THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 9, 1994 TAG: 9407080022
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Almost every day I read complaints that left-wing opinions have been purged from your editorial and op-ed pages and replaced by material from the right. Hogwash!
Lo these many years we had an editorial page that bombarded us from the left but lacked the courage to admit it. It called itself ``middle of the road,'' yet conservative opinions were scarce. Finally we have an editor with the courage and integrity to say where he's coming from - a conservative point of view.
The left-wingers scream bloody murder because the papers are no longer the exclusive domain of those writers who carry the seal of approval of the ACLU and the liberal Democratic Party.
If, instead of echoing something they've heard, they would actually take the time to read the editorial and op-ed pages, they would find that the darlings of the left are still very much alive and well in Hampton Roads.
Anthony Lewis is still there. He has never been accused of even flirting with a conservative idea.
Richard Cohen is still there. He would have the biggest laugh of all if he were introduced as a conservative.
Anna Quindlen is still there. She refuses to look to the right even at railroad crossings, for crying out loud!
Ellen Goodman is still there. If she's a conservative, then Sonny Stallings is best known for his volunteer work for the Christian Coalition.
William Raspberry is still there. He's certainly no right-winger.
So what's the big hullabaloo from the liberals? In spite of what they say, it obviously isn't the absence of left-wing opinions that bothers them. They're still there. It must be that they fear allowing any opinion other than their own to reach the public.
I think it's great to see both sides of political issues aired publicly - for a change.
TERRY J. REEL
Chesapeake, June 27, 1994 by CNB