Charlotte Hovanec – 4/22/08

This page was last updated on April 25, 2008.

End political blathering; Charlotte Hovanec; Beaver County Times; April 22, 2008.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“On April 14, (‘Bandwagon or garbage truck?’ and on April 16 (‘Abortion and voting’), letter writer Glenn Thiel demonstrated why this country is in such a mess.”

[RWC] I have to admit I’m not a fan of Mr. Thiel’s letters either.

“Is this how we want to elect the president of the United States, by lies, insults, and arrogance? George W. Bush has taught us well. I will never forget how he attacked veterans, including U.S. Sen. John McCain, to gain the office of president.”

[RWC] Note Ms. Hovanec was quick to make accusations, but failed to provide any examples. You can guess why.

President Bush himself is a veteran, though Ms. Hovanec may be one of those who doesn’t consider flying fighter jets for the Air National Guard to be service.

If Ms. Hovanec wants to write about people who really attack veterans, she can write about Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), and Rep. John Murtha (D-PA). Here’s what I posted in a comment to the Times editorial entitled “Distant echoes” of October 14, 2007: “In June 2005 on the floor of the Senate, then-Assistant Minority Leader (and current Assistant Majority Leader) Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) compared Guantanamo Bay military guards to ‘Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime - Pol Pot or others – that had no concern for human beings.’ Mr. Durbin subsequently apologized for his comments only after they received an overwhelmingly negative public reaction.

“In December 2005, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) said the following on ‘Face the Nation.’ ‘[T]here is no reason, Bob [Schieffer], that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the – of - the historical customs, religious customs.’ As he did in 1971 and 1972, Mr. Kerry referred to our soldiers as predators for political ‘gain.’

“In May 2006, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) judged Marines guilty of killing Haditha ‘innocent civilians in cold blood’ more than a year before the investigation was anywhere near completion. Of the four Marines Mr. Murtha accused of killing ‘innocent civilians in cold blood,’ all charges were dismissed for two of them and an investigating officer has recommended dismissing charges against a third. Charges are still pending for the fourth accused Marine, though a Camp Pendleton area newspaper reports the investigating officer recommends reducing the charges. Though Mr. Murtha was quite vocal and public about his guilty verdict, he hasn’t been that way when it comes to apologizing to the Marines for whom charges have been dropped. Mr. Murtha’s response to questions is now ‘The trials are not over yet,’ even for the Marines for whom there will be no trials because the charges were dropped. It’s interesting how Mr. Murtha is now concerned about due process when he wasn’t 17 months ago. A federal judge has ordered Mr. Murtha to testify in a defamation suit filed against him by one of the Marines.”

“I am sick of Republicans’ rhetoric about abortion. I am adamantly against abortion, but that is not a foundation for voting Republican. How many children has the writer adopted? How many orphanages has he supported? What has he done about dead-beat dads and single mothers? Is he just being self righteous? How could he possibly know, as a man, what abortion is for a woman?”

[RWC] All of these questions are BS. In Ms. Hovanec’s world, to be against abortion you must also adopt children, support orphanages, track down dead-beat dads (What about dead-beat moms?), and enable single mothers. You’ll note that although Ms. Hovanec claims to be “adamantly against abortion,” she did not answer the questions for herself.

Finally, Ms. Hovanec goes with the lame position that only women can express an opinion about abortion. This is like saying only politicians can express political opinions, only those in the military can express opinions regarding national defense, et cetera.

“We cannot elevate ourselves above others because of party affiliation. What total nonsense. Whatever happened to truth, dignity, statesmanship or even grace?”

[RWC] What does this paragraph say?

“I am for Democrat Barak Obama because we will not survive old-school politics and continued lies. Wouldn’t it be novel for us to come up with creative ideas to move forward instead of this political blathering?”

[RWC] Apparently Ms. Hovanec has not noticed Mr. Obama is “old-school politics” and has built an impressive list of lies. Mr. Obama’s claim that he didn’t know what his pastor, mentor, and spiritual advisor for 20 years was preaching is only one example. You’ll also note Ms. Hovanec didn’t get into any issues, other than the “old-school politics and continued lies” pablum.

Finally, Ms. Hovanec complains about “political blathering,” yet that’s exactly what her letter is. It’s just another example of “do what I say, not what I do.”