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Letters to the Editor: Hit Gorman on the Issues

Letters to the Editor: Hit Gorman on the Issues

To the Editor:

I see that in the June 6 letters to the editor column, a Paul Gallagher has seen fit to chastise me for criticizing his friend Michael Gorman, who he claims is your "star letter-writer."

I didn't know The Chief gave such awards. However, getting back to Mr. Gallagher, in his letter he saw fit to characterize me as one of the worst offenders in "attacking" Mr. Gorman. He showed his intelligence or lack thereof by not citing the specifics of anything I have disagreed with Mr. Gorman on, but he threw in some infantile remarks about how he sees me living out my retirement. He goes on to say that I demonstrated how much I dislike Mr. Gorman because I praised the fact that the previous week's paper did not have a letter from Mr. Gorman in it.

Let me first say, I do not dislike Mr. Gorman. I have never met the man, so how could I dislike him? What I have done, however, is to disagree and on occasion strongly disagree with Mr. Gorman.

If Mr. Gallagher would check back, he would see that in countering Mr. Gorman's position, I have always tried to do so with fact, not opinion. Mr. Gallagher claims the arguments against Mr. Gorman have been "ad hominem" (don't you just love how these attorneys love to use these Latin legal terms?).

Well, to the contrary, if you look at my responses to Gorman's letters, for the most part they have been sent because what he proffers, contrary to Mr. Gallagher's statement, has been opinion, not fact. This, I might add, runs the gamut from social issues to the war, politics, police behavior - you name it. Mr. Gorman fancies himself a master of all issues.

I don't know this to be the case, but Mr. Gallagher claims that most of the anti-Gorman letters are from active and retired police officers. He can't understand it, because Gorman, in his opinion, has always defended police officers.

Well, I would ask Mr. Gallagher to look back to one of the first times I took issue with his pal. It was over comments concerning the police officers in the Bell shooting. Mr. Gorman was way off base in offering opinion, not fact, about the behavior of the police officers involved. As an attorney and a former police officer, he should have known better because what he was offering was his opinion based on nothing but what he had read in the tabloids, and that, sir, I find irresponsible.

Let me close by saying that when Mr. Gorman has offered a letter that is indeed factual and not solely his opinion, regardless of the issue, I have not responded. But where he keeps sending letters that have no basis in fact, I will continue to respond. If that troubles you, Mr. Gallagher, I will offer my own Latin phrase: caveat lector (let the reader beware).

WILLIAM I. McKECHNIE, Former President, NYC Transit PBA