Speaking Of Ex-Columnists Who Are Humorless, Thin-Skinned, and Have A Grandiose Sense Of Self-Importance

I guess I didn't notice that Ken Fuson is now a former Des Moines Register columnist, and has been for over two years after leaving Gannett voluntarily, at least according to Ron Maly.  Shows you how much I noticed.

I also missed Fuson's fairly recent piece in the DMR where he admits he's been a problem gambler all of his life.  That's what happens when you're a loser, I guess.  I'm not sure why Fuson wrote that piece because he certainly doesn't sound like he's got things under control.  Maybe he needed some gambling money and his former editors at Gannett took pity on him so he wrote some big long screed.

And what do I mean by not having things under control?  Read this section and tell me if you think Ken Fuson is anywhere close to moving on to Step Six:

In February 1996, I was among the first group of people to voluntarily ban themselves from Prairie Meadows. And I have never returned, not even to attend the funeral for my friend Dic Youngs, the KIOA disc jockey, when his services were held in the casino's theater.

I eventually extended the voluntary ban to all Iowa casinos. Yet I would drive, repeatedly, to Minneapolis or Kansas City to gamble in casinos where I wasn't banned. Then I discovered Internet wagering, which was devastating. Closing the casinos in Iowa would not help someone as determined to gamble as I was.

I accept full responsibility for my actions. Nobody ever forced me to place a bet. It was my choice.

But - and this seems to be the hardest concept for a non-addicted person to understand, let alone accept - it did not feel like my choice when I was in the middle of it. Addicted people do not act rationally.

What does any of this have to do with Iowa's casinos?

Well, if I need to accept responsibility, they need to as well. Unlike my experience, many problem gamblers are made, not born, and the casinos need to recognize their role in creating them.

It's against the law for a bartender in Iowa to serve a patron too much liquor, but it's apparently perfectly acceptable for a casino to let a customer gamble and lose thousands of dollars, day after day.

Believe me, they know who's spending too much. Most casinos offer "player reward cards," allowing repeat customers to earn points that can be exchanged for prizes. But it also allows casino executives to track exactly how much people are wagering, and losing.

That's about what I'd expect out of Fuson.  He's supposedly taking token responsibility for his actions while spending numerous column inches blaming everybody else for his problem.  Typical, isn't it?  You're not anywhere close to moving on to Step Six, bud.

Just shut up and go away, jerk.

This blog never liked Fuson.  After all, he was the one who said:

I'd also like to point out that many bloggers are humorless, thin-skinned and have a grandiose sense of their own importance...

...Incidentally, no apologies for those bloggers who ridicule the way some big-boned columnists look, while keeping their own GQ-quality faces and bitter spewings hidden under the black veil of anonymity. They have all the courage, but none of the creativity, of obscene phone callers.

And he also said:

Perhaps you have not heard of blogs. The name derives from a combination of "blather" and "logorrhea."

One of the unexpected benefits of the Internet, other than the ability to look really busy at work while filling out your NCAA tournament brackets, is that people can design their own personal Web sites and then report and comment on the big issues of the day as often as they want. These are called blogs.

This has proved to be a boon to people who apparently are (A) unemployed, (B) independently wealthy, or (C) no longer content to wait on hold to get their daily fix of attention from a radio talk-show host.

Let's put it another way: You know those people who like to write letters to the editor? A blog allows them to write letters all day long, on any subject they choose, without worrying about having the profanity removed or having any of their lunatic rants checked for accuracy.

Write all you want? No editors? More profane than a David Mamet character? We reporters have a word for this: E-mail. No, wait: Heaven.

Which is so funny because the Des Moines Register has numerous blogs these days. How many? You count them up!

But nobody reads those blogs because they aren't interesting.  Just like the Des Moines Register isn't interesting, and hasn't been for a long long time.  When all you do is suck up to the politicians, wear the banner of your unpopular causes on your sleeve, and personally blame everybody else for your own problems, what do you expect?  Sympathy?  Screw you.