Objects to personal attacks
Mr. Smith: Regarding your recent column, “Allgood wrong on new sentencing guidelines,” I find your remarks in the first and last paragraphs despicable. Vile personal attacks do not strengthen your argument; rather, such attacks paint you as someone with an ax to grind against prosecutors in general. You are certainly entitled to your opinions (thanks to the laws in this country), but your attack on a public servant whose life has been spent serving those laws shows your utter disrespect for authority.
We have read your incessant moaning about your unfortunate incarceration for some time now, and we are tired of it. You continue to bemoan the fact that the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Has it ever occurred to you, Mr. Smith, that this might be due to the fact that in our free country, some of us find it all too easy to make bad choices?
You have been candid about the bad choices that you made in your past, yet you continue to attack those who support and uphold the law.
You don’t like our state government. You don’t like our local government. You don’t like much here, it seems. Perhaps you would be more comfortable carrying that large chip around in a different cultural climate, perhaps Detroit or Chicago, where lawlessness is more pervasive. Mr. Allgood, to my knowledge, has never had an influence on those cities, so you will have to look for someone else to attack there. Meanwhile, you owe him an apology.
As for me, I plan to stop my subscription to this newspaper until you stop writing such loathsome columns. We can do better. Mississippi has an abundance of excellent writers. You won’t be missed.
Joy P. Nichols
Columbus
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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