Some JACKASS responded to my LTTE

[Ediacara]

Our local paper has a policy of not allowing people to have LTTEs printed more frequently than once a month. They frequently ignore this policy for a few vociferous RW wackjobs. One of these people is named--I shit you not--Chuck Bugger, amd he responded to my letter calling on Bush to fire Rove.

Here is my original letter:
-------------------
Bush should make good on promise and fire Rove

In September 2003, President Bush said, "If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is and if the person has violated the law, the person will be taken care of." It has now become clear that the president's righthand man, Karl Rove, is indeed the source that leaked the name of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame to the media. It has also become clear that Rove's leaking of Plame's name to the press was nothing more than petty partisan retaliation for the fact that her husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson, wrote a piece in the New York Times questioning the prewar intelligence suggesting Iraq was in the market for uranium.

I urge you all to call or write President Bush and insist he follow through on his promise to "take care of" the leaker: Karl Rove. At best, Rove exercised bad judgment; at worst, Rove committed treason. Either way, no American taxpayer should allow this man to be on their payroll.

Peter Buchholz
Bozeman

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2005/07/15/opinions/rove.txt
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And here is Bugger's response:
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Rove critic should get the story straight before calling for heads

In response to Peter Buchholz's letter on July 15, "Bush should make good on promise to fire Rove," just one question: Did you read what you wrote? First you blew the "talking points" by quoting the president correctly. You were supposed to ignore the part about "If the person broke the law, the person will be taken care of." Because according to the authors of the law, "no law was broken."

In reality what Karl Rove did was to try to stop a reporter from making a big blunder when he was about to report that the vice-president sent Joe Wilson to investigate the "yellow cake" matter. Dick Cheney didn't even know who Joe Wilson was. The reporter called Karl Rove about a completely different story and at the last minute wanted verification that as Joe Wilson reported he was sent to Iraq by Cheney. Karl said he probably should not go down that road because as he understood it Joe Wilson's wife had recommended him for that mission. He never mentioned her name. In fact, her role as an operative has never been established, she hadn't been undercover for at least five years and she was on U.S. soil.

I know you guys on the left just shot yourself in the foot again in your desperate attempt to foil President Bush, but in reality it was Joe Wilson who lied. In fact, he never even wrote this "yellow cake report" he said Cheney sent him to investigate.

Better luck with trashing the next Supreme Court nominee.

Chuck Bugger
Bozeman

http://www.bozemanchronicle.com/articles/2005/07/18/opinions/bugger-rove.txt
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Bugger's last LTTE was printed on 04 July, so obviously, breaking their own policy:

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2005/07/04/opinions/06buggernoyes.txt
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Anyway.... this pisses me off that this nut gets rules bent for him. He's obviously wrong, as articles in Monday's NYT and LAT demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt. The thing is.... will the Chronicle print a response from me? This paper is rather shitty, and if they run these stories, it will be on page J35 on Thursday or something.... I think I'm going to have to call them tomorrow and demand an explanation of Bugger's special treatment, and insist they print my response.

[enigmatic]

1. Chuck Bugger?

He's obviously a little bitter about life..

[Ediacara]

2. Let me tell you.................

Imagine the most hate filled homophobe you could find. And then imagine his name was Chuck Bugger....

[rfranklin]

15. Wilson claimed Cheney sent him to Iraq?

What planet is this guy from? It is funny that he mentions talking points and then goes down the list of RNC talking points one lie after another.

[Whoa_Nelly]

19. Is Chuck Bugger a close friend of Phelps?

Sounds about par for that type.
Perhaps they've shared a closet or two...

[xmas74]

3. I would demand that you be able to follow up.

I would also ask why they did not follow through w/ the once-a-month policy on that whackjob.
Makes you wonder exactly who he knows.

[Ediacara]

4. I'm not sure he's a "real" person

They have a few RW nuts that they bend the rules for, and I have a feeling that all of those letters may come from the same conservative source within their editorial board.

[xmas74]

7. Then demand that they print their policy about LTTE's in the news

paper on a monthly basis. Also ask why they keep letting the same people make numerous responses. Keep track of how often they make responses in the paper on a monthly basis. And you need to keep writing LTTEs and keep track of how many of yours are printed on a monthly basis.
If need be, threaten a boycott (once you have your facts straight). Involve others.

[punpirate]

5. I agree... insist on a rebuttal...

... and get all your facts in order--including the number of times this fellow, on average, has been entitled to offer LTTEs or rebuttals to other LTTEs.

Correct his "facts." Add the line from Daniel Patrick Moynihan: "You're entitled to your own opinion. You're not entitled to your own facts."

Cheers.

[Ediacara]

6. Thanks for the quote

I like it. I may just let Matt Cooper speak for himself though. I find it ironic that Bugger's letter exonerating Karl (based on RNC talking points) is being published the same day that news reports of Cooper's testimony implicating and identifying Karl (and Cheney's cheif of staff Libby) are also published.

[punpirate]

8. That's another thing to point out...

... isn't it? :P

Cheers.

[xmas74]

9. similar to a further response I made to him.

He needs to keep track of this for a thirty day time period so that he has his proof. If need be he could cut out each one and paste them into a notebook w/ the proper date on each one (easier to present to an editor).
If they are bending the rules for one person than they need to bend them for everyone. And maybe in a month from now he needs to write an LTTE about them bending the rules for a select few. It reeks of classism and people tend to get upset when they can actually see classism thrown in their faces.

[Ediacara]

10. The Chronicle's search function is actually really helpful

It's one of the only good things about their website, and don't worry, it'll be employed when I'm talking to them tomorrow :-)

[xmas74]

11. Good!

Present all of the facts to them. Also, pull up a few LTTEs from those nutjobs and see if they sound like the same person is writing all of them. If so then this person is going too far and needs to be banned from writing for a couple of months.
In my town, they call your house first before they publish your LTTE. It's an easy way for them to check and see if you are who you say you are and for them to get permission to print it as they see fit. They should have a phone log that proves that they got consent to publish his LTTEs w/ the dates and times that they called. Might be interesting to see how many calls were made to the same #s or if they were made at all.

[Ediacara]

12. I'm not sure a phone log would help in this case

They do call you for the first letter you submit, but after that, they consider you "real."

[xmas74]

13. But what if they have to cut some of your letter?

It happens often and they would need consent to do just that.
Still would be interesting to have them go back and find out if there is a link between these same few asshats who write all the time.

[Omphaloskepsis]

14. Just a word of advice...

You might want to remove your name from the OP.. It also gives your location.

[Ediacara]

16. I did some searching

And after this jackass accuses me of using talking points, I find (NOT to my surprise), that his entire letter is made up of slightly modified talking points issued by the RNC! A word was added here or there, or a phrase slightly altered to muck up a Google Search, but they're nearly identical.

The talking points can be found at GOP.com

This will be another thing I bring up when I call the Chronicle today....

[Ediacara]

18. So I called the Chronicle

Adn they said what they had were guidelines more than rules, and try to strive for a diversity of thought. The guy I spoke with seemed open to publishing a response to Bugger.

[4_Legs_Good]

17. I hate Letters to the Editor

They just seem so outdated to me, and anyone can say anything, and then anyone can respond with anything. I just don't think they're very efficient/effective ways to present an argument anymore.

I never read them because they make me so angry.

:grr:

Anyway, good luck taking this nitwit down!

david

[Ediacara]

20. So how's this response????

The publication of Chuck Bugger’s letter (Rove critic should get the story straight before calling for heads, 18 July 2005) in response to my own calling on President Bush to fire advisor Karl Rove is ironic for two reasons. The first reason I find his letter ironic is that Mr. Bugger accuses me of using Democratic Party talking points, yet ironically the remainder of Mr. Bugger’s letter is an amalgamation of slightly modified talking points issued by Republican Party chairman Ken Mehlman on 12 July 2005, and available on the Republican Party’s website. The second reason I find his letter ironic is that on the very same day Mr. Bugger’s letter was published “exonerating” Mr. Rove, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Time Magazine ironically published stories further implicating not only Mr. Rove, but Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff Lewis Libby as well.

So much for getting the story straight.