Letters, we send letters....

This is the text of a letter I just send to the New York Times regarding an article in today's paper.

Editor:

Alessandra Stanley's Tuesday article about Rev. Jeremiah Wright would best be described as "slimy."

She begins by saying he "wriggled out," a phrase usually used only in connection with snakes and illegal escapes. In the course of one 1,000 word article, she adds the following:

He's a "slightly wacky" monomaniac who "just craves attention."

He's "vain," Stanley says (twice), so vain that "I bet you think this campaign is about you." He "loves the sound of his own voice" and just wants "15 minutes of fame." He's an "egghead," she adds, seemingly amused that Wright would use the word “hermeneutics,” although why it would seem odd for a preacher to use the term escapes me.

Wright was "on a tear," as self-centeredly "pleased" with his answers to questions "as a contestant in a high school spelling bee who has just correctly spelled the final word."

So before, he was bombastic, threatening, hostile. And now, after taking on the media directly and showing them neither deference nor fear, he instantly becomes an immature, self-centered brat not worth taking seriously. Stanley's reaction tells us more about the media than it does about Wright.

Footnote: I previously wrote about the "controversial" Wright on March 16.