Letters the Washington Post will and won't publish

Here's the original letter I sent to the Washington Post last September:

"Rumsfeld is no doubt right that beheading is worse than beatings or rape. But is it worse than having a bomb dropped in your neighborhood while you are sleeping in bed? Is death by beating better than by beheading? I really won't know.

But there is one thing I do know: morality is not relative. And just because people out there do worse things, does not excuse immoral behavior on my part. If I choose to steal $20 from your wallet, while someone else chooses to steal the whole wallet, does not mean my behavior was okay."

Here's what the Washington Post wanted to publish:

"Donald Rumsfeld is no doubt right that beheading is worse than beatings or rape.

But morality is not relative. And just because people out there do worse things, does not excuse immoral behavior on my part. If I choose to steal $20 from your wallet, while someone else chooses to steal the whole wallet, does not mean my behavior was okay."

I told them they could publish the whole letter, or none of it. I really have no need to see my name in print in the Washington Post. And, I am not afraid of Rumsfeld. There is lots of things I'd like to tell him, as a matter of fact.