FLAIT

March 2005. For some reason my local newspaper published an Op-Ed "article" by Christopher Flickinger that was nothing but a childish rant against liberals. I sent in this response, but it wasn't published.

It was reprehensible for the Record to publish Christopher Flickinger's "article" ("Hey, they lost, get over it!") that made fun of Kerry/Edwards supporters for still having the bumper stickers on their cars. It was nothing but sarcastic insults that you'd expect to find on Republican web sites, not in a supposedly respected newspaper. The Record should be ashamed.

Op-ed pages are supposed to provide legitimate points of view based on fact and I'm astounded that the Record would even consider publishing such trash - by a "writer" from Pittsburgh no less. Surely the space could have been put to better use by offering it to someone from our own area that would express a real opinion, intelligently.

As far as Mr. Flickinger is concerned, why do I get the impression that if Bill Clinton lied, exaggerated and misled the country into a totally unnecessary war in Iraq that turned into a colossal disaster - which it is when you realize the current and future costs of the war in blood, money, an unstable Iraq, a reorganized al-Quaeda (remember them?), and a military stretched dangerously thin - he'd be screaming for Mr. Clinton's impeachment and imprisonment?

Among Mr. Flickinger's moronic wise cracks about Kerry/Edwards voters, he had the nerve to say that they don't want to hold gun owners responsible for their actions.

You're a hypocrite, Mr. Flickinger. Because after 9/11, Attorney General John Ashcroft, under pressure from the National Rifle Assn., would not allow the FBI to check the records of two suspected terrorists that had purchased a gun, or to see if 1,200 detained foreign nationals had tried to buy a gun (here, here and here).

Also, the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire last year, and two weeks ago we learned that terrorists already on watch lists are permitted to buy guns legally. I won't hold my breath waiting for the NRA-Republican controlled Congress to close that gun loophole (among others).

Whose side is the GOP, the NRA and the former Attorney General on Mr. Flickinger?

Mr. Flickinger also said Kerry/Edwards supporters were "spreading lies and rumors" about President Bush's judicial nominations and the future of Social Security. Let the record show that one of Mr. Bush's nominees, William Myers, is a former lobbyist for the mining, timber and oil industries. And I find it interesting that Mr. Flickinger suddenly became an expert on Social Security's long-term solvency at the same time the President declared it a "crisis."

With exploding budget and trade deficits, millions without health insurance, and a real crisis with Medicare, it speaks volumes that Mr. Flickinger would write an "article" blasting Kerry/Edwards voters just so he can ridicule them with nasty rhetoric that would make a conservative radio talk show listener proud. Because if that doesn't show where the priorities of the Republican base lie, nothing will.

I'd suggest that Mr. Flickinger get his ignorant nose out of the GOP talking points handbook and enlighten himself with the facts. But from the tone he showed in his "article," it's obvious that he doesn't have the intellect to be enlightened.