Set off the mighty mushroom roar: It's Monday Mail.

Garbage

Make sure you get your garbage and recycling out early this week because the city's shutting down Thursday through Sunday for the annual four-day Thanksgiving gluttony.

March on

Today's opening is from Phil Ochs' protest song "I Ain't Marching Anymore." And you know why….

Protest too much

That's right: Because the annual SOA Watch protest out at the Fort Benning gate just ended, you know how popular that demonstration is with the locals. You can tell because the story I wrote about it for Sunday's paper briefly got up to No. 3 in the Ledger-Enquirer rankings of most popular online reports.

Some readers enjoyed it so much that they could not restrain themselves from gushing about it in their online comments.

Here's one apparently posted by EdLaForna, who refers to the photographer who like me had to work all weekend covering this stuff. He also references Brian DeRouen, a protester we interviewed:

Tim Chitwood and Mike Haskey: Why would you think Mr. DeRouen is news? FRONT page news? How trivial and thin can this newspaper be? The man broke the law for trespassing federal property, big deal! Why don't you publish something about, how much did his felony cost the U.S. government, and the taxpayers! Or how much does it cost the city of Columbus to host these 1,750 idiots who still think that the U.S. trains torture methods in its classrooms.

BTW saying: "the once called School of the Americas" says that you bought into the protest rhetoric program -- bad form for a reporter who is supposed to stay neutral and fair!

Dear Ed:

Does today's paper answer your question? The Monday edition's usually a lot thinner than Sunday's.

Write on

Here's a comment posted by "coffee":

Goes to show the loyalty of Tim Chitwood in being a citizen of Columbus. After all these years of enormous costs to the citizens of Columbus in dealing with these ignorant protesters and the damage they have caused, Tim Chitwood writes this sick story to try and make them appear something they are not.

Shame on you Tim Chitwood!!! Last article I read written by you!!!

Dear coffee:

How dare you question my loyalty as a citizen of Columbus. I'll have you know my kids and I pledge allegiance to the Columbus flag and sing the city fight song every morning, right before my wife drives them to the Blind Faith Magnet Academy in our Ford Expedition.

Tim Chitwood, tchitwood@ledger-enquirer.com, 706-571-8508.