‘World Woes’ Comment Stirs Emotions

I have never read (Joseph Bell’s) column before, but I was glancing through the View section as I ate lunch at work. The opening paragraph, rather than the entire article, is what made me do a double-take. Bell’s remark about today’s woes in the world and the “world being taken over by homosexuals and dirty pictures and flag burners and all” was entirely out of line.

I understand that this is a column and therefore an expression of opinion, and I do realize that Mr. Bell writes about Orange County life, but does he have to come across sounding like he writes a column for Soldier of Fortune? I literally read the opening paragraph twice to see if I missed the context in some way. Nope. There it was in black and white: a statement that would get most TV journalists a ticket in the unemployment line.

I wonder if maybe his editor missed the boat when he approved this piece. I enjoy The Times for its tendency to rise above pandering to the popular and provide good hard news as well as well-crafted and thought-provoking columns, which usually discuss issues aimed at the relatively intelligent (i.e. Alice Kahn). But this unthinking display of narrow-minded blubbering is unnecessary and in the end added nothing to the editorial content of the piece.

You guys are better than that.

ANN MARIE HAWKINS

Orange