In his letter to the Daily, Jonathan Lotz accused Steve Skutnik of being abusive of his First Amendment rights by writing “off the wall” columns that are anti-American and that provoke skepticism of our government. I agree that some of Skutnik’s columns are a little radical, but I see nothing wrong with being critical of our government and its leaders. It’s actually nice to see someone like Skutnik writing columns; someone who voices the alternative viewpoint to all the people who were sheepish enough to hop on the “patriotism bandwagon” since Sept. 11, and to all the people who are too oblivious to the fact that their government is not an organization of saints but rather human beings who can be corrupted and who can make mistakes.

But that’s not the point. The point is that Mr. Skutnik has the right to write what he pleases. Mr. Skutnik has the right to an opinion, and if he wants to write about it, he has that right as well. There is no slander, libel or any other defamation of character in any of Skutnik’s columns, so I don’t see where Lotz gets the basis for his argument that Skutnik is abusing his First Amendment right.

Lotz also claims that no one likes Skutnik’s columns. This generalization does not speak for me. I always read his columns, and I find them interesting and intriguing, also. Lotz’s letter was the one that I did not like.

Casey Muhm

Freshman

Political science