Fraters Libertas

And You Thought His Editorials Were Asinine

Syl Jones writes occasional editorials for the Star Tribune. Believe it or not, his perspective is left of center. Extreme left of center, which to be fair does make him a moderate by Star Tribune editorial standards. His specialties include racial bomb throwing, such as calling white people “ice people” and comments like this on affirmative action:

Every single African-American who survived the terrorist onslaught perpetrated by the majority of white society deserves compensation for his or her losses, direct and indirect. And I'll make a deal with you: Give me just one-tenth of the hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from us in free labor, confiscated homes and land, in human flesh and blood, and in psychological agony, and I'll gladly donate a large part of my share to your education. Because most of you desperately need it.

He also excels at misidentifying conservative intellectuals with consumer affairs reporters. He once tried to demean Front Page Magazine’s David Horowitz by saying he was also the guy who used to host that “Fight Back!” show - and amazingly the Star Tribune editors didn’t know the difference either and they printed it.

And he has a talent for extreme, irresponsible rhetoric on the topics of the day. Like just this past week in the Strib with this characterization of the Vietnam war ...:

Vietnam was at best a miscalculation, at worst a nefarious lie told by pimps from the military industrial complex who profited from the free flow of blood on both sides of the conflict. And until that entire generation of manipulative old men lays down and dies we, as a nation, will carry the burden of their horrible mistakes like a port wine stain on our foreheads.

Syl’s role in the community is kind of a mystery. He’s not a regular columnist with the Star Tribune. He only gets an editorial out every couple of months or so. Therefore, he must do something else to make a living. And a good living at that, since his editorial biography line lists him as living in tony Minnetonka. That bio line, used in every editorial, is:

Syl Jones, of Minnetonka, is a playwright, journalist and corporate consultant.

Maybe it’s the play writing gig paying those Minnetonka property taxes? Up until now, I always dismissed this part of his resume, since the standards for calling yourself a “writer” in this town consist of taking a course at the Loft, calling yourself a writer to your friends, then not really writing anything - ever. But at least on that last account, Syl doesn’t qualify. Not only has he been writing plays, he’s getting one of them produced.

From the Pioneer Press, a review of a play opening soon at the Mixed Blood Theater in Minneapolis:

Syl Jones' "Sacrament" is staged in a car parked outside the theater, and patrons will throw on football-player foul-weather capes to stand outside and watch.

The Annual Fraters Night at the Theater Committee has been looking for the right event, and I think this could be it. We’ll keep you posted. As a special bonus, we’ll see if Syl will agree to let all white people managing to watch the whole thing (while wearing capes) officially off the hook for that whole reparations thing.