Vince Avedon – 8/2/05

This page was last updated on August 2, 2005.

Buried one lie at a time; Vince Avedon; Beaver County Times; August 2, 2005.

This is simply another rant by Mr. Avedon.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Of all the letters in the past from Peter Homitz, I’ve considered his opinion to be as annoying as a wart. That was up until his Thursday letter to the editor in which he personally attacks other letter writers.”

[RWC] This is a hoot. Mr. Avedon’s letters rely almost totally on personal attacks, but I guess it’s different when the targets are your fellow travelers.

“Homitz stated he ‘can’t respect Mary Anne Ruskin’s written opinion’ because he feels she doesn’t have a degree in English, journalism, or philosophy. Well, Mr. Homitz, what are your credentials? I’ll bet my entire paycheck before taxes that you don’t have a degree in English, journalism or philosophy.”

[RWC] Either Mr. Avedon can’t read and/or he believes the rest of us can’t. Mr. Avedon didn’t provide the context of the Homitz statement.

In the Ruskin letter, the authors implied they didn’t respect the opinion of anyone without a child in Iraq. What Mr. Homitz wrote was that if the Ruskin’s didn’t respect the opinion of anyone without a child in Iraq, then he “can’t respect [their] written opinions in the newspaper” if they don’t “have a degree in English, journalism or philosophy.” Both positions are ridiculous, and I believe that was Mr. Homitz’s point.

“As far as Bush being a liar goes, he is. Bush told us in the State of the Union address that there were WMDs in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. History has proved him wrong, just as history is proving your bigoted and narrow mind.”

[RWC] It’s not an Avedon letter without at shot at President Bush. Mr. Avedon apparently believes “lie” and “wrong” are synonyms. If Mr. Avedon believes President Bush is a liar, he must have the same opinion of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans alike. Lest we forget, Sens. John Edwards and John Kerry – among many other Democrats and liberals – also claimed Iraq had WMD. In fact, John Edwards went even further than President Bush and proclaimed Iraq an “imminent threat” (February 24, 2003).

What bigoted comments did Mr. Homitz make in his letter?

“Keep writing, Mr. Homitz, because you are burying your opinions one lie at a time.”

[RWC] If you’ve read Mr. Avedon’s rants, you noticed he throws the word “lie” around quite easily.