* Peoria Journal Star letters to the editor…
I know very little of JB Pritzker’s personal history but I believe I read during the recent election campaign that he is of the Jewish faith. Consequently, it seems incongruous to me that he could support the right to an abortion.
He is too young to have firsthand remembrance of the World War II holocaust but I am not. Horrific photographs of murdered, innocent Jewish men, women and children are firmly etched in my mind. […]
It is ironic that Hitler is, rightfully so, branded for all time as a monster for the extermination of millions of Jews, Christians and others for being enemies of the Third Reich. Yet Pritzker and other proponents of the extermination of millions of unborn babies are hailed as heroes under the banner of “women’s rights” or “women’s healthcare.”
How sad that abortion rights advocates now legalize extermination at any stage of the baby’s development.
You gotta wonder what goes through an editor’s mind when deciding whether to publish letters like these.
I mean, the governor helped found a Holocaust Museum, for crying out loud.
- RNUG - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:14 am:
== I mean, the governor helped found a Holocaust Museum, for crying out loud. ==
Given all the cutbacks at the kind of local newspapers, there are very few editors with any ling term experience. Probably didn’t know about the museum and probably didn’t do any research either.
- South of Sherman - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:15 am:
If it weren’t for rabid Godwinning right-wingers who won’t rest until they’ve taken control of every last uterus in the country, who would buy the Journal Star?
- Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:16 am:
Time to give mom a call and suggest she finally pull the plug on the PJS subscription after 5-plus decades of readership.
A smaller, more expensive product delivered later and with increasingly lower standards would seem to be living on borrowed time in a modern marketplace.
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:19 am:
This is shameful.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:20 am:
If you believe abortion is murder, and this writer does, then a reader of like mind will understand and agree with the comparison.
They call it infanticide. This writer calls it extermination. That people hold these beliefs, and that religious leaders continue to preach that abortion is murder, is proof that women need to fight vigilantly for their rights to autonomy over their bodies. This is the result of so-called “Christian” indoctrination.
I suspect the editor agrees with this too, or believes a lot of his readers do, so I can guess what was going through his mind.
A lot of horrible things have been done in the name of religion. Too many to list. After race, religion is humanity’s biggest divisive force.
- wordslinger - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:21 am:
There are no editors anymore.
But someone made the decision to post that (it’s still there). Unbelievable.
Notice how the writer appropriates “the World War II holocaust” because he has “firsthand remembrance” of seeing pictures or something-something.
I bet he watches a lot of cable news, all day long.
- Jocko - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:21 am:
==He is too young to have firsthand remembrance of the World War II holocaust but I am not.==
I have news for Larry, I suspect the Holocaust cuts a little closer to JB than it does him. I’m also wondering how he was able to type the letter to the editor with his white hood getting in the way. /S
- Anon - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:23 am:
I like that the author is giving Christians 2nd billing as victims of the Holocaust while ignoring that the folks who carried out the Holocaust were Christians.
Unless, like, from 1933-1945 millions of Germans briefly ceased to be Christian.
- Honeybear - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:28 am:
Wow…..that is profoundly offensive on so so many levels.
- low level - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:31 am:
This is a common theme now in the so called “pro-life” movement. Note the dog whistle mention of the governor’s faith. I suspect the writer is not impressed by Pritzker helping to found the Holocaust museum. He’s not just opposed to abortion. Far from it
- Flapdoodle - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:32 am:
Shameful indeed. I stopped subscribing to the PJS years ago. That’s too bad in a way because I can’t unsubscribe to it now for publishing this boneheaded, bigoted letter.
- Ducky LaMoore - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:53 am:
As someone who is personally very pro-life and politically pro-choice, this kind crap really loses me. You want to compare a government rounding up millions because of their heritage and then torturing and killing them to a woman making a choice of whether or not to have an abortion? Not the sword I would die on.
- A guy - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:58 am:
==If you believe abortion is murder, and this writer does, then a reader of like mind will understand and agree with the comparison.==
I do believe that abortion is murder 47. I don’t believe it’s willful and with malice in the vast majority of cases. I don’t in any way, shape or manner agree with this person.
An unintelligent and unreasoned argument seriously hurts the cause this person might be wishing to make. I wholeheartedly reject this comparison. I have disagreements with our Governor (just like every other Governor), but he is nothing…nothing…nothing like Hitler.
- Kayak - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:00 am:
=I know very little about JB Pritzkers personal history=
But I’m going to write a letter to the editor making assumptions about his personal history.
- Perrid - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:14 am:
This is the kind of stupid rhetoric that just makes people stop listening and dig in their heels. If you want to have a snowball’s chance in Heck of convincing anyone that maybe not all abortions are OK, you gotta dial down the crazy.
- The Big Salad - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:14 am:
Abortion — its scope, impact, and the fervent support for it — will eventually be seen as one of the greatest atrocities in human history. But until we get there, I can see how a letter like this could be shocking to the senses.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:20 am:
===one of the greatest atrocities in human history===
Worse than the subjugation of women?
- G'Kar - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:21 am:
FWIW, the author is one of those letter to the editor gadflies that most down state papers have who has been writing crackpot letters for years.
- Glengarry - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:26 am:
The PJS, also published some of the nonsensical letters Matt Hale would send to them. The defense was, others should know what these people were thinking and who they really are.
- dbk - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:27 am:
This is not so exceptional for PJS readers’ letters, frankly.
I don’t think the problem lies so much with the editor (or whoever reads them before publishing)as with the readership.
Chillicothe, whence the writer originates, is Darin LaHood country.
- Annonin' - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:38 am:
Assuming this was an inside job to spark some interest in an item in the PJ-S. Too bad they picked a mass shooting day
- Father Ted - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:40 am:
I can only assume newspapers print letters like this because they believe they will spark discussion. I have seen countless examples of letter writers who misstate facts. Regardless of whether it’s intentional, sparking discussion that is not rooted in fact or logic (or worse, in this case) seems reckless on the newspaper’s part.
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:43 am:
- 47th Ward - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:20 am:
Abortion hurts women and the baby always dies. No parental notification but they can’t decide on their own to smoke until the age of 21. There is no such things as personally opposed to abortion but support abortion in others. That is a copout. Abortion does kill and know the Governor of Virginia says to keep them comfortable while the Mother decides on a baby that is already outside the womb. This is infantacide.
- common_sense - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:49 am:
assisting with a Holocaust museum has absolutely nothing to do with the writers point.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:53 am:
If you want to debate me, pick a name and don’t attribute things to me that I never said.
- lostintranslation - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:54 am:
I’ll be waiting for another letter from the writer denouncing his church (St Edwards) for covering up credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor.
https://www.pjstar.com/news/20181018/peoria-at-center-of-sex-abuse-suit-filed-against-catholic-bishops-and-dioceses-statewide
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:58 am:
- Anon - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 10:23 am:
I like that the author is giving Christians 2nd billing as victims of the Holocaust while ignoring that the folks who carried out the Holocaust were Christians.
Unless, like, from 1933-1945 millions of Germans briefly ceased to be Christian.
Many did leave. There are many books on the subject.
- Pundent - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 11:58 am:
=assisting with a Holocaust museum has absolutely nothing to do with the writers point=
Then you’ll have to explain this quote to me: “He is too young to have firsthand remembrance of the World War II holocaust but I am not.”
He compares JB’s position to the Holocaust and then criticizes him for not knowing his heritage all the while being ignorant to JB’s past work.
So exactly what is the writer’s point?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 12:10 pm:
===The defense was, others should know what these people were thinking and who they really are. ===
Yep. The idiots over there amplified Hale’s twisted beliefs and normalized them. “Hey, it’s in the paper, it must be OK to say this stuff.”
And then they didn’t learn.
- Grandson of Man - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 12:11 pm:
“will eventually be seen as one of the greatest atrocities in human history”
So is forcing women to harm themselves in order to terminate their pregnancies. It’s their bodies and only they should have control over them. Not allowing abortions just forces women underground.
What have the anti-abortion people done to care for needy and unwanted children who are already here? Lots of them scream for welfare cuts and hate paying taxes to help certain people. How about supporting birth control and sex education? Lots of abortion opponents don’t support those either.
- Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 12:12 pm:
In today’s environment the PJS would probably make Matt Hale a featured local columnist.
- supplied_demand - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 12:18 pm:
Meanwhile, Israel has one of the most liberal abortion policies in the developed world.
- Wensicia - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 12:24 pm:
Shouldn’t print editors follow Godwin’s Law before publishing letters like this?
- lakeside - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 12:32 pm:
===So exactly what is the writer’s point?===
The anti-abortion movement is about exerting power and control over others to conform with their belief system. As the letter writer knows what is best for all women’s bodies, so, too, does he know the correct way to act appropriately as a Jewish person. Two sides of the same coin.
- Lester Holt’s Mustache - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 12:32 pm:
Sheesh, this sounds just like a diatribe from Eric Robert Rudolph or Scott Roeder. I’d urge the locals in Chillicothe to check this guy out, $20 says he owns multiple firearms and a map of Planned Parenthood clinics in Illinois. Cops check out kooky stuff posted on social media, I don’t see why kooky letters to the editor should be treated any differently
- wordslinger - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 12:34 pm:
And it’s still up. Incredible.
The PJStar obviously feels back-door anti-semitism and comparing the governor to Hitler is an important contribution to the marketplace of ideas.
- don the legend - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 12:34 pm:
To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln:
If abortion is not wrong, nothing is wrong.
- JS Mill - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 12:35 pm:
=I do believe that abortion is murder 47. I don’t believe it’s willful and with malice in the vast majority of cases. I don’t in any way, shape or manner agree with this person.=
You apparently do agree with him on something.
=assisting with a Holocaust museum has absolutely nothing to do with the writers point.=
Were you sent to us by MENSA to help with the debate?
Larry Tadie is quite the christian. I mean of course he should judge and condemn people since that is what bible says we should do.
- A guy - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 1:04 pm:
==You apparently do agree with him on something.==
I was addressing the paraphrasing of 47, not the letter writer. Abortion by its very definition is ending the life of (pick a term), I choose growing human.
Under no circumstances do I believe that extends to comparing JB to Hitler. That’s just crazy talk.
- Unpopular - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 1:06 pm:
That first amendment is a real problem. Especially when people use it to stand up for the voiceless.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 1:15 pm:
===That first amendment is a real problem===
Nope. It’s the bizarre judgement of an editor that’s the real problem here.
- Grandson of Man - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 1:16 pm:
“That first amendment is a real problem. Especially when people use it to stand up for the voiceless.”
No, because start your own media publication and scream all you want. Newspapers have standards to not publish inflammatory letters like the one above.
- L.A. - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 1:26 pm:
-You gotta wonder what goes through an editor’s mind when deciding whether to publish letters like these.-
Yet, you republished the letter on your blog. I’m a huge fan, Rich, but don’t know how you can be flabbergasted that the PJ-S published the letter in the first place, then decide that it would be a good idea to republish the letter on the blog.
- Smitty Irving - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 1:33 pm:
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Early Reagan era, among the strongest opponents to the “anti-abortion enthusiasts” were Jews, who often had incredibly high incidences of birth defects caused by lack of genetic diversity in Europe (beyond the scope of this discussion). Remember talk about Tays-Sacks disease. This is why the “anti-abortion” crowd torpedoed McCain picking Lieberman for VP in 2008.
- GraduatedCollegeStudent - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 1:52 pm:
===Many did leave. There are many books on the subject.===
And many others, especially those of more conservative leanings, backed him to the hilt, particularly in the 30s (the thought was that he’d restore the church to its “rightful place” in Germany.)
As you said, there are books on the subject.
- Nick Name - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 2:05 pm:
===This is a common theme now in the so called “pro-life” movement.===
One reason why the “pro-life” movement is hated by everyone outside its hermetically sealed bubble.
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 2:14 pm:
Perhaps another reason local newspapers are floundering?
#Where’stheEditor?
- Dirty Red - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 2:16 pm:
You can also bet the editor responsible, or one of the staff, had to contact this person to verify their identity.
- Annon3 - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 2:42 pm:
Yet another reason not to bother with newspapers.
- btowntruthfromforgottonia - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 3:23 pm:
“In today’s environment the PJS would probably make Matt Hale a featured local columnist.”
That would mean adding salary and they are not about to do that.
Comes off to me like the PJ-S wanted some attention and decided to print that.
Instead of actual journalism or more quality content that might make people want to buy their overpriced and undersized paper.
- Peter Torque - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 4:03 pm:
I edited letters to the editor at a similar sized paper for many years. We had one iron-clad rule: Invocation of Hitler or appropriation of the Holocaust on behalf of any other cause was automatic grounds for rejection. It’s not a complicated rule to enforce.
- filmmaker prof - Friday, Mar 15, 19 @ 9:28 pm:
The Champaign News Gazette would print it without even giving it a thought. And then if they were challenged about it, they would defend it.
- Arock - Monday, Mar 18, 19 @ 9:51 am:
“No, because start your own media publication and scream all you want. Newspapers have standards to not publish inflammatory letters like the one above.” - not so long ago many rights were denied too people, so should letter writers have been censored because they might have inflammatory content to some readers? I find it inflammatory that people think women have more rights over their bodies than the unborn human life inside it that was conceived in the overwhelming majority of the time through consensual sex. That they disregard the scientific fact that human life begins at conception. You can’t pick an arbitrary point that you think life begins when science proves it begins at conception.