To the editor:

This letter is in response to the columns of Mike Yavorsky during the election cycle up to last week’s article talking about Jon Stewart’s rally. Mike has reminded us time and time again to “remember to air our political disagreements with a little civility over the next month”, yet at the same time expressed his opinions in the exact opposite way. Last week he discussed the Republican takeover of the House saying, “analysts variously referred to as a political ‘earthquake,’ ‘tidal wave,’ and ‘tsunami.’ And there was a reason that all of their metaphors were natural disasters.” In another article he describes Christine O’Donnell as a “condom-hating, Sarah Palin look-alike and creationist from Delaware”. In discussing the Ohio Gubernatorial race, he continuously linked Kasich to Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, and while he did work for Lehman, Mike never explained how anything Kasich did was remotely related to the failure of the company.

Now I do not necessarily support the Republican House, O’Donnell, or Kasich, but Mike’s type of over the top rhetoric is exactly why Jon Stewart held the rally to restore sanity. The reason why Mike was not satisfied at the message of the rally is because it was directed directly at people exactly like him. Even on the seemingly non-partisan issue of telling people to go out and vote on election day, an entire article was devoted to essentially saying, “Go out and vote…for democrats….” Mike did not want to “get out the vote,” he wanted people who he agrees with politically to vote.

I have always held the view that even if you disagree with someone, you should be able to understand why they hold a certain point of view on an issue. This is truly why the Rally to Restore Sanity was held, and it is why Mike did not fully enjoy the message. Contrary to Mike’s point of view, Fox News is not the only media outlet that distorts information. Earlier this year during the special Massachusetts Senate election, MSNBC viewers heard Keith Olbermann describe Republican Scott Brown as an “irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, tea-bagging supporter of violence against women”. In this specific case Jon Stewart called out Olbermann, and I feel it is my duty as a sane person to do the same. Mike, you need to tone it down, try to understand other people’s point of views, and restore your sanity!

Joseph Kachovec

Undergraduate Student