Propaganda disguised as news

[A fire alarm sounded this afternoon at 2 Center Plaza, forcing Mayor Thomas M. Menino's campaign headquarters to evacuate, right as staffers were working the phones to get out the vote. Perhaps inevitably, the alarm raised eyebrows on the campaign because Boston Firefighters Local 718 has been at loggerheads with Menino for months and has endorsed Councilor Michael F. Flaherty in the mayor's race.

Nick Martin, a Menino spokesman, said about 50 people in the office were forced to leave the building for about 30 minutes.

“It was supposedly just a routine drill, but it’s a little bit of coincidental timing,” Martin said. “There were people trying to make phone calls at the time and they had to leave for half an hour, so that was definitely a disruption.”

Steve MacDonald, a Fire Department spokesman, said the fire drill was scheduled by the building management.

“We had absolutely nothing to do with it,” he said. “It was strictly building management.”

Equity Office Properties, which owns 2 Center Plaza, described the drill as a routine safety precaution.

“Like many building owners and operators, Equity Office Properties holds fire drills at all of its buildings in the event of an actual emergency," Karen Baker, a senior vice president at the company, said in a statement e-mailed to the Globe. "This was a routine drill. As always the safety of our tenants and employees is our first priority.”] (BG 9/22/09)

I re-printed this article only to show you what exactly it was I read. Maybe you saw it also, I don't know. When I first read it I laughed, not a funny ha-ha, more of a snicker, and I couldn't help but respond. It's another example of how one particular "News Source" printed an article to try to smear not only a candidate, but an entire public safety department as well as its union.

I commented on the lack of facts and questioned the "reporters" intent. Of course my comments were deleted almost as fast as I put them up. Deemed objectionable.So much for free expression.

The Fire Department DOES NOT CONDUCT fire exit drills. At most, when asked we will WITNESS the drill and add any suggestions on how to improve them. That is all.

While I have come to expect this from the incumbents machine, how is it fair when the "news" spreads such propaganda? Opinions are for blogs (such as this one) but when the "news" insinuates and tries to stear people to the conclusion that the union would use such tactics, well I ask, where is their integrity?