Your Turn Letters to the Editor

To the editors (general and opinion, in that order) of The Commonwealth Times:

Who made such a horrible writer the “opinion editor” of this newspaper? Are there no staff members above Mr. Huszar who could challenge his decision to embarrass not only the entire staff of The Commonwealth Times, but in fact the entire student body at VCU (whom the CT is meant to represent – “your voice,” isn’t it?) with his increasingly insane tirades and subsequent, equally as ill-informed and bizarre chorus of responses? Does Mr. Pat Kane, as “executive editor” of this paper, not realize how ignorant Mr. Huszar’s columns truly are, or does he just not care? Is this truly the caliber of writing and worldview we should expect, nay, identify with VCU students, or is it simply an unfortunate coincidence that the “Last of The Under-30 Neocons” has assumed a position normally reserved for intelligent, capable journalists? Opinion editors are meant to, through their columns, espouse their opinions in the name of the paper they represent directly to an audience while respecting and educating them both-Huszar does neither. Fire this poor excuse for a color commentator while you still can, Mr. Kane, or else I fear you’ll allow him to sully not only your name and the name of this paper, but the name of your university.

Best,
Michael E. Raftery Jr.

I had all of that written out this afternoon while I worked – it seemed like a polite enough letter, a classic yes-sir, no-ma’am kind of missive that oughta’ make any high school journalism teacher proud. The problem, though, is that William Huszar’s articles don’t make me want to be polite – they make me want to kick open the back door to the Student Media Center, make photocopies of my rear end, then wallpaper the entire CT office with them. (I could do it, too; I know how much toner’s in that machine, and I know where you keep the spare reams of paper.) But because I’m not that kind of dude, I did something reasonable instead – I went through William’s articles and quoted them, verbatim, then responded. I figure that’s the best way to handle something like this. I hope you’ll have enough integrity to print my response as is, no editing for content or length, (Editor’s Note: We reserve the right to edit as noted on this page) and let the public see that in fact the student body of VCU is not “lazy hippies” nor foaming-at-the-mouth cons with a taste for war and “chickens coming home to roost.” Where did you get this creep? I mean, seriously.

1.) Let me quote you: “It’s in our best interests to knock around countries that even blink at us the wrong way. This whole nation-building business would go a lot better if it weren’t for the people who won’t let the soldiers do their job.” Whose interests? The American people’s? Tell me, what is the average American gaining from such a cavalier, imperialist attitude? Certainly not security from future terrorist attacks, certainly not a larger paycheck, so what, then? Also, “knock around” sovereign nations? Most people versed in international affairs even on a basic level would probably define such actions more appropriately as “acts of war,” and most sovereign nations would respond to them as such. So again, I ask-whose interests?

The people (glad you at least sort of acknowledge their humanity) who “won’t let the soldiers do their job” are, for the most part, Iraqi citizens who view American troops and paramilitary civilian contractors (who nearly outnumber the military, by the way) as an occupying force – an occupying force that is keeping their country from doing anything to repair itself – and guess what? They’re all fighting in the name of different groups, both political and religious (frequently both!). Iraq is an incredibly complex nation that is vastly different from ours in nearly every way. Denying that and pretending like we’re trying to “liberate” a place that could be New Jersey if it would just let us make it that way is precisely the kind of logic that will keep us from ever exiting this theater even relatively unscathed.

There is no “win” in Iraq, just as there are no clear lines of “us” and “them”; truly, our best hope at this point has become a draw in which we sustain minimal casualties. It seems clear to me (and an increasing portion of the American populace, not just the “loony left”) that maintaining this “we are liberators” attitude will soon take that option off the table as well, leaving only cold, crippling loss as our outcome.

“[The Democrats’] leadership will eventually drive our nation in a European-style tailspin of eventual irrelevance on the world stage due to a fear of offending someone.”

This is both childish and insulting. Wake up–if anything is making the United States “irrelevant on the world stage,” it’s our current leadership’s refusal to truly listen to “the world stage” when it comes to anything at all. I hardly think that the Democratic Party being in control of Congress will endanger our nation any more than the last four years’ worth of ignoring an international chorus of disapproval has. Additionally, let me ask: Who is Europe “irrelevant” to? Certainly not the rest of the world, certainly not most politicians in America, certainly not me – could it be that ignoring what an entire continent has to say about international affairs (you know, the kind that affect countries that aren’t America) is foolish?

Further, we’re not talking about “offending someone, ” here. We’re talking about ending and destroying lives and countries forever. It’s not like we called Iraq on the phone and were like, “Yo, you guys; Is your sister pregnant? Aw, no? Well, it really looks like it. What? Hello?” Stop kidding yourself: We dropped the MOAB on these people.

2.) Barack (with a “c,” thanks) Obama is barely in the 2008 race, and you’re already slagging him? “Obama will not win the presidency. He’s also not the most qualified candidate for the job. No chance in heck.” Wow, really? Then who is? Why isn’t he the most qualified candidate? He’s a senator, he’s well-educated, he has lived an incredibly worldly life…I’d say all that and his being both a member of Congress and a long-time resident of the state whose people he represents in that Congress makes him plenty qualified – at the very least, more so than our current commander-in-chief was when he took the reins in 2001.

As far as Hillary goes, I don’t support her and won’t (her politics are, in truth, more in line with yours than mine – go figure) but at least I’m not writing her off with vague, petty ad hominems like “Nobody likes her as a person. Also, she is a woman.” Are you insane? If you’re going to pretend to be politically informed enough to try and predict a presidential election for which the candidates have not yet been named and which is still 18 months in the future, would it hurt to at least expound on your unfounded “predictions” a bit before revealing your own racist, misogynistic attitude in the very next breath. Come on.

3.) “I notice people talk a lot of smack about the Greeks at VCU. I rarely see it from the Greeks. It mostly comes from the art kids, hipsters/scenesters, or whoever the heck the people are wearing pants that are too tight with random (sucky) band shirts on and a single-geared bike to take them places…Uniqueness is not something you can buy off a clothing rack.”

No offense, but you describe yourself as someone who likes both Jack Johnson and “’80s pop.” I hardly think you’re qualified to slam another person’s musical taste. That aside, do you actually know any of the people you’re talking about and generalizing as “head cases”? In my time in Richmond, I have seen on dozens of occasions drunk dudes in frat T-shirts (including your Delta Chi, Mr. Huszar) on the streets starting fights, verbally (and on several occasions, physically) accosting both men and women, generally playing the role the Greek letters they have assumed to the fullest degree of disgusting stereotype. I have also listened to the same kinds of people, card-carrying members of Greek organizations, make brain-dead, racist statements and exhibit appallingly inconsiderate behavior both at parties and in lectures. Do my experiences with these individuals make it acceptable for me to generalize the hundreds of other members of these organizations, many of whom I have not (and will never) meet?

No. The answer is no. Just like it’s inappropriate for you to ignorantly corral everyone who attends the School of the Arts (a huge chunk of the student population) and everyone you perceive as a “hipster” together and insult the whole lot for what seems to probably be a problem you have with one person, or several people. You are obviously clueless about these people as a whole. Richmond has one of the most diverse and active artistic communities in the country-there are countless bands and artists, kids who run their own record labels and businesses, kids who work tirelessly to bring interesting things into town, give them a place to perform and a place to stay. Most of these people do this for little to no recognition (and, it goes without saying, little to no pay). In fact, I’d be willing to say that these “hipsters” do more for their community and peers than every greek organization on campus put together-but hey, what we don’t understand and aren’t a part of, we badmouth, right?

4.) “Delegate Frank Hargrove…was right to say that people need to get over slavery.”

One, don’t you mean black people, Mr. Huszar? Two, nobody made this about reparations-an apology from the commonwealth would be just that: a written apology. Making this into an argument about reparations, American Indians or how badly you “don’t want to pay” for any kind of federal program to help others is all cheap semantic smoke and mirrors, a pathetic attempt to disguise the truth. Frank Hargrove said something totally out of line for an elected official who is in session to say, and there is no excuse for it. Don’t dress it up – he said “get over it.” Nothing less. Pretending otherwise to defend him belies your own ignorance of how incredibly complicated the “beast” of “race relations” truly is.

5.) “Universal healthcare is a stupid idea. I am not paying more taxes…we are not entitled to every privilege in society simply because it is desirable. By the way, Americans don’t flock to Canada to get treatment for a reason.”

Well, yeah; the reason Americans don’t “flock” in search of treatment is because it’s first and foremost a service intended for Canadian citizens. It’s not like you can cross the Canadian border with cancer or something and get totally free treatment. It’s also not like you get put in a Civil War-era battlefield hospital just because the care is free. The idea of universal healthcare is to make it so that people don’t have to pay to go to the hospital when they really need it, to make it so people can afford medication and care they need. Medical care is not a luxury, and the money needed for even modest attempts at creating such a health program currently exists in the federal budget-but who needs their health when you can have overpaid elected officials who research on brand new ways to kill and maim our enemies?

Even if this weren’t the case, how old are you? Do you actually pay a significant amount of federal tax? I find it unlikely that you’d suddenly be out of house, hearth, home and eats, were such a program to be created and require a tax hike. Sorry.

6.) From your article in the Feb. 1 issue of the CT: “Those who don’t speak against the possible perpetrators of the next great American disaster are going to find themselves in a very precarious situation-particularly the American Muslim community, which really needs to make sure it’s positioned on the pro-American side of things … One of these days, everyone’s going to get fed up and realize that maybe we were a little too accepting of the negativity perpetuated by anti-Americans-a growing faction in this country-and it’s going to be ugly.”

It’s fitting that you mention the Sedition Act, because like it, your mindset is so antiquated that it’d be funny if I didn’t have to read positive responses to this junk. What experience, pray tell, do you really have with the “American Muslim” population that you can make a statement like this? Are you referring to American citizens who just happen to be Muslim, or immigrants who you identify as Muslim (and, as such, “anti-American”)? Why don’t you take a stroll down to your closest mosque and tell everybody there about how if they don’t like America, they can leave America? Why don’t you tell them about how little remorse you’ll feel when “things get ugly” and “the chickens come home to roost”? This article is the most disgusting of them all because of the thick shot of violence implied in your heavy blend of xenophobic rhetoric. You have no basis for your claims, and they have no place in a legitimate publication.

Your columns and their responses are a sad representation of how close-minded, poorly read, and at times just blatantly bigoted you and those who wrote in really are. Preston Price saying that Katrina victims are responsible for their own misfortune in the aftermath of a Category 5 hurricane? “Only crazy crackers can be accused of hate crimes”? I wish this were all a joke. Thankfully Ms. Puffenbarger had the gumption to write a response to those letters, or else I fear mine might go on forever. “Moron floodgates,” indeed.

Despite your terrifying xenophobia, brutish nationalism, childish attacks, and the fact that you’re a homeland security major, the thing that offends me most about you, Mr. Huszar, is how terrible a writer you are. Never once in anything you have published in this paper have you made even the slightest attempt to back up your assertions or justify your opinions-something that I think would be wise, considering you are meant to be representing the entire student body of a major urban university. Rather, you write nothing but incendiary, pithy rants designed to drudge up “hate mail” (which you either refuse to publish or haven’t received). (Editor’s Note: We’ve published every letter received this year.) Not only are you a failure as a legitimate journalist of any kind, you’re a failure as a Fox News-style muckraker, too: at least those guys manage to put up half a decent argument some of the time.

Yours,

Michael E. Raftery Jr.

P.S.: The Philadelphia Eagles and the Nation of Islam called me on the phone (we’re good friends, since we’re all loony lefties), and they told me they want to burn your house down. Look out, I think they might want to seriously offend you!