Editor’s note: The following letter is in response to the letter “Tom Euell Responds To Nielsen & Rosen” by Thomas Euell, published Oct. 20.
Who even knows where to start when addressing Mr. Euell’s usual rant. Let’s start with the exceptions to the First Amendment. There are many of them, and it takes only a little research to see them. Too much space would be taken up here listing them all. Please, sir, do the research. Read “Freedom of Speech and Press: Exceptions To The First Amendment” by Kathleen Anne Ruane, Legislative Attorney, Congressional Research Service, prepared for members and committees of Congress (2014). Everybody does have the right to have their opinions heard, in the proper place, but there are exceptions to the First Amendment!
You also ask how do I know, from my living room in Wellington, that there were no descendants of Confederate soldiers at the Charlottesville march. I, actually, do not. But I do know that if they were there and were decent people, they would not have marched alongside the Nazis/KKK, unless they believed what they were chanting. However, that also begs the question, how do you, from your living room in Wellington, know that the Charlottesville mayor pulled the police because he knew what was coming and wanted a melee? Mr. Euell, like your idol, Mr. Trump, you have lost all moral authority in this matter. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump is president and should know better.
I also would like to discuss Mr. Euell’s calling me a “pseudo-intellectual” and a “pompous, left-wing, politically correct zealot.” First, pseudo-intellectual. I would put my academic background up against Mr. Euell’s anytime. Second, pompous — OK, maybe you got me on that one. Third, left wing. While I do take a liberal stance on many issues, I consider myself more of a centrist (and liberal on some issues, conservative on others), but to you, anybody who is not a Trump supporter must be left wing. And fourth, politically correct zealot. Let’s break this down. Politically correct: actually, I am tired of a lot of the political correctness we have in this country. I don’t mind if someone tells a joke about my background. However, I do want it to be 1) funny and 2) good enough so that I can retell it (and maybe even take credit for it). Zealot… yes, Mr. Euell, I guess I am a zealot when it comes to dealing with people like you, who are on the wrong side of social history. Hopefully the world is passing you by. You use the term “progressive” as a pejorative, and if that’s the case, we should be calling you and your ilk “regressive.” Humankind is, in the long run, striving for progress. You are a drag on human progress. So sad, so sad.
Mr. Euell, by the way, I do not condone anyone, including Robert Byrd, ever being a member of the KKK. And why bring that up? I never supported him or said anything about him. I am glad that you went into the “colored only” stores in the 1960s. Good for you! That has nothing to do with your knowledge or attitudes today.
You also say that I “don’t like anything Mr. Trump says.” Currently, that seems to be true, as I feel he is a danger to our republic. I did love what he had to say for decades when he was on The Howard Stern Show. He was great then, a riot, but then I never thought he would be president.
However, all this really shows is how shallow Mr. Euell’s arguments are. This whole discussion started when I wrote that Mr. Trump failed in his response to the events in Charlottesville. Mr. Euell’s letters have two main fallacies. The first is his ad hominem attacks. That is, he uses name calling toward his opponents, and this has nothing to do with the initial arguments about Mr. Trump. The second are “red herrings,” things he brings up that have nothing to do with the argument. Things like his family serving in the military, his work as a police officer, his living in North Carolina in the 1960s, things Mr. Obama did as president, other demonstrations, Robert Byrd, just to name a few. These are all tangents and have nothing to do with the basic argument about Mr. Trumps actions in regard to Charlottesville. All distractions, because Mr. Euell has no argument. Mr. Trump failed.
Philip Roth wrote The Plot Against America, published in 2004. I suggest everybody read this novel. It is an amazingly prescient book. I won’t spoil it by saying what it is about.
Andrew Rosen, Wellington
