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Too Close to Criticize. Exasperated at not being able to get to see Governor Paul Johnson, Los Angeles Times Reporter Jack Nelson asked the Clarion-Ledger's political reporter Charles Hills why he didn't raise some "hell" with the Governor. "Oh, no," replied Hills, "I worked so hard for him in the campaign I can't afford to criticize him now."
When it comes to past political figures, however, the papers are less sensitive. "Speaking of John Wilkes Booth, history may have done him wrong," Tom Ethridge wrote recently. "Mrs. Lincoln had accused Honest Abe of flirting with a cute actress in the play he was watching. There was an argument. Mary Lincoln drew a .44 derringer from her handbag and fired the fatal shot. John Wilkes Booth happened to pass the presidential box at that moment. Being a true Southern gentleman, he gallantly took the rap for the first lady."