To the editor:

Appreciating irony depends on the ability to hold two ideas in the mind at once. Lawrence Journal-World, meet the Lawrence Journal-World.

April 7 editorial: Lawrence should try to preserve and expand our annual (horse-drawn) Old-Fashioned Christmas Parade and celebration on Massachusetts Street, in part because “We have an increasingly rare Norman Rockwell-esque downtown.” In other words, environmental surroundings really do matter.

March 24 editorial: Lawrence historic preservationists should let developers erect a nondescript but towering behemoth of a building smack dab between several historic buildings and the good old-fashioned downtown buildings on Massachusetts Street, because, well, “why would a new building — even if you think it is ugly — cause you to think less of the courthouse or Watkins?” In other words, environmental surroundings really do not matter.

Evidently the editors cannot hold even a single idea in their minds for as long as 14 days.

David Burress,

Lawrence