Dear Mr. Hatcher,

I know this is two weeks late but I have to tell you that I am disappointed in your decision to pull Phil Valentine’s weekly column. There may be times that he says thinks you think are insensitive but surely you realize there are both conservative and liberal columnists out there who say insensitive things, too. However, I don’t feel that what Mr. Valentine said was insensitive.

His main question was: who is going to hold the federal government responsible for their spending? I think your reference to killed soldiers was itself out of line. The federal government’s main obligation is defense of our country. It is not in using tax payer’s money (that they have to borrow no less) to bail out private businesses.

I know you probably have taken a lot of heat for running Valentine’s column but, in the interest of open and honest debate, I feel that you are letting down your customers by squelching a conservative voice. One question I have for you is: are you going to replace him with another conservative columnist?

Thank you for your time.

Landed in the 98 percentile, actually, with a year of college credits under my belt by the time of my high school graduation, and full scholarship to a top Christian college…thanks for asking!

A product of the public schools I see. ACT score around a 12?

Where were all of you “fiscal conservatives” when Bush, et al were in office, spending money like juiced-up yabbos at a Mexican donkey show? The man took a budget surplus and handed it over to defense contractors, financial institutions and drug companies, resulting in the largest budget deficit in the history of the U.S. Yet you all bitch and moan like little sissy-boys when the Big ‘O’ spends a little cash to try and jumpstart an economy that your beloved corporate CEOs ran into the toilet!

As for “social democracy,” in a government for and by the people, the government is what WE say it is…and the majority of U.S. citizens last November voted for something other than tired old conservative cliches and worthless ideas.

Then you have a homework assignment, don’t you?

I see.

A difference of opinion is a lie. A snark is a lie. Rhetoric is a lie. Smarmy is a lie. Metaphor is a lie. 10-4, should have known that.

Whole lot of “lying” going on. I don’t guess you have ever confronted Valentine on the air about this have you?

I know of Valentine only what I read in your post. Never read him never heard him.

But what I do see and hear looks a lot like the short course from the Daily Kos.

BTW, here is a post from Don Williams on KnoxViews, he was fired from the Knoxville News Sentinel. You may like his column.

http://knoxviews.com/node/10763

Firing people for opinion is a bad idea. And Mary, you are not the decider. Fortunately.

Not sure how many more times this can be said and in how many more ways – it’s about the lies. If Valentine wants to espouse conservative ideas than more power to him. But he lies in his columns – untruths, half-truths, hyperbole – to prove his points. That’s not dialogue, that’s cheating.

67 comments and you still haven’t addressed this point, 9.