position at the daily. "We just can't take it anymore," said A4MOUA organizer Ambrose Pierce. "Whether it's meathead politics, lame jokes, mirthless puns, or one more inane column condescendingly reiterating that smoking marijuana is 'illegal' – Herman just needs to go to some small-town country newspaper where his cringeworthy commentary can still pass as 'journalism,' let alone wisdom."

Pierce's colleague Isidor Stone pointed to such would-be Hermaneutic witticisms as "If I legally change my name to 'Anonymous,' can I claim all charitable contributions attributed to 'Anonymous'?" as grating on the ear and mind. Stone also described such tortured locutions as "Graffiti is not to be encouraged. But sometimes, when encountered, it defies ignoring and demands mulling and pondering" as the journalistic equivalent of cat scratches on a chalkboard. "Please, for the love of God and the English language," said Stone, "please make him stop!"

Other petition gatherers pointed to Her­man's ham-handed refusal to acknowledge the importance of either women's reproductive rights or minority voting rights as serious public issues – instead just describing them as reflecting unremarkable differences in partisan opinion. "For a major Texas daily to present Herman's persistent mishegas as serious political commentary is a disgrace," said Susan S. Richardson. "They should give that space to somebody who at least understands what's at stake in the political debate, instead of just a cynical joker."

Fresh from lecturing women activists on the need to be polite and keep quiet at the Capitol when the menfolk are doing serious legislatin', Herman said only, "That's nice, but at the risk of inviting beard-stroking philosophizing, aren't there some things about which we should be judgmental?"

A4MOUA organizer Pierce said the petition drive has been a coalition effort with the Central Texas Real Journalism Campaign and the Desperate Defenders of Actually Funny Jokes. Desperate Defender Henry L. Mencken quoted Herman in explaining the recall effort: "And the blowback should blow hard, even if it is an effort to remove a profane blowhard."

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