Phil Heron is so racial

Often, a headline like the one used on his editorial today would have been phased as a question instead of a statement. Easily, it could have read - ‘Have we lost respect for the office of president?’ That would be the easy way out.

I’ve gotten to know Phil Heron in the past 11 years as a coworker, partner, and mentor, and he’s been consistently professional, honest, compassionate, fair, tough, innovative, and tired of the b.s.

It’s hard to find a white man in the crosshairs of racial issues on a daily basis than Phil. He sees it from the journalist side with the news of the day and from a grassroots side with the comments that people make on the news of the day. I’ve seen Phil fight against his bosses policy to let all reader comments remain on the site no matter how vicious, foul, angry, and cowardly they are. (Oh, and Phil won the fight to delete comments).

Phil has written on the topic of race many times, particularly from his perspective here in Delaware County. Today, he takes the discussion national with his perception of how the last two presidents were treated with emphasis on President Obama and race.

Phil says he’s disappointed in President Obama’s 2nd term. And I’m the guy who wrote a post that I had hoped he wouldn’t run for a second term, not because I see anyone better, but because the office of president with him in the seat has made this country’s government operate in a progressively dysfunctional manner. Who couldn’t see that coming?

Many of my readers don’t like the Delaware County Daily Times. I can only imagine what the opinion would be if Phil wasn’t there.