As the late U.S. Sen. Bentsen would say, 'Mr. Kotz, you're no Liz Murray Garrigan!'

The new editor of the Nashville Scene answered my blog post of questions about the usefulness of the image of a smiling Mexican with gold teeth and a sombrero in his publication a la The New Yorker magazine's satire gone wrong about Sen. Barack Obama.

Unfortunately, editor Pete Kotz's response was the kind of reply that showed he was above question. I can't figure out why he is not making his way up the ladder of a mainstream newspaper and had to come to the alternative Scene. The corporate decision to bring him here to replace local icon Liz Murray Garrigan is even more questionable now.

But que sera, sera. (Sorry Councilman Crafton, I heard that expression in an old song.) Here is my reply to King Kotz the First about his rationalization and that of his reporter, P.J. Tobia.

Thank you, Mr. Kotz, for proving that I would have wasted my cell phone minutes talking to you. You also have proved that your "A" game on rationalization is always in place. You should have applied to be editor of The Tennessean. But your response now leaves me with more respect for him and less for you.

As for your reporter, P.J. Tobia, I did not know that the public could enact prior restraint on publication of a story. Didn't the Supreme Court rule against prior restraint? The only people who should have the power to prevent publication are editors and publishers.

I was always taught in journalism that you're only as good as your next story. Tobia believes a story two years ago satisfies his commitment. And you obviously believe the same.

Yes, torture is a pretty good threshold of newsworthiness, as your publication has cited concerning Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo in coverage. That torture, however, was not hundreds and thousands of miles away. With Mrs. Villegas, her torture was only a few miles from your office by Nashville authorities.

"Nashville"? Isn't that part of your publication's name?

For the record, The New York Times did not cover the story until 10 days after I broke it. AP took four days. WKRN was next after me. The Tennessean ran the story in the Local section below the fold as written by AP. Like you, it has not done any original reporting on the matter.

I would think that women in your readership would at least be interested in knowing that Nashville authorities restrained a woman with handcuffs during most of her labor and separated her from her child after birth. Sexism is as rampant as racism in our society and in Nashville. Open your eyes and don't let all the testosterone get in the way.

It's nice that people can laugh in other parts of the country about the image and the satire. It is quite good and the writer is very talented. I'm sure that's why he has written a book and has many fans.

Here in Nashville, however, we have 287g deportation. And with it, Old South stirrings are encouraged with the image you run. Hispanics shown as a cartoon character resembling a bandito only encourages many people to see all Hispanics that way. Thus, 287g is seen as deporting people who really aren't human beings and good for a better Nashville. I wish Nashville and Middle Tennessee were more enlightened to take the image as it should be considered, but the city and area are not. So that puts the responsibility on you, to rationalize away or reconsider.

Just like with The New Yorker's Obama cover, your image does not work. Sometimes, that's what happens with satire. That a coalition has praised the image is no consolation here. I've just formed a coalition with one my pets. And we've condemned the image. That's how easy it is to form a coalition and issue an opinion.

I would have called Liz Murray Garrigan before I had written anything about the image because that is how much she is respected here. But you're no Liz Murray Garrigan, Mr. Kotz. Your response proves that. And you've got a very long way to go before ever being considered in her league.