This letter comes to you by way of "Hicksville" as defined by the pretentious, and factually challenged op-ed column by Clifford Rieders entitled "Is this politics as usual".
Since I primarily immerse myself in national and international news, I am unacquainted with the author of this op-ed. Maybe this is his first try.
After struggling to find some meaning in his op-ed, I realized the reason for my confusion. His premise was based on misidentifying Eugene McCarthy as the Wisconson Republican exposing communist inroads into our government.
Eugene McCarthy was neither a Republican nor was he from Wisconson. He was a well known Democrat politician, many- time presidential candidate, and poet from Minnesota.
There are several other factual errors in the op-ed. These hardly warrant discussion, however, since the Eugene McCarthy misinformation is repeated more than a dozen times and forms the basis of this non-history lesson. These errors would be a little easier to overlook if they were not used by someone who seems so presumptuous in his attempt to teach the rest of us about politics and history.
I hope Clifford Rieders will make the effort to meticulously learn the facts for himself before he rushes to inform or instruct others in "Hicksville".
Barry Hill
South Williamsport
Submitted by Virtual Newsroom
