All posts in the topic Hazelton Letter (Short link)
Summary
- There are 2 posts — by 2 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Terri Hyle at Nov 05 12:21 UTC
Okay, Ted's letter perhaps was offensive to some, but it is no less gritty, and
perhaps, on a more simple frame, any less outrageous than some of the
outrageous letters that have been from another regular contributor to the local
mail bags. The only difference I can see is that Ted's letter was published
just the way he wrote it. The WDN obviously made little effort to correct
spelling, (Which I thought was interesting, but I digress)
The outrage over Ted's comment...in the Papers, and on this thread, seems to be
a little disingenuous.....His ability to speak his mind has been trumped by
people who do not like to hear what he said....The man can say what ever he
wants, and if it costs him his status in OUR community, that is fine, but the
man has a right to speak what he thinks....He is an adult who entered the
political arena on his own...
Counter his arguments all you want, but Ted put what he thought in a Public
Fourum, and he doesn't deserve all the grief he has been getting....
His opinion means just as much as yours: You are not required to agree with
it.
JS
Why is Mr. Hazelton entitled to any special consideration or protection from the opinions of others, published in the local newspaper, as his was? Speaking only for myself, I agree that Mr. Hazelton has every right to express, publicly, his opinion, in whatever terms he chooses. His choice to use terms which were particularly charged with thinly veiled racism was his right. The WDN was within its rights and perhaps it was part of wDN's responsibility to print such a letter. That it chose to print an unedited version is telling. I agree that there is a certain added bit of information made available to the public by the unaltered publication of such an opinion, but I think the information is hardly new to anyone who paid attention to Hazelton prior to his most recent school board campaign. I don't agree with Hazelton, but that was not my objection to his letter. I find his the manner in which views ignorant and designated to incite hatred and fear and further ignorance. I find this most objectionable, but as I said earlier, hardly surprising. Protected free speech, yes. But so is the right of others to disagree--publicly--with his opinion. I am not sure why anyone feels Hazelton is being treated unfairly. He got to express his opinion. Others get to express theirs. I don't think that Mr. Hazelton is entitled to any special consideration or exemption from response to his publicly stated opinion. To the best of my knowledge, no one has threatened him, have they? If there have been threats or attempts to surpress his right to express his opinion, I find those threats even more objectionable and wrong That Mr. Hazelton chose to publish his letter in a newspaper means that he is inviting replies and disagreements. He put it out there, he deserves the grief he gets, in substance and in tone. Terri Hyle > Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 02:11:18 -0800 > From: <email obscured> > To: <email obscured> > Subject: [Winona] Hazelton Letter > > Okay, Ted's letter perhaps was offensive to some, but it is no less gritty, and perhaps, on a more simple frame, any less outrageous than some of the outrageous letters that have been from another regular contributor to the local mail bags. The only difference I can see is that Ted's letter was published just the way he wrote it. The WDN obviously made little effort to correct spelling, (Which I thought was interesting, but I digress) > > The outrage over Ted's comment...in the Papers, and on this thread, seems to be a little disingenuous.....His ability to speak his mind has been trumped by people who do not like to hear what he said....The man can say what ever he wants, and if it costs him his status in OUR community, that is fine, but the man has a right to speak what he thinks....He is an adult who entered the political arena on his own... > > Counter his arguments all you want, but Ted put what he thought in a Public Fourum, and he doesn't deserve all the grief he has been getting.... > > His opinion means just as much as yours: You are not required to agree with it. > JS > > Jim Sjoberg > > Info about Jim Sjoberg: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/52DTw50ER0a3v5lkrJC31Q > > This topic's messages may be viewed at: http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/2xNTrywTLysTNgLjDRZ0Ys