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By Scott Tibbs, March 7, 2018
Note: I sent this to Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank last week.
Mr. Milbank,
It does not accomplish anything or convince anyone to shout partisan smears at many millions of people who disagree with you on policy. As an opinion writer for the Washington Post, you should know better to write some of the things you did in your column a week ago.
I have been an anti-abortion activist for twenty years, dating back to my college days. In that time, I have interacted with a lot of anti-abortion people. Not one single person in the pro-life movement does not denounce "the termination of innocent life outside the womb." Your statement to the contrary is simply a lie. Not one single person in the pro-life movement "accepts the routine mass murder of innocents." Your statement is simply a lie.
This is what conservatives mean when we point to the mainstream media and say "fake news." Your attacks on millions of people were not designed to accurately reflect our views or inform your readers. They were designed to get cheers from hard-line partisans reading your column and to make you feel morally superior. Your piece was not an opinion column designed to persuade, it was propaganda designed to inflame. Frankly, I think you should apologize for your smears.
Finally, I would encourage you to read this article and this article by your colleague at the Post. Schools are, generally, a very safe place. The reason mass shootings are huge news is because they are incredibly rare. They are horrific, to be sure, but they are rare. It is always a bad idea to base wide-ranging public policy on rare extremes, because that does not consider the wider issues involved and is almost certain to be based on inflamed emotions instead of a critical policy analysis.
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