To the editor:

While reading the front page of the Jan. 29 Lawrence Journal World, I came across a statement by Alice Lieberman (former Douglas County Democratic chairwoman), concerning the president’s Tuesday night State of the Union address. The paper quoted her as saying, “He (the president) is taking this country in a direction that really scares me. He still is positioning this country as the world’s cowboy, and that concerns me.”

Given the fact that Kansas is one of the top beef-producing states in the United States, selling over 8 million head of cattle a year, according to the most recent USDA census, I was wondering what Ms. Lieberman meant by this comment. Her remark was obviously meant to place the president in a negative light.

I wonder what “cowboys” in Kansas think of her statement. My grandparents and uncles were in the cattle industry, and I have the utmost respect for their dedication to this country, their integrity, and strong work ethic. I found Ms. Lieberman’s stereotyping of many good people in Kansas and our nation to be offensive. Is it OK to stereotype some people and not others?

I think we can do without the name-calling tactic that imposes a negative image on honest hard-working Americans. You certainly have the right to disagree with our president, but trying to degrade him by calling him a name that describes the way many Kansans make a livelihood is unacceptable, especially for someone who should know better.

Kevin Price,

Lawrence