My published letter in The Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday, August 30, 2018 was attributed to another writer. The Inquirer editorial board apologized and told me that a correction was forthcoming. The correction appeared in the September 1st Sunday edition. The correction was hard to find. The correction said that 'Thom Nickels of Philadelphia' was the author of the letter (on August 30) on Bobbitt. But there was another letter that focused on Bobbitt that day, so now readers are left to guess which letter was mine if they remember them at all.
To the Editor:
As someone who knew Johnny S. Bobbitt Jr. both as an acquaintance and journalist, I believe that the only one suckered
out of money raised by Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico on behalf of Bobbitt were the naive public who thought they were going to change the life of a homeless man with a severe drug addiction. emptied their pockets thinking they were going to change the life of a homeless man with a severe addiction problem.
The Go Fund Me campaign occurred around Thanksgiving 2017 when the Disneyland aspects
of giving to a homeless Good Samaritan seemed to trump the logic of donating thousands of
dollars to a chronic heroin user. Little thought was given to forcing Bobbitt into
rehab before giving him a cent. Few reporters questioned the severity of Bobbitt's drug problem. Everyone wanted to believe the fairy tale that a ton of money and publicity would preform a miracle cure.
This case is really about a con meeting a con. A heroin addict turns away from family and friends, so why wouldn't he turn away from McClure and D'Amico? Herion turns users into narcissistic, self-absorbed people while money on the grand scale of the Bobbitt Go Fund Me campaign can turn the organizers of that campaign into greedy venture capitalists. One wonders why this story is even being perpetuated at this point. Is it to drum up sympathy and support for Bobbitt, the tragic victim, so that this Thanksgiving someone else will initiate another Go Fund Me campaign for Bobbitt's continued heroin use?
Thom Nickels
Philadelphia
