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# Taking a columnist to task
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/taking-a-columnist-to-task-editor/
- Published: 2008-05-16T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T19:37:06.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Tim Dillenbeck Santa Monica*

I tried. I really did. I tried to ignore him. But sometimes, and you know exactly what I mean, sometimes you just want to tie someone to a chair, gag them, shut the door and walk away. But hey, freedom of speech; it will test us. So I tried ignoring Steve “the Postman” Breen and his aptly named column “Going Postal.” But I couldn’t.

On May 3 I replied to his “Let Them Eat Cake" piece (page 4, April 30), an extended rant about Barack Obama, wherein he kept referring to him using the diminutive form “Barry.” His column was a childish exercise in hackneyed wisecracking, vulgar style, overly abundant non sequiturs, contrived vocabulary, maddening alliteration and really, really crappy metaphor.

He concluded with a “haircut challenge” linked to the outcome of the November election. The loser, he or I, would receive a public head shaving (he assumes liberals have long hair). I took him up on it. If I lose, a shaved head it is. If he loses, no haircut for a year. Actually, six months would be fine with me.

In his next column, “Commonality in all People” (page 4, May 7), he declined the wager and went off again with his stream-of-consciousness blather to again target Obama, delivering super-sized portions of relentless petty mudslinging, endless abusive epithets and partisan narrow-mindedness.

I picture Breen working at the post office, index cards and a pen in his shirt pocket, having these “aha” moments, grinning as he jots down another zinger for his column.

Steve, you are obviously quite preoccupied with self-indulgent gymnastic wordplay.

Would it be too much to ask you to turn off your word processor’s thesaurus function and stop trying to show everyone how “clever” you are?

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 16, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051608.pdf?ref=smdp.com)