In response to the sanctimonious criticism of Julie McDonald-Smith by James A. Pierce of Portland in your July 16 edition, Pierce should also consider taking his boss’ advice to another level and make sure his “load of ammunition” in “the war of wits” isn’t fired in the dark.

I would love to see the topics mentioned discussed, in total, in today’s classrooms. Specifically pointing out that “McCarthyism” has been proven to be a misnomer, much the same as “swift boating” being misstated, in so far as the Venona Project, declassified in 1995, and supplanted by defecting KGB Archivist Vasily Mitrokhin, that not only vindicated Sen. McCarthy but pointed out that his list of 205 communist agents in the employ of the State Department and the Roosevelt White House was grossly understated. Moreover, I would be grateful to learn more about the political leanings of prior Supreme Court justices such as Henry Brown (Republican) and sole dissenter of the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision mentioned by Pierce. How about reviewing Congressional voting positions in major legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, wherein more Republicans voted for its passage than Democrats. How about explaining why segregation was a major tenet of the Democrat South and wasn’t overturned until Republicans were elected in the “solid South”?

I am not saying Republicans are the cat’s meow in our political history, however, the Democratic Party has been dragging around some heavy baggage over the decades that have been severely overlooked in our classrooms, and I believe that accurate American history should be stressed.

Pete Ellis
Portland

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