My Letter to the editor in response to the Abbeville Meridionals' Editorial. Let's see if it gets printed.

Dear Editor,

This letter is in response to the editorial run in Abbeville Meridional on January 21, 2009 concerning President George Bush. Realizing this was an editorial, a matter of opinion, I shall not attempt to dispute the facts of your editorial however printing such a piece that so boldly attacks the former President of the United States on his first day out of office is simply disrespectful, distasteful, and imprudent. How convenient to have a complete change of heart once the President has left office – but never say a word edgewise in the past eight years.

I find it equally appalling that the Meridional chose to run such a piece on the Front Page, something that would have never happened with any other editorial run by this paper. I am greatly disappointed that the Meridional chose this opportunity to allow a writer to express rash judgment and political bias in a periodical whose position should be unbiased and who should be more concerned about reporting the news rather than subjecting its readers to their opinion about it. Furthermore, opinions should be that of individual editors or publishers. To say this piece speaks for an entire newspaper speaks volumes of the Meridional’s professionalism.

The Meridional has categorized Mr. Bush as the worst president in History – a man as filled with “ineptness and incredible incompetence.” I would rather let history be the judge of President Bush and I assuredly hope your readers don’t judge the Meridional with the same measure as your editor has judged President Bush for I assure you, just as President Bush will never win an award for intelligence, the Meridional shall never win an award for grammar.

Joshua R. LeBlanc

Abbeville, LA