Moscow on the Mon
| August 31, 2006 | Posted by andrea under Government, Politics |
So yesterday morning a rumor started flying around that Mayor O’Connor had died — which, if it were true, would have been sad news that the whole city would have felt entitled to share & grieve over. But it wasn’t true, or at least there didn’t appear to be any corroborating evidence to back it up, and there were several forthright denials from people who legitimately ought to have been in the know. The lack of substantiation didn’t stop the rumor, though, which quickly morphed into a bizarre story in which somehow the Mayor had died, but his inner circle was publicly denying the fact for 24 hours; then even more bizarrely came the variant ostensibly from Calvary Cemetary whispering that not only had the Mayor died, but he’d been quickly buried the same day, and that the news media were on hold to report it until the next day.
Lost your credulity yet?
What I find personally most amazing about this story is the fact that so many otherwise reasonable people didn’t find it totally outrageous or ludicrous. I mean, what does that say about the Pittsburgh mindset, that people are prepared to believe that Grant Street operates like the Kremlin of the 70s, feeding the public false information about the health of the Great Leader and stashing bodies out of sight? Furthermore, what does this say about the closeted world of the Mayor’s office, that people would be ready to believe any statement out of Skrinjar’s mouth is really a cover-up? Who really knows who’s in charge downtown?
How many rumors have you heard about what “really went down” when B J Leber, Susan Malie and Paul Leger were fired? What about all the speculation about whether Yarone Zober is really in charge or if he’s fighting for his career? Everyone’s trying to figure out who the mastermind is. But how credible is it that there actually is any mastermind? Did anyone honestly believe, when Bob O’Connor was elected Mayor, that there was any brilliant strategist at the helm or behind the scenes?
Meanwhile of course we’re all praying for the Mayor.
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About andrea: I'm a 36-year-old Oakland homeowner. |
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Why the speculation on the firings, rumors of O’Connor’s death, etc.? Since Bob went into the hospital, in mid July, the situation hardly been transparent. Just a few highlights:
Many top staffers, including Yarone Zober until recently, have had no access to Bob.
Since mid July, there has been no photo of the mayor, nor was even a single reporter allowed in, with or without cameras, to interview him, even if just for 3 minutes.
The Leber, et. al., firings were handled in such an un-Bob-like fashion, leading some to ask who actually was the instigator of the firings.
UPMC decides to stop giving info. on the Mayor’s condition.
No wonder the rumors are flying.
UPMC does — nor did not — make the decision on giving info on the condition of O’Connor — nor any patient. The decisions were not up to the hospital. There are strict matters of privacy that must be followed if that is the wish of the patient and/or patient’s family.