I am shocked and appalled by Mr. Thomas's column of Sept. 21. I usually ignore his articles since they are seldom on a topic of interest to me and are, more often than not, poorly thought out. Last night was no exception, I hadn't even looked at his comments. That was until I was called by a friend and asked to look at his comments because they were partially directed at the State Board of Education race for which I am a candidate. I reluctantly agreed to go read it.
First of all Mr. Thomas chose to attack Michelle Trusty-Murphy who lost in the primary for State Board nearly two weeks prior. This seems like "beating a dead horse"--but not out of character for Mr. Thomas.
But of much more concern is the placing of a quote by Adolph Hitler at the top of his article. I have only known Michelle for just over two months and only in the context of running against her for the same position. In that short time, I certainly was aware that she is Jewish as I observed her being sure to find Kosher food at functions we attended together, and she was wearing a Star of David necklace that I saw many times. If I know this from just two months, then, most certainly, Mr. Thomas, who apparently knows her well enough to level a personal attack, also knows that she is Jewish. I can't think of a more mean-spirited way to attack Ms. Trusty-Murphy than to quote Hitler first and attack her second.
I wish to apologize to Ms. Trusty-Murphy. As a fairly conservative, Christian, Republican woman, I am sickened by this tasteless article and I can only assume that many more readers are just as appalled.
It is time for the Appeal to terminate its relationship with Mr. Thomas. He has gone too far, in my opinion. I would urge readers to read the article and if you are as angry and saddened as I am, please call the editor and/or write the editor and ask that Mr. Thomas not be allowed to use the newspaper to promote his mean-spirited, biased attacks. There is no excuse for this article - ignorance is not an excuse. It is a reason, however, to not publish any more article from Mr. Thomas.
BARBARA MYERS
Candidate for State Board of Education
Carson City
