My letter published on George Will (re: his column calling Jim Webb a boor)

[NewJeffCT]

Who's the boor?

Besides the irony of George F. Will calling Sen.-elect Jim Webb a boor, Mr. Will also commits the lie of omission in his Nov. 30 Other Opinion column <"Webb: A Crashing Boor">. Will excluded part of George Bush's response to Webb's answer.

According to The Washington Post, when the president asked "How's your boy?" to Webb, whose son is a Marine serving in Iraq, Webb responded "I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President." Will then omits that Bush responded, "That's not what I asked you," before asking his question again. Will also omits that Webb's response ended with "Mr. President," to further the impression that Webb was being disrespectful.

Those omissions change the conversation's whole dynamic. With the missing pieces included, it makes President Bush look boorish, with Webb the concerned father.


http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/letters/hc-lets1203.artdec03,0,362452.story?page=2&coll=hc-headlines-letters

[dddem]

1. Nice letter

The part about Cheney's remark was excellent. When I read Will's editorial, that was the first thing that came to my mind. I wondered where the article about Cheney's behavior was.
Yay for you!

[marylanddem]

2. Great response to Will - good for you...

What an outrageous piece of trash his column was - I can't stand that this arrogant windbag is considered some kind of elder statesman journalist...

[NewJeffCT]

3. While I almost always disagree with Will...

he usually doesn't resort to the Fox/Limbaugh method of attack where he omits complete pieces of a conversation that changes the whole dynamic of it.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. That is the modus operendi of the right wing

I've noticed it often when people "quote" the Qur'an to prove that all Muslims are bloodthirsty terrorists and that my faith is one of hatred instead of peace.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Good letter

glad they published it.

[ninkasi]

6. Excellent letter

You showed that Will is as big a boor as his president, by omitting relevant parts of the conversation. Now Will and Bush both look bad.

Edited to correct spelling

[salin]

7. upon reading Will's column, I thought, "Project much, Mr Will?" n/t.

[SeattleGirl]

16. The wingnuts on the right have projection down to a fine art.

I have never seen anything like it on such a massive scale as I have with these people.

[NewJeffCT]

8. Update: some woman called me at 10:00pm

wanted to tell me "if I knew about Jim Webb..."

I hung up on her.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

9. Someone you knew? Or someone raising funds for the Republicans?

[NewJeffCT]

12. No, an out of the blue call

Nobody I knew. Just sounded liked somebody was going to say bad things about Webb, and since it was late, I didn't really want to debate on the phone.

[Lex]

11. Damn, really?

A rude right-wing nut trying to set you straight, eh? Such freaks.

[NewJeffCT]

13. yes, really

I didn't feel like arguing on the phone, so hung up.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

14. And they call you at 10PM to give you grief? Sheesh.

On edit: Oh I get it. Because your name is in the LTTE, they looked you up to call you.

Double sheesh.

[Lex]

15. "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act."

so sayeth Orwell.

I don't blame you for hanging up on someone who gets agitated by the truth.

[NewJeffCT]

18. I guess after my first Freeper phone call, I'm truly part of DU

after over 3 years and 15,000 posts...

[Eric J in MN]

10. Good work. NT

NT

[SeattleGirl]

17. Great letter, Jeff! n/t