THE CHIEF-LEADER welcomes letters from its readers for publication.
Correspondents must include their names, addresses and
phone numbers. Letters should be submitted with the understanding
that all correspondence is subject to the editorial judgment of this
newspaper. Letters can be e-mailed to: RSTEIER@RCN.COM or
mailed to: Richard Steier, Editor, 277 Broadway, Suite 1506, NY, NY
10007.

An Orwellian Sore-Loser

To the Editor:

Mike Gimbel sure is a sore-loser. The Supreme Court decision that restored the New Haven firefighters' promotional list made him angry. In his letter published in The Chief of July 17, he uses the word racist or racism four times and bigot or bigotry four times. Gimbel says that The Chief, by endorsing the decision, "has joined the racist right-wing attack on affirmative action."

He refers to the Supreme Court Justices who made the decision of which he disapproves (Kennedy, Roberts, Thomas, Alito and Scalia) as "political hacks selected by the bigoted right wing. . . Presumably Mr. Gimbel sees Justices Ginsburg, Souter, Breyer and Stevens, who share his opinion on this case, as impartial, fairminded jurists selected by the enlightened.

There are some gems in the letter such as, "There are many ways to fill jobs on the basis of merit, but the way to judge the fairness is not by the test but by the results."

Really?

My favorite part of the letter is when he says that The Chief has harmed worker solidarity by supporting the Supreme Court decision. Gimbel says "solidarity is the ultimate form of merit."

Can someone tell me what "solidarity is the ultimate form of merit" means? It sound to me like "Newspeak" from George Orwell's "1984."

STANLEY COHEN