A Personal Letter to the Readers of Blue Chips

Dear esteemed and learned readers of Blue Chips,

I want to apologize to all of those who read my letter to the editor entitled (not by me) "Dont Bring Up Politics" in the Feb 2, 2009 edition of Central Michigan Life.

The letter that is printed in that edition resembles the letter I did write, yet through some editorial bungling on CM Life's part, some of the more savory (and perhaps funny) bits were left out or ignored altogether. My letter's overall effect was damaged and the prose's flow was left rather mangled as well.

The link for this "letter" is here listed:

http://media.www.cm-life.com/media/storage/paper906/news/2009/02/02/Voices/Letter.Dont.Bring.Up.Politics-3607545.shtml

I am all for the right of editorial license and all of that, but seriously...when one takes it upon himself/herself to edit a document to the point where the letter's main jist is crippled and makes the writer of said letter look like a right jolly fool, it almost makes one wonder why anyone would want to write to these "butchers" in the first place.

But hey, with this type of situation, its best to just let one's beef go with the paper and keep a' writin on. After all, this is only a collegiate newspaper...and students will make mistakes!

For your own reading, the original letter to the editor (written on Thursday, January 29, 2009) that I sent out to CM Life is included here:

"I never thought in a million years that I would say something like "I agree with Dennis," but sadly, I do.

I agree with Lennox’s argument in the January 28, 2009 edition of CM-Life, that Central Michigan University should seek re-accreditation for its Journalism Department. It would be a disservice to the university itself, and those majoring in the program (now and in the future) if CMU did not pursue and achieve accreditation with all deliberate speed. If CMU wants any measure of legitimacy outside of Michigan when it comes to its journalism graduates, then the proper step would be to provide them with accreditation for their degrees.

That is where my mutual agreement with Dennis Lennox II ends. Other than this very rare instance, everything else that he believes strongly about or argues for, is little more than your garden variety right-wing Republican tripe. He would have been at least tolerable in my eyes this time, if he would have just stayed in the whole Journalism re-accreditation argument thing…

But no, what did he do? He had to go and take a needless dig at former CMU Griffin Chair of Political Science, and now Congressman, Gary Peters (D-MI.) Lennox argues that “Peters owes his job to CMU” and that he’s a “professor-turned-Congressman.”

Well, in this instance, DL2 is partly accurate. Gary Peters is indeed a professor-turned-Congressman…but exactly what point are you making, Dennis. A friend of mine, former Republican State Senator Mike Goschka (R-Saginaw and Gratiot Counties,) was a “factory worker-turned-State Senator,” I don’t see any one making a big deal or really, any deal, about this! Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke can be considered an “actor-turned-“human train wreck”-turned-actor-again," but it’s hard to find anyone really harping on the “human train wreck” aspect of his career. I’m trying to figure out where Dennis is coming from, labeling Congressman Peters in this fashion…but so far, nothing.

The whole “Peters owes his job to CMU” thing does not hold much water, either. CMU let him run for Congress, sure, no argument there. But there’s really nothing illegal about that, despite what Gary’s position may have been here at the University. What is more, I didn’t see President Rao campaign for Mr. Peters last year at all (as much of a shot-in-the-arm a Rao endorsement would have been to Gary’s campaign.) Nor did I ever see Dean of Students Bruce Roscoe don a rainbow-colored fright wig and hold up a “Gary Peters for Congress” sign at CMU football games.

Saying that Congressman Peters owes his Congressional seat to CMU is a lot like saying that President George W. Bush cared about the detainees at Guantanamo, he doesn’t. In saying that, Lennox just disqualified all of those people who voted for Peters, who voted for change instead of stale Congressional representation.My recommendation to DL2 in this case is to next time just keep his skewed political opinions, no matter how slight, out of purely academic subjects."

For the "letter" posted in the February 2nd, 2009 edition of CM Life, I humbly apologize to you, the reader.

Your Friend,
NelsOnline.

PS-I promise, from now on, to write about purely Democratic political matters...provided that CM Life does not do a ham-fisted editing job on one of my letters to the editor again! While I appreciate CM Life for the posting of my letter and the cleaning up of a couple of gramatical errors that I missed in my final edit, what I am not appreciative of is their editorial style.

~NelsOnline.