Why were so many of the letters tinged with gratuitous bitterness toward President Bush or otherwise infused with cynicism or conspiracy theories?
The volume of letters was surprisingly light for such a major disaster, but the tone was unrelentingly negative:
Even more startling was the cynical, even hateful, tone of many of the letters. The outtakes were considerably harsher and more jaded than the selection we printed.
One letter writer flat-out accused the government of a secret plot to "sabotage the mission to direct future finances away from NASA to further the military industrial complex." A recurring theme was resentment that Bush would somehow exploit the tragedy for political gain.
One letter speculated that Palestinians would be "dancing in the streets" upon hearing of the deaths of the U.S. and Israeli astronauts. Another wondered why television was showing "so much empathy" for the deaths of agents of two countries who were responsible for "uncounted Palestinian deaths, every day" in the occupied territories.
Ah, yes. The loonier elements of the left came out of the closet on this one. But so did some of the loonier elements of the right:
A Livermore man actually questioned whether the accident was the result of a shuttle crew that "looks like America." He suggested the women and minority astronauts were given "bonus points" in the selection process. Never mind the advanced degrees, the years of public service, the uncommon bravery that distinguished these seven astronauts. And never mind that there has been absolutely no suspicion of pilot error.
I don't envy the folks who have to wade through this garbage every day. It's made even more thankless at papers where they actually verify the veracity of letters by calling the writers. You end up talking to every variety of nutbag under the sun.
No thanks.
