It's over before it starts

I was asked by more than one person why the Gazette allows personal attacks of one columnist by another to be printed. My answer was the same to all of them: I don't have any idea about the decision-making process of what gets printed and what doesn't. I'm sure the editor expects its contributors to be fair, even-handed and as objective as possible but we've never been given specific guidelines as to what we can write about and what we can't.

This discussion arose after Dick Trail's column came out last Tuesday accusing me of calling him a racist because he supported Donald Trump. Now he knows I didn't do that and those that read MY column know it as well. I DID say that certain kinds of voters, and racists were included in that generalization, were much more likely to be Trump supporters than Clinton supporters and I continue to stand by that statement. But I have never attempted to impeach the beliefs or opinions of a particular person in my columns and that includes other columnists. Until today that is.

Tuesday's attack on me wasn't a first for Mr. Trail. He's done it before whenever our politics cross swords which occurs from time to time. I remember when he and his wife Ann took my Love and Relationships class at the college and he told me at some point in the semester that his objective in doing that was more personal than intellectual because he wanted to see first-hand what kind of 'communistic' ideas I was forcing my students to listen to. It has always amazed me that Republicans made a connection between communists and the Democratic Party for decades although this election year the communists seem to have found a new bedfellow.

I think Mr. Trail was shocked and surprised to discover that not only did students like my teaching style, they liked me personally because I presented them with fact-based research rather than the personal opinions Mr. Trail had assumed.

This pre-judgment of me as well as his personal opinions of others, made from his comfortable perch in McCook, Nebraska, have to be understood for what they are. Donald Trump is famous for making specific claims based on things he has 'heard' and it seems that Mr. Trail relies on the same philosophy. He seems to be of the old school that says you can't trust anybody who doesn't see the world through the same lenses you're using and I've never believed that or practiced that. I evaluate people individually rather than their group membership and this allows me to make friends with people of all kinds of personal and political persuasions.

The title of this column indicates that something is going to end before it starts and what's going to end I hope is a battle in print between two people with diverse opinions and backgrounds. That's why the editor hired both of us to write for this newspaper to begin with. The editor knows you can only give a subject a fair evaluation if you hear from both sides and that's what he's trying to do by having Mr. Trail and me as columnists. But I don't think there's a place or a need for personal attacks and except for this one column which is more of a defense of self than a personal attack on him, I won't do it in the future because I believe it shows a person's ignorance and lack of intellect.

To paraphrase a quote by Winston Churchill, I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed man.