This month’s Letter to the Editor (LTE) of our local “The Potomac News” focused on veteran’s issues. Specifically, I wrote about a current bill in congress that dramatically expands educational benefits for our veterans, submitted by freshman Senator Jim Webb (D-VA). My letter specifically noted that Republicans, from the Bush administration on down, is actively opposing this bill and none of the chattering class seems to be paying attention.
Mildred Jeter Loving passed away yesterday at the age of 68. I didn’t know her or her late husband Richard Loving who passed away in 1975. But Winnie and I are benefactors of their legacy, especially now that we are living in Virginia.
Back in March, on the fifth anniversary of our invasion of Iraq, Slate Magazine asked a number of writers who originally supported the war to answer the question, “Why did we get it wrong?” One writer who answered, and published his answer in form of his regular column, was Andrew Sullivan.
I’ve just had another of my continuing series of Letters to the Editor published in yesterday’s “The Potomac News. This letter was another in my recent series of taking on the anti-Hispanic-immigration crowd that is running wild here in Prince William County.
“Everyone who comes to America should learn to speak English.” If I only had a nickel for every time I heard this idealistic statement. This statement might work in a perfect world, but our world is far from perfect.
A few weeks ago I had another of my letters to the Local Newspaper “The Potomac News” published. This letter expressed my lack of sympathy towards one of our most out-spoken racists complaining about being listed in the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a “nativist.”
My letter received a direct letter to the editor rebuttal only two days later. My follow-up was never published by “The Potomac News,” so I’m publishing it here.
Last week I submitted another of my on-going series of Letters to the Editor of our local newspaper “The Potomac News.” This time, I took on a local wing-nut who is key in whipping up anti-immigration hysteria in this area. It seems that after a few years of diligently and successfully working to build his reputation as a local racist, this individual was unhappy about being labeled a “nativist” by the Southern Poverty Law Center and local newspapers.
Now that the Republican Party has settled on their candidate for President, Saint John McCain of Hanoi Hilton, we quickly see the main theme of the Republican campaign; Fear, Fear, and Fear.
In my on-going letter-writing campaign, I do believe I’m making progress in shaping the local debates.
The Anatomy of an On-Line Discussion Thread
Wherein I Get Called a Traitor with 5 !’s After Eight Short Posts
I’ve made a point of getting a Letter to the Editor (LTE) of our local newspaper published at least once each month since last summer. Over these past months my writing has evolved from simple rebutting of our local Conservative columnists to writing on original topics. Part of the change from rebutting columnists is that the newspaper has introduced commenting in their on-line version. This on-line commenting is moderated but apparently only filtered for obvious spam, as evidenced by the range of opinions that actually gets posted.
A comments thread I participated in became extremely amusing to me extremely fast today. Unfortunately, it is also a sad example of what now-a-days passes for “educated discussion” on immigration in this Virginia county of Prince William.
Opinions & Commentary
immigration LTE On-Line Debate Politics Potomac News