July 16, 2012

Another View: Conservative columnists don't write 'diatribes'

If a reader wants real examples of that, there are other places in the paper to find them.

By WALTER J. ENO

In a July 12 Another View commentary, F. Kingston Berlew contends that "too many" right-wing diatribes appear on Commentary pages, adding that: "It's time to liberate this section of the paper from overwhelming amounts of right-wing nonsense."

As evidence, he cites two conservative columnists: nationally syndicated Charles Krauthammer, a physician and psychiatrist, and arguably America's most knowledgeable and articulate journalist; and Maine's thoughtful and measured part-time contributor, M.D. Harmon. Their columns are published once weekly, but that's "too many" and "overwhelming" in Berlew's closed-circle view.

Other readers may judge the reasonableness and fairness of that position. Apparently, he believes that all opinions contrary to his authoritative musings should be muzzled.

Mr. Berlew refers to Krauthammer's and Harmon's commentaries as "diatribes." The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "diatribe" as "a bitter and abusive speech or writing."

Again, where's the beef? For a classic example of that genre of journalism, I refer him to Bill Nemitz's July 11 rant on Gov. LePage ("Mortified by a geyser of trash talk from Maine's governor"), published under the heading of "news." Any thoughts, Mr. Berlew?

Mr. Berlew may not be aware that the Fox News channel from 6 to 8 p.m. consists of news only, with little or no commentary, while the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. slot is mainly commentary, featuring both conservative and liberal views.

All of the remaining principal broadcast and cable news programs -- ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and especially MSNBC -- are tilted to the left. Enough already.

Walter J. Eno is a resident of Scarborough.

 

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