Letter: Dispatch Editor deserves being labeled liberal

Sunday, July 13, 2003

I respond to Dispatch Senior Editor Joe Hallett’s contention that the " ‘Liberal’ label merits respect, not obloquy" (Forum column, June 29). Hallett wrote that he’s tired "of being called a liberal idiot for opposing concealed-carry legislation and supporting a ban on assault weapons" and "of being castigated as a tax-and-spend liberal for questioning the wisdom of huge federal tax cuts" while stating his belief that he’s a "common-sense centrist."

Not quite. Hallett wants to have his cake and eat it, too. And based on his own statements, he wants to eat my cake, too. While he may imagine that supporting gun control and opposing concealed-carry legislation makes him a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, real common sense says otherwise.

There’s a reason why people call Hallett a liberal for advocating gun control and supporting spending . He is one.

MATTHEW GAYLOR
Columbus

Click here to read the letter in the Columbus Dispatch.

Click here to read yet another lengthy diatribe against the merits of concealed carry reform and those who support it, published in the Columbus Dispatch on Saturday, July 12.