The Jan. 23 opinion column by Rick Gagliardo was in many ways laughable, and in others infuriating.

He explicitly blames Bush for 9/11, citing nonaction against Bin Laden prior to that date. He then blames Bush for putting "more than 150,000 of our troops in the path of terrorists' bullets and roadside bombs."

How can you attack someone for nonaction and turn around and attack him again for acting? If we had bombed Afghanistan and/or Iraq prior to 9/11 in a pre-emptive strike, would that have been better for him?

He refers to non-Bush haters as "Bushies." I'll refer to ultra left-wing liberals like Gagliardo as "libbies."

He continues to incite the "libbies" with lines like "How dare anyone claim that Bush kept us safe from terrorist attacks for seven years. Every IED that explodes is a terrorist attack against an American."

Gagliardo tries to make the laughable point that the "Bushies" don't fight in Iraq, all they do is whine about having their taxes raised and "keep their sorry carcasses safe for the golf courses." I would bet most of the men he is slandering have already done their time serving their country in the military, fighting to protect our freedom.

Gagliardo is so far removed from reality, it's scary. His column is full of half-truths and outright lies. I'm embarrassed that my hometown newspaper would let hacks like him spew their hatred and take up valuable advertising space.

Jeff Gollehon

Whispering Pines