www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/larryelder/2005/12/08/178212.html
Contact Us Townhall Spotlight Burt Prelutsky Burt Prelutsky Burt Prelutsky has been a humor columnist for the LA Times and a movie critic for Los Angeles magazine.
A What to do when you encounter someone who instinctively, pathologically h ates President George W Bush? " Consider, for example, the following a nti-Iraq war letter I received, and my attempt to engage the sender in d ialogue.
soldiers, and has made us the most hated people in the world, is beyond my comprehension. I travel the world extensively, and let me tell you that the USA is completely out of step with the rest of the planet Earth. "Sincerely, "'Sarah,' retired public school administrator and university professor" --- "Dear Sarah, "Please tell me, do you have a source for your statement about the death of 'at least a half a million innocent Iraqis'? "Larry" --- "This is purely MY estimation based on my readings. It is curious indeed that there have never been any real numbers given by the American press . Too many innocent deaths would make the USA look even worse than it already looks. What have you read that caused you to reach this 'estimation'? I would like to also read at least some of the same material -- if it isn't too much trouble to retrieve it or refer m e to it. "If it is of any help, the British medical journal Lancet last year esti mated the number of Iraqi dead at 100,000. A Web site called Iraq Body C ount places that number at between 21,000 and 25,000. This month the Pentagon , in a report to Congress, estimated the number of Iraqis dead at 26,000 . "I look forward to hearing from you and reading the material that caused you to reach an Iraqi civilian dead 'estimation' five times higher than any I've heard. "Larry" --- "Dear Mr Elder: "At first, I really thought I was dealing with an intellectual equal whe n our chats began. It was never my intention t o encourage you to so arrogantly participate in 'doing the political doz ens' with me, for the obvious reason that you are right of center and I am to the left, and never the 'twain shall meet. As for my estimate of 5 00,000 dead Iraqis, I merely used the 50,000 estimate admitted by our go vernment and multiplied it by 10, which is probably pretty close to the real number of dead. Blai r, or rather Bliar (sic), and Bush have been conspiratorial regarding th e Iraq war since its creation. But if the British admit to 100,000 dead, then there are now 1 million dead Iraqis! "You know, Mr Elder, it is ludicrous at best for you and I to be arguin g about how many Iraqis have died in this senseless war. Mr Cheney's dark-side buddies must be plea sed with the human beings that have been sacrificed to support their gre ed for power and money. " "It was indeed a very limited pleasure 'chatting' with you, but since I do not wish to develop high blood pressure from our political debates, w hich would never have an ending and because I really want to live long e nough to see my great-grand-children fairly soon, I bid you ADIEU! "Sincerely, Sarah" --- "Dear Sarah, "Does this mean that you won't be sending me the reading material on whi ch you based your 500,000 Iraqis dead figure? "And I was so looking forward to being enlightened by an intellectual su perior. "Larry" --- "I already told you how I reached my conclusion. S" --- In the spirit of the season, I attempted to open my heart, my mind and m y arms, and start a dialogue with a retired-public-school-administrator- and-university-professor-Bush-hater. Larry Elder is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist and publishes a monthly newsletter entitled "The Elder Statement."
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