On September 1st, the day after the city primary election, people all over Tucson were asking themselves “Who was that masked man?”

No, they’re not Lone Ranger aficianados. They read the Arizona Daily Star‘s hardcopy edition.

At first, the cynic, the conservative and the Republican in me all wondered if the Arizona Daily Star was deliberately trying to pee on Rick Grinnell’s big day. Or, perhaps the Star was sending a fingerprints-free shout-out to the Rothschild campaign? (“Oh, just LOOK at how we mishandled that ad…oopsie!”)

The Star‘s distate for Republicans and fondness for Democrats is well-known. Moreover, their most consequential voice is—the Daily Fitz. I could envision an outfit like that deliberately pasting ads over the face of the candidate they’ll endorse when Hell freezes over.

Perhaps there was an alternate explanation? A Google search for an explanation by the Star, an apology to the Grinnell campaign, or both, turned up nothing.

Then, I was reminded of the wisdom embodied in the adage known as Hanlon’s Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

So, the three of us asked each other if the Star was inept enough to send thousands of papers across Arizona, with ads plastered over the face of a mayoral candidate.

Yep.