Raymond’s Wrath
(pictured: King Kenneth Raymond I)
Well, don’t look for any of Ken Raymond’s warped perspectives in The Chronicle.
King Ken I is not amused and has banished this publication; we expect a guillotine to be erected outside our office directly.
Tsar Raymond has taken issue with our Dec. 19 editorial, mainly the sentence where we alluded to his far-Right political ideals by likening him to two better-known black Republicans who share Raymond’s Tea Party brand politics.
“We think what really fired-up Raymond – who would be the result if Allen West and Herman Cain could produce a lovechild – is his contention that Coffman got snippy and disparaged the Civitas Institute, the Raleigh altar at which Raymond and other conservatives go to worship and receive their calls to action.”
It is clear that Raymond has a bloated sense of self-importance, but in reality, few know anything about him. Our reference – quite clear to anyone with at least a fifth-grade education – explained, in a nutshell, the kind of blowhard Raymond is to the many, many, many who know nothing about this man who is desperate to use his position as chairman of the Forsyth County Board of Elections to make a name for himself. He clearly is a mashup of Cain, West and all the other black Republicans who talk a lot but say very little.
We don’t know exactly what Raymond took the reference to mean.
“I’m a love-child produced by two men?” he wrote in an email. “Is this is (sic) what you call thoughtful and insightful commentary? This statement is extremely crude and unprofessional. In fact, that concept only leads your readers to think about some of the most debased things in our society.”
In a subsequent email, Raymond was aghast that The Chronicle would take aim at one as lofty as he.
“Apparently, the Chronicle has reduced itself to a mockery of a newspaper. That’s the only possible reason why its editor referred to the chairman of the Forsyth County Board of Elections as ‘a love child produced by two men.’ And its (sic) the only possible reason why the editor is allowed to publish any disgusting thought that enters his mind.”
Then, his Highness issued a royal edict: “For those reasons, I will no longer grant any interviews or answer any questions from any representative from the Chronicle. I will cooperate with the Chronicle only after an apology is published. And the apology must be given equal prominence, in the paper, as the article in question. I’m very confident that I can successfully communicate with the city’s black community through the Winston-Salem Journal. And the communications would certainly be more frequent.
I’m also confident I can communicate with the black community online, more accurately and effectively, as well. Do not bother to solicit any comments from me or ask any questions until an apology is published.”
After about two seconds of consideration, we decided that an apology would not be forthcoming for whatever offense Raymond believes we are guilty of.
When Raymond apologizes for trying to silence students and minorities at the polls and subscribing to policies and philosophies that make a mockery of the Civil Rights Movement, we may consider extending some sort of olive branch – but he shouldn’t hold his breath.
Over the last dozen years or so, Raymond had tried and tried again to attain public office. He ran more than Carl Lewis, and each time voters summarily rejected him. His appointment to the Board of the Elections is that long-sought victory in his eyes, his chance to run something, and it has obviously already gone to his head.
If Hell does freeze over and Raymond is elected to public office someday, we suggest that he develop a thicker skin and learn to read slower and between the lines.
