How many Chicago-area DUers write LTTEs to the Tribune?

[City Lights]

How many get printed?

I used to write frequently, and have a small stack of letters they've printed, but lately I've had no luck. I try to keep them short and to the point, but they never print mine anymore.

I'm not complaining about mine not getting printed so much as I'm complaining about the crap they do print. Like today's gem, for example:

Bad health care
Barack Obama's utopian vision for nationalized health care has a name:

Walter Reed.

Brendan Fitzpatrick
Naperville

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_opinion_letters/2007/03/bad_health_care.html

:wtf:

Here's another gem they recently printed:

Still in to win

I say, enough with the liberal democrats and their multiple plans to fail in Iraq. There have been many mistakes in this war – nobody can deny that. One of which is not the troop build-up in Baghdad. If anything, security experts have agreed a troop increase is necessary to secure the Iraqi capital for years. We should not be fighting for a smooth withdrawal, but rather to win. I don't care if I am the last red-blooded American in Cook County to say this, but I want to win the Peace in Iraq. The Democrats complained for 3 years, since 2004, that we didn't have enough troops in Iraq. Now there is a proposal on the table to increase the amount of Troops in Baghdad and to try and stabilize the situation. The liberal democrats that are obsessed with losing in Iraq are campaigning long and hard to oppose this. What a shame. The majority party in Congress is committed to fighting and losing. I've never been prouder to be a Republican after seeing the actions of the Democrats in the last 2 months. I won't stop supporting an American victory in Iraq. I only hope that my fellow Americans realize the need for a victory in that country. God Bless America, and may god forgive the Democrats for their support of our enemies. Let's win this war!

Nick Ridge
Mt. Prospect, IL

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_opinion_letters/2007/02/still_in_to_win.html

The letter from Ridge is barely readable. One paragraph, poor grammar, incorrect capitalizations, etc.

I know their editorial board cheer leads for the Chimp, but lately, they seem to be printing more and more fantasy-based letters rather than letters based on fact. I've also noticed the same names appearing again and again.

They printed one awhile back where the writer blamed hurricane Andrew on Bill Clinton. I posted it in GD and DUers let the Trib have it. It created such a ruckus, the Trib pulled the letter. Can they not afford editors who fact check? Have they lowered their standards to tabloid level? Are they so desperate to print letters that agree with their point of view that they'll literally print any POS that crosses the wires just so long as it bashes Democrats? :shrug:

I know the Trib has no use for Bill Clinton, but printing a letter blaming a hurricane that struck under GHWB on Bill Clinton is low even for them.

[Monkeyman]

1. Mine are in South-town and Daily Herald

[City Lights]

2. Do you send any to the Trib?

I've had one printed in the Daily Herald, but I usually send the majority to the Trib or Sun-Times.

Do you read the LTTEs in the Trib, and if so, have you noticed a decline in intelligence/coherency?

[Monkeyman]

3. Some Last Year this one No

COHERENCY OH YES THERE IS A PROBLEM. Sun-Times printed about 19 of mine. Under IL Veterans For Progress

[City Lights]

8. Good to hear the Sun-Times printed so many of yours pertaining

to veterans. :patriot:

[mopinko]

4. i cancelled the trib after they endorsed * for 04

it was the idiot letters that really got to me. so, they have been getting worse for a while. molly ivins kept me from cancelling well before that. i can find things that make me puke for free, and without killing trees.

[City Lights]

6. I don't subscribe either, but I follow the LTTEs online.

They suck. :puke:

[mopinko]

9. yeah, that too.

i didn't want to accept that i lived in the same state with those people.

[Norquist Nemesis]

5. We cancelled our sub to the Trib quite a while ago

Just couldn't continue to support a rag that consistently fails to either show both points of view and/or express one point of view inconsistent with mine. I already have that opportunity on a daily basis from my cable TV.

Out of curiousity, I picked up the Sun-Times to read while at my SIL yesterday. Columnists were Novak, Will, and some other guy who I didn't read. I didn't waste any time reading the other two either. LOL!

It seems like newspapers/news media spend 98% of their space/time proving they're not Liberal by promoting Conservatives.

[City Lights]

7. Your observations definitely match mine.

Glad it's not just me. :-)

My dad still gets the Sun-Times because of their sports section. The rest of it sucks, just like the Trib.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. I'm About 6 Out of 50

Over the last 15 years or so. However, i do note that some of the letters i thought were very good, ended up being represented very accurately by another writer. So, if they got that writer's letter before mine, they would print a good letter and mine would go unprinted since it made the same points in the same way.

There are a couple of Trib "regular contributors" that are dumber than dirt but get them printed. According to the assistant of the public editor, these people likely get printed simply because they probably send in a letter every day. The odds simply go up. Don't know that i buy that excuse, because a stupid letter is still a stupid letter.
The Professor

[City Lights]

11. Congratulations on the ones you've had printed.

:applause:

The regular contributors I've noticed are all Bushbots. I've also noticed that some of the pro-Bush letters are being printed from out-of-staters.

Regardless of whether they print mine, I'm going to keep writing. Someone over there reads them, so my point still gets made even if it's only to a handful of people.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

12. What's funny is how liberal the blog responses are

I only read the Trib online and occasionally read a couple of associated blogs - Eric Zorn, the Swamp (which I guess is their "political" blog?) and a few others. Respondents are overwhelmingly moderate to liberal. Most of the conservatives come off like rabid trolls.

Maybe it's the opposite on Trib blogs I don't read, like Kass. I won't read Kass under any circumstance.

[City Lights]

13. I don't read/post in their Swamp, but I do read and post comments

to their published LTTEs, and the overwhelming majority of posters there are left of center. There are a handful of Bushbots who ignore or deny the facts, and defend him regardless of the situation. I'm convinced they will never see the light. They make complete fools of themselves.

I don't read Kass either. Come to think of it, I don't read much of the Trib at all.