STAMFORD- I WANT TO GOSSIP, and I want to do it on a chatboard.

I really wish the Stamford Advocate (a reader who grew up in Stamford pointed out that old school Stamford residents call it the Stamford Advocate- thank you very much) had discussion threads. Here's what I'd say in response to a recent letter: "I agree! Who cares if the mayor's son got arrested for drugs? It's his kid, not him! And that doesn't mean he's a bad dad; even if he was, that has nothing to with him being mayor."

Although, you know, that response sounds pretty negative, and I like the Advocate, so maybe I wouldn't say that. I probably would, and then I'd feel bad about it and wish I'd written a more organized post. Here's an excerpt of the letter, which I'm providing so you don't have to go to the Letters to the editor page and scroll down:

"To the editor:
I am a long-time subscriber to The Advocate, and I am writing to protest the coverage of Ben Malloy's arrest for alleged drug possession and dealing (news stories, Nov. 8, 9, 14)...

I think the "above-the-fold" bold-faced coverage of Ben's arrest and rehabilitation in three issues is excessive. On the days you have run these stories, you also have run, on Page 1, several stories that I'm sure are of much greater interest to most of your readers - e.g., stories about taxes, health care, safety in the city - and I find it amazing, and very disappointing, that you chose to let the Ben Malloy story take precedence over all of them...

If you continue to run these stories in the manner used to date, it will appear that you are out to get the Malloy family - whether because you disagree with their politics, or because you're using the son's issues to attack the parents, or for some other reason that has no place in professional journalism. It also will appear that the recent sale of The Advocate initiated a down-hill slide in the quality and importance of the paper, which would be a great loss to the Stamford community..."

I think that last line might be a little dig at the new owners of the Advocate and Greenwich Time, because I hear that right after the sale, they let go of several editors who had been there for a while. Worry about your terrible website, Stamford Advocate, not your writers and editors.