Alex and Jim mad about Allen

To the editor:

Re: "Sam Doesn't need friends like Alex," April 26.

Alas, as I expected, more clamorous, frothy-mouthed invective from the likes of Mr. Jim Satterthwaite, who through the overly generous propriety of the Courier's editor has in the past co-opted this letters page as a bully pulpit to defend the oft-demanding and unendingly militant BCTF.

Uncorked once more, Mr. Satterthwaite leaps to the defence of his beloved scribe of choice, Allen Garr. In his error-riddled offensive about how I wanted to supposedly "silence" Mr. Garr one week ago in my own letter to the editor, Mr. Satterthwaite attempts to paint with an incredibly broad brush-but without any canvas!

I don't believe in silencing or censoring any of the press-I have never stated any such thing, nor would I ever condone it. But do they not at least owe us the truth, instead of venom-driven bias veiled as "an opinion piece"?

Failing to address, with intent, any of the salient points I made about Mr. Garr's biases against anything even remotely attached to the NPA, and the lack of reporting integrity in some of Mr. Garr's articles, Mr. Satterthwaite's self-indulgent latherfest was nothing more than a feeble lob from left field vs. the facts: Allen Garr has often crafted statements that are untrue because he had not bothered to fact-check them with the subjects of his suppositions.

So, therein lies the difference between myself and Mr. Satterthwaite: I long for journalistic excellence from Mr. Garr, while Mr. Satterthwaite has to manipulate my intent as the only way to provide his partisan commentary. Rather than an extended fondle of his own misstatements, I wish Mr. Satterthwaite had showcased the commitment to purpose of addressing the pertinent issues I raised about Mr. Garr's writings. I guess that would have required some thought and courage.

A.G. (Alex) Tsakumis, Vancouver

published on 05/03/2006