Calling Out A Liar

I have had the misfortune of coming across an article in the Daily Utah Chronicle titled "Support Democracy - Buy Gas At Citgo". It was so full of misleading information and outright lies that I had to write to the editor and correct them. I think I might have come across as a bit of an asshole. Oh well. I guess that's the way the ball bounces. :) Here is a copy of my email below:

I happened upon Jay Richards article " Support Democracy - Buy Gas At Citgo" recently and I am amazed at the amount of false and misleading information that he has in this article. For example: "Out of all the top oil-producing countries in the world, only one is a democracy ". This is patently false. Here's a list of the top oil producers. So what you're telling me is that Canada, The US, Mexico and the U.K. don't have free and open elections?

Another false statement: "The fact is that if we were not so dependent on Middle-Eastern oil, there would have been no Sept. 11." Perhaps Jay does not understand that we were defending our allies in the middle east against Saddam's invasion forces and to remove him from Kuwait. Perhaps Jay also does not know that Saddam did indeed invade a small town in Saudi Arabia. Perhaps Jay also did not know that Osama Bin Laden offered his forces to help defend the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. When he was rebuffed for the USA, Osama was angry at that as well as the fact that we were on holy land as non Muslims. It did not matter that we were defending his fellow Muslims against Saddam. It did not matter that we were invited there by the king of Saudi Arabia. Also, It had nothing to do with oil at all. It had everything to do with doing what's right. If it had been about oil, we could have simply kept all the oil fields while we were still there.

Mr. Richards, your knowledge of the Middle East and past events concerning it is laughable. Your statements in this article are at best misleading, and at worst, out right lying. This article you have written is no better then a chain email that gets past around an office. I feel dumber for reading your article and feel sorry for your readers that might actually believe this nonsense you are spewing.

That said, I would be happy to set you straight. If you'd like to check out my website http://www.rightwinglunatic.com, as well as I would be more then happy to debate you on any current topic you'd like.

Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://www.rightwinglunatic.com