Christopher L. Jorgensen
PO Box 546
Ames, IA 50010

August 17, 2012

Ruth Marcus
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street NW
Washington DC 20071

Dear Ruth Marcus,

I wanted to express my opinion on your November 29, 2011 column. I should have probably written this letter months ago, but I am not a fast thinker. 

You take Emma Sullivan to task and call her “potty-mouthed” because she used the word “sucks” to describe Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback. You fault her for being “smart­alecky” and poorly raised. Then you bring up “cyberbullying” while castigating a teenager in an online column read by hundreds. Seriously, you confuse me.

I think we can agree there are levels of profanity with some words falling on one end of the spectrum (I won’t even put those words on paper!), while words like “crap,” “dang,” and “douche nozzle” at the other. “Sucks” really isn’t even on my list, though I do respect your right to have a more exhaustive list.

You missed the most salient point. Ms. Sullivan lied! There is a lesson to be learned here! I would have made Ms. Sullivan retract that “sucks” statement, then I too would have made her sit down and write a letter to Gov. Brownback. If she’s going to say she said he sucks, then by God, she’s going to say he sucks. I’d even ground her until she was done!

You did convince me of one thing though. Gov. Brownback does deserve an apology. In a couple of months I’ll probably get around to writing him and I’ll apologize on Ms. Sullivan’s behalf that he got all butt hurt.

Sincerely,

Christopher L. Jorgensen