Here’s the letter I wrote to the Kansas City Star in 1998 after its hatchet job on me…
It predictably created a firestorm because I dared to criticize the Star, one of my law firm – Lathrop & Gage’s – clients:
July 27, 1998
Letters Department
ATTENTION: Rich Hood
The Kansas City Star
Dear Mr. Hood:
I was very disturbed by the tone of The Kansas City Star‘s article about the American Heritage Festival and Expo held in Carthage, Missouri the weekend of July 17-19.
The Star’s writer, Judy Thomas, quoted an out-of-state source who described the event, sight unseen, before it had even occurred, as a gathering of “white separatists.”
In the admittedly brief time I was at the festival, I saw absolutely no indication that those that were in attendance were white separatists, racists, neo-Nazis, or members of any other hate group. I did see many people wearing T-shirts honoring American POW’s and MIA’s and bearing the names of U.S. Navy vessels on which the wearers served. In fact, the crowd seemed to be comprised to a large degree of veterans and their families, which should not be surprising for an event celebrating American patriotism. Continue reading