Latest Letter to the Editor (Asheville)

Title: Sowell selective in protesters he denigrated in column

Thomas Sowell’s syndicated column, “Acceptance of irresponsible behavior sign of a sick society,” (AC-T, Feb. 1), states, “This may be some people’s idea of a healthy democracy but it is more of a sign of a spreading sickness in a society too wimpish to insist that law and order matter. ...” He was commenting on the protesters at the inauguration.

In the next day’s paper, the headline read “Memories of lunch counter sit-ins vivid for local pastor.” I would have to conclude that Sowell had yet to recognize the value to our society of what those protesters accomplished so many years ago. As a protester at the inauguration, I hope we have accomplished something positive also.

I was there to protest this war. I was there to protest torture. I will not forget the tens of thousands of innocents who died because of this war. I will not forget Maher Arar, a Canadian man shipped to Syria for “extraordinary rendition” (torture) by the U.S. authorities. I will not forget the thousands of people in U.S.-run prisons in Cuba, Iraq and Afghanistan (and who knows where else) who are held without charges and tortured. I will not forget that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s memos are what led to this torture.

Susan Oehler,
Asheville