To the editor:

I appreciated receiving Mike Ettredge’s tempered rebuke (Jan. 31). Unlike the letters I criticized, Ettredge attempted a rational argument using concrete examples. That is not to say I view his arguments as fair.

First, Ettredge misstates what I said. I didn’t attack all conservatives — I mentioned George Will as a counterexample — but I claimed mindless cheerleading is an unfortunately widespread conservative genre. Ettredge gives no evidence I was wrong. Also, Ettredge thinks I don’t criticize people on the left. Some anarchists I recently annoyed might say otherwise.

More importantly, Ettredge thinks I criticized conservatives for being uncivil. That was not my point. Civility is of sadly decreasing public value, partly because the radical right has so poisoned political discourse that civility goes unnoticed, and partly because there is no civil way to say, for example, that public figures are looting the treasury. In dark times, civility is less important than truthfulness. I believe mindless conservative cheerleaders are, in fact, shouting down our collective ability to think straight. My letters aimed at pointing out concrete examples.

Finally, blaming me for Mike Cuenca’s letter is a bit underhanded. I am only responsible for what I myself write. However, comparing Cuenca to Joe McCarthy goes way overboard. Ettredge thinks the problem with McCarthy calling Democrats communist was, McCarthy was uncivil. The real problem was, McCarthy lied. If, in fact, Christian extremists have taken control of high offices to our detriment, and if Cuenca provided concrete examples, then he was entirely right to say so.

David Burress,

Lawrence