Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.
Ken Anderson's Jan. 29 letter compares disagreements in the letters to the editor section of the Sun to the Iraqi civil war. He then calls for political compromise by asking "ourselves why we distance ourselves from people who do not think like us." Anderson also says that readers are not persuaded by letters. They merely agree or disagree because of what readers believe to be true.
The comparison of political differences here with those in Iraq is a stretch. As for compromise, politics in this country for decades has moved right while the Democrats have moved to the middle. The compromise has been one-sided and not to the advantage of the majority of the American people. Today, if you read what Republican President Dwight Eisenhower had said, he sounds like a left-winger.
Also, letters do persuade people. Politicians read them to see what the flow of public opinion is. Some of the general public may also be persuaded if they tend to make decisions based on evidence and are willing to change their views. I doubt that all the readers out there are part of that zombie-brained group that sends me e-mails ending with, "If you agree, pass it on. If not, delete." But for them, I think of my letters as Doc's paper pills in Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio" - little writings to be wadded up and flung at the lumbering dead heads. Take that - and that!
Jerry Bitts, Las Vegas
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