Falling for Fox News ‘Facts’

To the Editor: I had to check the byline on a Nov. 1 letter to The Chief-Leader because it read as though it was written by Sean Hannity or even Donald Trump, himself. In just 111 words, I found at least 8 misstatements, distortions and/or falsehoods.

The letter began with the absurd claim that “the left has deemed the term ‘lynching’ a pejorative.” Merriam-Webster, which the last time I checked has no political leanings, defines pejorative as “a word or phrase that has negative connotations” and lynching as “to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal approval or permission.” I agree with the letter’s author that those who used this clearly pejorative term in the past to describe political procedures, the way some Democrats (like Joe Biden) did during the Clinton impeachment and Clarence Thomas did during his confirmation hearing, were just as wrong then as Donald Trump is now. No one should be using the word lynching to describe anything other than an actual lynching.