Letter to the editor: Jan. 6 letter full of 'false statements'

Richard Rampell
·2 min read
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While I applaud the PBDN's willingness to publish letters and opinion columns reflecting opposing views on controversial subjects, I believe that the line should be drawn when a letter writer embraces and makes demonstrably false statements.

I am referring to the guest column penned by Robert Davidow (Jan. 16, 2022), which is nothing more than the talking points by right-wing polemists and full of unfounded and discredited claims.

>>RELATED: Original letter from Robert Davidow

To wit:

Davidow writes that “the FBI ‘found scant evidence that the Jan. 6 attack … was the result of an organized plot …’” and “none has been charge [in the riot ]… with insurrection, for firearms violations.”

He does not cite the source claiming the FBI found scant evidence, yet the leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, was indicted last Thursday for inciting a seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol.

Rioters stand on the West front of the U.S. Capitol building to protest the official election of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021.
Rioters stand on the West front of the U.S. Capitol building to protest the official election of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021.

He claims that the Biden administration is in favor of “open borders and the unrestricted flow of illegal aliens, criminals and lethal drugs.” There is no reliable evidence that any of this is true other than the unfounded assertions of right wing TV and radio pundits. No Biden official has ever espoused open borders and the unrestricted flow of immigrants. In fact, my daughter has written recently in the Washington Post [columnist Catherine Rampell] that the opposite is true with respect to immigration, castigating the Biden administration for continuing some of Trump’s inhumane policies.

He claims that the “FBI, intelligence agencies and all branches of government” are complicit “in Biden’s illegal overreach.” He cites no sources or evidence for this. In fact, this is nothing more than the phantasmagoria of a fevered dream.

There is plenty more that I take issue with in his column, but the examples above should be sufficient to make my case that this column should never have been published. It adds nothing to elevate the discussion of controversial issues. I hope that the editors, before publishing such tripe in the future, require that the writer substantiate and source their claims.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Letter to the editor: Writer of letter about Jan. 6 made false claims