Letter from Ted Potrikus

Nelson Piece Was Immature

Regarding “The Partial Observer” column from the October 3, 2024 edition:

Before you j’accuse us, Mr. Nelson, take a look at yourself.

This overlong essay is less an observation than it is a conceited, anti-Semitic diatribe treating its audience like a bunch of backwoods, know-nothing rubes who should feel lucky to be learning at the feet of a self-appointed master.

At the very least, one must question the editorial value of a sentence as crass and unnecessary as this: “I was in D.C. for Netanyahu’s visit on July 24 and saw both Houses and both parties of our Congress demonstrate that they would have fellated Hitler on live television if the money was right.”

I’m no prude, as they say, but is that really necessary? I’ll answer my own question: No, it is not. It’s not funny, it’s not appropriate, and a sentence like that deflates any credibility its author may be seeking from the readers of a credible publication.

In the end, whatever observation the author intended in his essay is crushed beneath his overreliance on immature provocation, inappropriate tone and smug sanctimony.

Ted Potrikus
Tucson, Arizona
Former editor of “The Freeman’s Journal” and “Hometown Oneonta”