It seems that each and every time I pick up the New York Post – the raindrop’s worth of ethics and good taste they have left seems to continue to dissipate. This was proven more then ever by the most recent example of their constant evolution from a respected and informative newspaper – to something that is not even worth lining the bottom of a bird cage with.

As we all know by now – thanks to the media paying so much attention to it – thirty-year-old Lizzie Grubman, a public relations representative who’s clients include Britney Spears and Jay-Z, had an argument with a bouncer at the Conscience Point Inn, a posh club in Southampton Long Island on July 7th. As a result of the argument, she became incensed and drove her black Mercedes Benz ML55 AMG Sport Utility Vehicle in reverse towards the bouncer – injuring fourteen people in the process. One woman was so badly injured as a result of Grubman’s act of rage – that she had to be airlifted to the hospital.

Besides writing a bunch of stories on the July 7th incident – which included headlines like, “Lead Foot Lizzie Getting Lenient Treatment?”, “Latest Lizzie Lawsuit Boosts Total To $91M” – and “Lizzie’s Tangled Web Hits The 'Net” – the Post is now running a contest, offering as the grand prize – a “Lizzie Mobile” – or the exact same black Mercedes SUV involved in the accident at the Conscience Point Inn on July 7th.

Of all the pathetic excuses for front page stories the Post has offered it’s readers, the “lovely” nicknames the Post has given to victims of horrible tragedies – like calling Lizzie Grubman, “Lead Foot Lizzie” – and the lack of attention that the paper pays to the really important and actual “newsworthy” stories that occur in this world – this contest is by far the lowest and most vile thing the Post has ever done in it’s 200 year history.

In the ad describing the contest, entitled, “You Can Win A Lizzie Mobile!”, the Post invites readers to enter the contest so they can with the SUV, “which we’ve learned travels quickly in reverse” as the ad states. The ad then prompts readers to go to another page where they will find the entry form, which instructs them on how to enter to win either the SUV as the grand prize – or the “Inn Good Conscience” first prize – which is a two night getaway to the Hamptons.

I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that the Post is actually having this contest –or the fact that they see nothing wrong with it. To me, raffling off the same model SUV that Grubman used as a weapon in a moment of pure anger that injured over a dozen people is the same thing as having a contest to give away the same model truck that Timothy McVeigh used in the Oklahoma City Bombing, or the same type of gun that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold used to kill their fellow classmates at Columbine High School – or the same type of plunger used by Justin Volpe as a grand prize.

I think that in the Post’s effort to be “New York’s Favorite Newspaper” – which to me they are the farthest thing from – they are resorting to sensationalism at it’s worst, distaste at it’s finest – and tastelessness at it’s best. Perhaps the “geniuses” that run the Post should stop what they are doing and remember that fourteen people were nearly run over by the same SUV they are giving away – and I bet that those fourteen people don’t find their “Lizzie Mobile” contest as exciting as the staff of the Post does – but God forbid the Post would ever stop to think of the victims of a tragedy before exploiting them.

Perhaps the reason that the Post is offering the SUV as a grand prize – is because they already gave away all of their ethics and morals.