If You Can't Say Something ...

Written in response to Maureen Dowd’s column that kind of put down Barack Obama and his recent trip abroad.

Maureen,

I know your job seems to be snide critic of whomever you’re writing about, but god almighty, do you have to put down Barack who is our best hope to get beyond the morass that has taken over this country for the past 7.7 years. Yeah, Barack was warmly received abroad, which speaks to the fact that it isn’t Americans they dislike, but the incompetent people the Supreme Court unfortunately selected to run the government in 2000.

The fact is that we all have our foibles and weaknesses, so why ALWAYS focus on those when you’re writing about a person, especially one as smart and admirable as Barack seems to be. From what I have read, it’s clear he isn’t the touchy-feely back-of-the-bus guy that John “gaffe-a-day” McCain is, but he’s the first person running for this office to inspire the likes of me since JFK. So I look forward to a column where you don’t zero in on foibles and trash someone because of them—and rather tell me some good stuff you like about the person. It would be interesting to see what kind of e-mail you would receive in response to such a column.

Your friend in Madison,

John
July 30, 2008