Opinion: Anonymity would defeat the purpose of my letter

Dear Editor, 

Thank you for publishing the Readers’ Column and Letters to the Editor. Anyone may express his or her views about just about anything. I know, because I have used each of the above at different times. 

You may or may not agree with my views, but you still publish them. Mostly in the National Political views but also in the local items, we callers sometimes abuse the privilege of making these calls. We criticize people who have attained prominence in society. 

In many cases the criticism is justified. I believe that when a caller criticizes another person, then that other person should be able to respond. That is why I think that when such a call is published, the caller’s name should be given as well. 

It seems to me that wherever anyone draws a line (in this case the Editor deciding which calls should include the caller’s name), there will always be borderline cases. 

Rather than trying to decide, you, the Editor, would have to publish the names of all callers. I know that by using the Readers’ Column I could have remained anonymous, but that would be defeating the purpose of my letter.

Sincerely,

Karl Tiemann 

Owego, N.Y.