INDEPENDENT MOURNS THE LATEST 'RB-WHO?', PROVES ITSELF UNREAD

The Santa Barbara Independent, bless their earnest hearts, recently graced us with a eulogy attempting to crown a local figure as the 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg of Santa Barbara.' One has to wonder if anyone at the Indy newsroom has actually *read* anything written by or about Justice Ginsburg, or if they just saw a picture of a judge and decided, 'Yep, that's our gal!' It's the kind of hyperbole usually reserved for fawning parents at a school play, not a serious (or even semi-serious) news outlet. Perhaps they meant 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the county zoning board agenda,' because that might actually be accurate.

The Independent, ever keen to find a progressive hero under every rock, consistently misses the forest for the saplings. While we understand the desire to celebrate local lives, comparing a respected community member—who, we're sure, was quite effective in her sphere—to a figure of national and historical judicial significance just makes the paper look, well, hopelessly provincial. It’s like declaring your neighborhood softball MVP the 'Babe Ruth of the cul-de-sac.' It diminishes neither the slugger nor the local luminary, but it certainly casts a shadow on the judgment of the one doing the comparing.

This isn't just about overblown praise; it's about the Indy's continued inability to grasp what truly impacts Santa Barbarans beyond their preferred echo chamber. While they fawn over local personalities and invent flattering comparisons, they routinely overlook the actual power brokers, the backroom deals, and the real financial forces shaping our county. The Independent's 'Courageous Character' piece is less a tribute and more an accidental self-indictment of their own shallow understanding of what constitutes true gravitas. Meanwhile, actual critical issues like soaring property taxes, absurd state mandates, and bureaucratic bloat get short shrift because, presumably, none of those figures are quite as 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg-y' enough for their particular brand of hagiography.