In my commentary “Arrogance on the Left” on June 4, 2008, I voiced my utter disdain for Garrison Keillor regarding his newspaper column about the patriotic Memorial Day ride in Washington, D.C and regarding him as a person.  I have been reading rejoinders to his column for almost two months.  I am reprinting the following letter from the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune website wisconsinrapidstribune.com, June 8, 2008).  It touched me greatly.  I hope it touches you.

“We take great offense in the opinion by Garrison Keillor you published Sunday titled ‘The roar of hollow patriotism.’ I saw it in another paper a few days earlier and was hoping you had better judgment than to run it. It not only insulted the riders saluting our vets but the veterans themselves. Here is a copy of the letter we sent to him:

‘Dear Mr. Keillor: We are truly sorry for your inconvenience. Our son was with you in that crowd. He called us to tell us how jealous we would be that he was there and we were not. It filled his chest with pride, watching those fat pony-tailed bikers show their patriotism. He could not ride in the parade with them. His bike is stuck in Germany from his last posting. He was there in Washington for training, on his way to "another sand-box" to defend your right to spew such drivel. The next day he sent a picture from the parade, of a Marine holding a salute to the bikers he watched for over an hour. He just dropped his wife and new son off here in Wisconsin so he could be deployed again, and they could stay with family. He will again miss the next several months of his family's life to defend you. When he returns, his son will be talking and walking. He will only experience this via e-mails from his family. Your inconvenience is nothing compared to his sacrifice. Yet it is for you, he fights.’”

Joe and Terri Leek

Stevens Point

Garrison Keillor is a self-important, self-agrandizing moron who couldn’t get a job if it wasn’t for National Public Radio…a socialist media outlet that can’t survive without government support.  The fact that this media organization hires and defends an anti-American, anti-patriotic, untalented physical and intellectual defect like Keillor tells me it is finally time to cut the cord on public support for NPR and the rest of the government supported socialist media.  Once that happens, Keillor will have to find a real job.  I suspect that the best he will do is cleaning the shoes of the real MAN who cleans President Bush’s shoes.