Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Blame yourself, Tom

Friday, March 22, 2002 | 4:57 a.m.

I KNOW PEOPLE who speak out of both sides of their mouths, but this fellow down the street takes that talent to a new level.

Before I continue, I would like to thank the folks at the Review-Journal for giving such rave reviews to the new Green Valley Ranch in their Best of Las Vegas section this past week. Now, to the subject at hand.

I don't know what I do to garner such attention from the editor of the R-J. I would think he would be too busy trying to put out a product that is relevant to a growing community like Las Vegas rather than the Neanderthalish libertarian slant that gives most libertarians a bad name. But, alas, that's his business and that of the people who continue to employ him, who one might think would want him to pay attention to their business, too.

Or perhaps it is because of his bosses that he had so much heartburn last weekend that he had to include me in his pain. Let me make it perfectly clear, I do not feel Tom Mitchell's pain, nor do I want to contribute to it, because he seems to be doing a good enough job of that all by himself.

It must be difficult for a hypocrite to be caught hoisted upon his own hypocrisy, but I think that's exactly where old Tom found himself last week when he learned that the company that owns his newspaper just went into business with the industry he so abhors or, at least, tries to scuttle every chance he gets.

The R-J's owners announced a deal between them and the Mandalay Group and Park Place Entertainment that ties the gamblers' success to the fortunes of the Review-Journal. Everything the R-J editor allows to be written about gaming in his newspaper will now have a direct impact upon the bottom line of the company that employs him. Talk about a conflict of interest!

Actually, that's all Mitchell does talk about. Ours. He has never been silent about what he perceives as a conflict for our newspaper, our family, our other business interests and, generally, anything the Greenspun family does in this town. It isn't that I don't like the publicity -- what did George Franklin say, just spell my name right -- it is, rather, that I have never considered it valid criticism from a person more motivated by the green bug of jealousy than the clear perspective of journalistic purity.

So now the bug has bitten the hand that has been feeding that drivel to R-J readers for far too long. Talk about eating crow! Mitchell must be so furious at his owners and handlers that he can't even see straight. How dare they put him in the same box that he has tried to put me in all these years. The difference, of course, is that we know how to deal straight with our readers and anyone else who questions our motives. We have nothing to hide and a long history of doing what is right in this community.

Mitchell has none of that. Just a lot of finger-pointing our way that he must now turn on himself. So, what does he do?

He tries to gloss over the fact that his newspaper is hopelessly conflicted because it has jumped into bed with two of the largest gaming companies in the world by shifting the blame elsewhere. Where, you might ask?

Our way, of course. Somehow, this is all the Greenspun family's fault. At least that's what Mitchell would want his readers to believe. Can't he just own up to the fact that the people who read his paper are smart enough to know what is going on and can deal with conflicts -- major and minor -- in adult ways?

Does he really think that the largest newspaper in the state would use its editorial and news pages to intimidate casino advertisers into advancing the cause of their partner's website? I wouldn't think so but, obviously, he does and he must hate the thought that he will have to be part of that corporate game. Why else would he try to shift the blame to us?

Don't tell me he is playing that "it's OK, everybody else does it" card, because that just doesn't wash with intelligent readers, and it shouldn't even wash with the people who buy what the R-J is selling.

No, what Mitchell is doing is trying to undo years of practicing hypocrisy by blaming everyone else but himself. Sorry, Tom, that just won't work. If you have a problem, take it up with the people who sign your paycheck. And if you can't convince them to keep you as pure as you think you should be, there is always the honorable way out.

You can do the principled thing and quit. My bet is very few people would miss you. Talk about a conflict of interest!