My LTTE response to a wing-nut who personally attacked me...

[XNASA]

...in the paper. The names have been changed pending publication. Whaddya think? Was I too hard on the guy?

"Mr. Daniel John Wing-nut’s insolent response (How Sept. 11 attacks might have actually been prevented) to my September 15th letter is incomprehensible. Mr. Wing-nut resorts to vitriolic rhetoric and goes too far when he claims that yours truly would “make a worthy successor to the Iraqi Minister of Information”. I have never met Mr. Wing-nut, yet he somehow feels justified with his unprovoked ad hominem attack. For the record, I’m a United States Navy Veteran, honorably discharged. I served my country with dignity and diligence working on the flight deck of the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. I also served my country as a NASA Engineer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, which requires the kind of credibility, and security clearance, that I could never have received had I been in line for the position of Iraqi Minister of Information.

Mr. Wing-nut then goes on to reference a claim by David Rose of Vanity Fair, a fashion magazine not noted for its political insight. An internet search on Mr. Rose turns up little. No bio exists for Rose. He’s a journalist who has never published a book, only a handful of articles for Vanity Fair and the like. Mr. Wing-nut’s letter contained the following quote from Rose, “Sudanese intelligence offered Clinton information …. about bin Laden,… but Clinton wasn't interested.” Mr. Wing-nut also quotes Fox News analyst Mansoor Ijaz, an admitted favorite of oxy-contin addict Rush Limbaugh who has referenced Ijaz many times. Ijaz reports that, “Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, eager to have terrorism sanctions against Sudan lifted, even offered the extradition and arrest of bin Laden. Again, Clinton wasn't interested.”

Would this be the same President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir who was placed into power by an unlawful coup and installed an Islamic Fundamentalist government? President Bashir admittedly knew and respected bin Laden and supported Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War. Bashir is also responsible for the slaughter of nearly 2 million Sudanese citizens, mostly Christians who opposed his fascist government. Wing-nut solicits the readers of the Star to believe that President Clinton should have cooperated with Bashir and his cabal in the Sudanese Intelligence Office. Why?

I understand the need of the Far-Right to misrepresent the 8 years of the greatest period of growth and prosperity in the history of the United States. I can even note many instances where this Progressive Left-Winger disagreed with the policies of then President Clinton. NAFTA comes immediately to mind. But let’s agree to try and keep the name-calling and duplicitous insinuations to a minimum. Shall we?"

[GOPisEvil]

1. Mr. Wing-nut's head will explode!

All those mutli-syllabic words! :D

That is a NICE letter! :thumbsup:

[XNASA]

2. That's the idea.

Mr. Wing-nut gets way too many LTTE's published in the Star and Daily Southtown, usually 2 per week. I've taken it upon myself to rebute and refute every single one of them.

This last time, he took to personally attacking me.

Thanks for the compliment, David.

[RandomKoolzip]

3. There's a guy like that in Nashville...

Named Rollow Mickle (I'm namin' names, dammit!) who's a barely literate right-winger, and who gets EVERY damn thing he writes as a LTTE published in the Tennesseean or the City Paper. It's kind of insulting, because there seems to be nobody at the paper who is willing to cut this guy's public lifeline, and they suppress a lot of LTTEs written to them by disgruntled Democrats...it makes it seeem like Bush has more support than he actually has.


Oh, and really nice letter! Looks like you did your research! Mr. Winger is going to be suspiciously silent after this....

[XNASA]

4. You'd think, wouldn't cha?

But the truth never stops these people. They'll just claim that god, or angels, or gods with angels coming out of their mouths are on their side. There's really no stopping people when they live in a fantasy world.

But thanks.

[jayfish]

5. You Should Add Peace to...

growth and prosperity. That'll really get his goat.

Jay

[mistertrickster]

6. Good letter--I thought you went too easy on him, personally.

Clinton told Bush that Al Qaeda would be their biggest security problem. Bush was all gung-ho Star Wars defense, remember? Scientific American even published a strongly worded anti-Bush editorial entitled "Faith-based Science" that took Bush to task for ignoring the science of global warming while embracing the faith that an untested missile defense system could stop ICBM's.

Now it's like Bush never even suggested that "Brilliant Pebbles" was on his main "to do" agenda.

Clinton's people were also the ones who stopped the Al Qaeda terror bomber at the Canadian border, target: LA stadium full of New Year's Eve milleneum revelers, Dec 31st, 1999. Nobody remembers it BECAUSE it DIDN'T kill 2700 people, unlike 9-11 on GW's watch.

[Capn Sunshine]

8. Let's not forget the Sudanese story

was largly disinformation intentionally fed to eager right wingers to enhance their claims of "cooperation " in the anti-terror war. The whole thing was basically a construct that allowed the Sudanese to contuinue the financial support of laundering billions of dollars for Al-Quaeda's network for many months under the guise of "we tried to give you Bin Laden, we are doing our part".

This has been debunked many times, most recently in the Blumenthal book.

[XNASA]

11. I purposely avoided attacking him.

My technique is to discredit their sources.

Let's see if I can even get this one published, though I'd say my odds were 50/50 based on past experience with them.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

7. Great Letter!

Too many big words for the freeper, though. I'll bet he never served his country and sits on his ass pointing fingers at who's "Un-Murican".

We also have a repeat pattern of wingnuts who get their letters printed by the Boston Globe on a regular basis. It's always the same three-I'm wondering if they have an 'in' with the LTTE editor..

[northzax]

10. no in

just that the Globe tries to appear 'impartial' and these are probably the only three wingnuts who care enough to write the globe. so they publish it. I get published in the Washington Times about every other letter I send them, why" cause it's a nice break from the wing nuts.

I'm their wing nut, see.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

15. Probably true

and these letters that the Globe publishes are such a juxtaposition to the thoughtful, intelligent liberal letters that I think the editor may have a wry sense of humor presenting the most frothing-at-the-mouth commentaries by the rabid wingnuts.

[greatauntoftriplets]

9. If it's the same one, he gets published in the Tribune, too.

Make his head explode.

[XNASA]

12. I didn't cover up his first and middle names....

which are Daniel John, but if it's the same guy, his last name starts with an "S" and ends in "ski".

Is that him? I never read the Tribune. If it is, he and I have been going back and forth in the Southtown and the Star for the last 6 months or so.

[greatauntoftriplets]

13. Yep.

Same guy.

[underpants]

14. Very good

I realize that editorials don't offer a lot of room but it would be great if you refuted the whole Sudan story for what it is.....a lie.

Still it was very good.