Hooray for William Safire, what good sports he and his auto-reply agent are.

From : William Safire
Sent : Tuesday, March 23, 2004 11:10 PM
To : William Li
Subject : Re: In response to "On Phony Toughness"


At 06:12 PM 3/15/2004 +0000, you wrote:
> Dear Mr. Safire -
>
>In twenty-years of reading your remarks about the use of language in public discourse, I
>have never felt the need to respond - until today. Rather than speculate as to why this
>particular column evokes complaints from me, I will just state them. There are two.
>
>Like you, I wince to see the inclusion of a mid-sentence interjection in a quotation. Has the
>standard of journalism sunk so low that reporters and editors are no longer are able to use
>the ellipsis? Including quirks of speech like "um" and "you know" in quoted statements
>serves only one purpose: to make the speaker appear less intelligent.
>
>My second complaint is that you are too flippant when you dismiss Kerry's assertion that his
>opposition is "the most crooked... lying group I've ever seen." Why not accept this
>statement at face value? Kerry has seen many groups during his career, surely he has some
>opinion about which one he sees as the most crooked and lying.
>
>A final comment, not a complaint, is to express some surprise that you would take such
>personal umbrage over Kerry's comment. If Kerry feels as he says about the current
>president's supporters then presumably he believes that Nixon's organization was somehow
>less crooked and lying. That should be of some comfort to you.
>
>Best Regards,
>
>William Li
>Sugar Land, Texas
>
>
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Dear Reader:

As you can imagine, I’ve been swamped with e-mails responding to my column in recent months. I read them all, most assuredly, including yours. But I cannot begin to answer them individually or I would have no time left to write a column that delights, illuminates, stimulates or infuriates.
Ergo this automated response. (Curious how “automated” has replaced “automatic.” And why do I use “ergo” when “therefore” will do? )
Don’t take offense, and don’t stop writing. I’ll keep reading what you send me.

Sincerely,

William Safire