Vince Avedon – 1/2/05

This page was last updated on January 3, 2005.

How dare they; Vince Avedon; Beaver County Times; January 2, 2005.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“How dare these conservative evangelicals label me un-Christian because I don’t subscribe to their political opinion.”

[RWC] Perhaps I shouldn’t respond because I’m not a “conservative evangelical,” but I will anyway.

“Was it on Nov. 2, 2004, that they got God’s power to judge my faith and my never-ending love for Jesus?”

[RWC] I believe Mr. Avedon has a martyr complex. I searched the Times web site for the last 60 days and found no articles mentioning Mr. Avedon’s name, except for his own letter.

“How dare they call me un-American because I am a Democrat.”

[RWC] I can’t speak for all conservatives, but I believe most rank-and-file Democrats are true Americans. The problem is with the socialist wing of the party. I don’t know if Mr. Avedon is a member of this wing, but his letters since at least September 2004 would indicate he is.

“Not once during the Christmas season did I hear talk radio mention peace and love. Not once did I hear talk radio discuss the tsunami devastation while Bush cut brush and bicycled in Texas. White House official Trent Duffy said, ‘The president didn’t want to make a symbolic statement about ‘We feel your pain.’’”

[RWC] Mr. Avedon didn’t specify whether he was referring to conservative or liberal talk radio. Given Mr. Avedon’s apparent economic, political, and social leanings, I assume he meant conservative talk radio.

I’m sure Mr. Avedon is a devoted listener to conservative talk radio – not. I admit I don’t listen to all conservative talk radio shows, but all of the ones I listened to discussed the tsunami and its aftermath.

Yeah, President Bush should have got on a plane and personally helped load corpses into body bags, right Mr. Avedon? Instead of grandstanding, President Bush had his team work behind the scenes to actually do something. Where’s the criticism of Kofi Annan who stayed out of the press longer than President Bush and still had nothing to contribute? Indeed, liberals are angry with President Bush because he announced a plan to help before the United Nations. They claim President Bush is trying to undermine the UN by doing something.

“If you haven’t noticed, Jesus was a liberal. I challenge any one of these evangelicals to find a quote from Jesus to the contrary.”

[RWC] I have to believe this is an unfortunate attempt at humor or an attempt to antagonize someone. Personally, I would not attempt to categorize Jesus’ political affiliation. Even so, I could not picture Jesus as a communist as Mr. Avedon claims.

If this is not as I described above, this is another example of liberals claiming Jesus is one of them. Remember the anti-SUV ad that read, “What would Jesus drive?,” implying that Jesus would support the anti-SUV crowd. Of course, this is the same anti-SUV crowd that themselves drive around in fleets of SUVs and fly around in private jets.

In case you missed it, Mr. Avedon didn’t provide a quote from Jesus to support his position, yet Mr. Avedon challenges those who disagree with his assessment “to find a quote from Jesus to the contrary.”

“How dare they call me unpatriotic because I question the war in Iraq. How dare they say I don’t support our troops. Perhaps these finger-pointing people would like to line up all Democrats and shoot us.”

[RWC] Hmm, quite a few conservatives also questioned the Iraq War during the run-up and I was one of them. That said, now that we’re there we need to win, not just get out. Anything less becomes a national security disaster for the United States.

Why would we want to shoot rank-and-file Democrats?

“How dare they continually bash the French for saying ‘no’ to Bush. Where is the criticism of the Russians, Canadians, Mexicans, Japanese, and the Israelis who have not sent troops? Oh, and let’s not forget the Germans, who by the way, were the cause of World War I and World War II.”

[RWC] I can’t speak for anyone else, but I also criticize the Canadians, Germans, Mexicans, and Russians because they appear to believe in appeasement. This also applies to Spain after the socialists won the election in early 2004. Additionally, as we’re finding out from the U.N. oil-for-food scandal, the French, Germans, and Russians among others appear to have been cooperating with Saddam Hussein to divert proceeds from oil sales from his people to his own pockets.

Is Mr. Avedon serious when he indicates Israel should have sent troops to Iraq? Does he want to start World War III? Regarding the Japanese, they sent about 500 troops to assist reconstruction. This is the first time since World War II that Japan sent its armed services into a combat zone. Facts are pesky little things, aren’t they Mr. Avedon?

Regarding the Germans and World War I, they didn’t start it though they ended up being one of our enemies. That “honor” goes to Austria and people who lived in the Balkans. Please check your history Mr. Avedon. In any case, what does Germany’s involvement in World Wars I & II have to do with this topic?

“In the shadow of my leader, I think I’ll go cut some brush and ride my bicycle.”

[RWC] Thank goodness.