To the editor:
So, who came up with the two inaccurate page-spanning headlines to Dan Thomasson’s July 17 column tirade against our president? The columnist or Daily Journal? “TRUMP’S PRESS-BASHING HISTORICALLY QUESTIONABLE” and “Past presidents swore to defend Constitution, not condemn it.”
I continue to be amazed how the only print newspaper in a decidedly Republican Indiana county repeatedly assails its faithful readership with liberal-slanted views from the Democrat’s ongoing revenge campaign against the duly elected president of our great country.
To date, the only conservative political views are found in letters to the editor like this one. Now that’s a sad state of affairs needing correction.
Back to Thomasson. Know what? The first half of his Washington column was truly educational, given his brief profiles of past president peccadilloes; but then, when he launches into his uncontrolled vitriolic criticism, things get nasty quickly.
“In the months Donald Trump has called himself president (What? WE the people call him president) evidence has piled up indicating he not only is unaware of his responsibilities to the Constitution but that he is fully capable of shredding the dignity of the office he holds to get his way.”
Wow. 40 words without a comma? Where’d this guy earn his journalism stripes?
Continuing: “His recent video-attack showing him as a wrestler undoing a nemesis, CNN, was a silly and sophomoric attempt to play to the mob that elected him and stimulated his campaign rallies with ‘lock her up’ cries befitting the French Revolution.”
Ooh: two observations. So now the ‘pot calls the kettle black,’ and excuse me if I, a U.S. voting citizen, am profoundly offended at being identified as a mobster.
It appears the editors at the Daily Journal see nothing wrong with continuing their working relationship with this Franklin College trustee and former editor of the Scripps Howard News Service. Gimme a break. Consider what USA Today does when presenting issues like this. They have columnists write opposing views, then feature them side-by-side in the newspaper. Is that too difficult for you to understand and effect?
The sole redeeming factor in this column is Thomasson’s half-hearted apology to offended readers like me: “… I am not naive to the fact we are not perfect in our effort to be the watchdogs of liberty. Our opinions do creep into our news columns, we are shrill and sometimes unfair in our dislikes, and yes, we’re even frequently guilty of political bias.”
‘Nuff said.
By the way, nowhere in Thomasson’s op/ed piece does he make the case where President Trump “condemns” the constitution of the United States. That editorial oversight is what caused me to question, in the first place, who titled the column: the writer or the Daily Journal. That misstatement alone deserves an apology to your reader/subscribers like me.
And finally, by coincidence, an editorial appearing in the VIEWPOINTS column of the Indianapolis Star, this very same morning, offers sage and timely advice to overheated columnists like Thomasson.
The headline? “Overreach against Trump may backfire.” About which the writer, Michael Barone, makes an apt case, ending his op/ed piece with this salient quote: “Overreach (i.e. Democrats ongoing revenge campaign against President Trump. GFA) is not usually good politics.”
To which I would add: “Watch what happens next time the liberal left politics-offended citizenry has the opportunity to vote more Republicans in and Democrats out.”
George Allen
Indianapolis
