Radical View,
dot com
Just plain common sense
...and that's radical
!
(after the way of Mark Twain ...)
Letters to the Editor
not fit to print
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new web site at LoveTakeHeart.com (t-shirt designs)
Why I got this web site (revised 2-21-12)
Because The Dallas Morning News won't print my letters to the editor, so just to have some place to put them other than my drawer.They used to print an occasional letter from me – generally, the nice, mild ones, like on the "Wright Amendment" (5-11-05 on my Letters menu) and the one about Paris Hilton (12-04-06). Now it doesn't matter what I write, they're not going to print it. If it's something that really can't be left alone, two or three weeks later they'll find another reader to provide a watered-down version of what I said. Conversely, if anybody but me had written much of what I have submitted, they would have printed it.
Concerning what they have not printed, earlier in my letter-writing career, in 1987, I was not allowed to question the wisdom of supporting the rebels in Afghanistan. We are still dealing with the aftermath of that, fighting a war against terrorists and insurgents who were trained and equipped by us. If we hadn't given the rebels our support then, and the USSR had therefore been able to retain its influence in Afghanistan, it might be a pretty stable place today.
Since then, my uncommon views on such subjects as education, health care, the economy, energy, foreign relations, religion and "intelligent design", the financing of political campaigns, and my concerns about The Dallas Morning News making political recommendations, have all been censored and not allowed to see the light of the day. Most recently (2012), their readers did not get to consider that, in situations where there is a shortage of and great concern about water, it takes a lot of water to rinse cans, bottles, and plastic containers for recycling. On the controversy that resulted when President Obama ordered churches and their affiliates to pay for birth control for their employees, they printed a zillion letters and other formats that said it was an "assault on religion", or that it wasn't – but nobody took my view, that we can exempt them from paying for those services that run counter to their morality, but at the same time remove the tax advantages they enjoy, causing non-believers like me to have to pay their bills.
And yet, regular readers of The Dallas Morning News know that they are constantly commending themselves
and receiving journalism awards for their great and wonderful commitment
to "the free flow of ideas" – to cite one of their many
democratic-sounding marketing phrases. I mean, they sell
newspapers based on that proposition and assurance.
As to why I perceive it to be my "patriotic duty" to call The Dallas
Morning News to task for their editorial policies – receiving no benefit or
love from anybody for it – it's because they represent an institution
that has received its franchise from the United States Constitution.
That franchise is no less than the one granted to the branches of
government, nor is the responsibility. To a large degree, the reason
the Founding Fathers established a free press was to have a watchdog to
keep the government honest. Unfortunately, there's nobody to watch over
The Dallas Morning News and keep them honest. Of course I have no power
to influence them, or to cause them to have to answer in
any way for their undemocratic, unscrupulous, self-serving editorial
policies, but it seems to me it's my duty to try – no less than somebody who
considers it their duty to join the military.
Two previous versions of my home page, that did more explaining, can be seen
at the links at the end of the "Letters" menu. Plus there's
some
correspondence between me and the Letters Coordinator of The Dallas
Morning News, where she gives their side of the story.
| Copyright 1997-
2012. John Vehon. All rights reserved. 15707 Coit Rd. # 131, Dallas, Texas 75248. |
| NOTE: I would be glad to accept help from a volunteer to help me update my web site from what I set up in 1997.
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