Fri 7 Jan 2005
Contributed by Chiara Whiting
From the contributor:
George Varga, the San Diego Union-Tribune’s pop music critic, recently reviewed a Linda Ronstadt concert during which the Ronstadt praised filmmaker Michael Moore. Varga called Ronstadt “brave” for expressing her opinion even at the risk of alienating some of her audience. Needless to say, Ronstadt’s words and Varga’s response to them generated a lot of letters to the editor. Here is an extract from a letter published August 8, 2004:
If I could, I would shake Varga’s hand for his influential words of truth and thank him for standing up for the Constitution of the United States, which is, in my opinion, the most important law of the land.
Marianne Chun Ping Seavers
Mission Valley
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040808/news_1a8vargalets.html
Only in her opinion, huh?
June 20th, 2006 at 4:32 pm
This is directed at Chiara Whiting and the publishers of We Made Out, whom obviously, without my knowledge, printed a portion of my letter to the San Diego Tribune. Next time, read the entire article that I responded to as well as my letter and maybe you’ll get the point that I was making that anyone can call themselves a patriot, but when it comes to standing up for the freedom of speech, it seems there were few people far and in between at Linda Ronstadt’s concert.
October 13th, 2008 at 12:25 am
For those who didn’t get my point:
The stated purpose of this site is to catalog “unusual quotes, strange statements, bad writing and other oddities of the language.” The excerpt from Ms. Seaver’s letter seemed to fit that description.
I wasn’t making any sort of comment on the importance of free speech. I was simply amused by Ms. Seavers’ statement that the Constitution is “IN MY OPINION, the most important law of the land.” That’s not an opinion, it’s a fact. Perhaps the following examples will illustrate the distinction:
1. This is an opinion: “Britney Spears is, in my opinion, the greatest singer in the world.”
2. This is a fact: “Water is wet.”
3. This is a fact misstated as an opinion: “Water, in my opinion, is wet.”
April 20th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
To Ms. Chiara Whiting:
This is why free speech is so important. You can claim that what I stated is a fact and try to twist my words to fit what you want, but let me reiterate that what I wrote is my personal and subjective opinion.
Not everyone believes that the Constitution is the most important law of the land (some people couldn’t even tell you what half of the amendments are comprised of). If everyone did, than perhaps you could prove your point conclusively.
There have been men in positions of power prior to this current administration that time and again proved that they didn’t believe the same as I do. They ignored civil rights by labeling anyone they wanted to as an enemy combatant and throwing them in prison without due process, holding them indefinitely. They had the audacity to out one of their own CIA operatives because her husband refused to publicly confirm one of their key justifications for going to war in Iraq.
Those are just two examples of a shameful chapter in US history that some of us hope we’ll learn our lessons from. Yes, there are people who believe in the Constitution but there will always be those who oppose everything that it stands for (literally and figuratively).
Perhaps when the Constitution had been originally signed it could be stated that it was the most important law of the land. But given the direction that this country has been heading, it is complete naivete to say that this is still the case.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
This is the portion of my letter published in the Union Tribune (they also condensed it):
August 8, 2004
I now know who the true cowards are – the people that cloak themselves in the flag of our country, calling themselves patriots when they obviously have no idea what the word means. Meanwhile, they attack people who have opinions that run counter to their own simply because they are experiencing a rude awakening from their ritualistic state of denial.
If I could, I would shake Varga’s hand for his influential words of truth and thank him for standing up for the Constitution of the United States, which is, in my opinion, the most important law of the land.
As for those hatemongers who are exercising their freedom of speech while trying to deny that right to others, I say this: They are nothing but a bunch of infantile morons who have to whine about the fact that Ronstadt dares to show that she’s a human being with a mind of her own, instead of just a beautiful voice that delivers their much needed lullabies.
(The last two paragraphs clearly indicate why it was stated as my opinion. I was differentiating what I believe as opposed to those at that concert).