Charen a weak columnist

It is my firm belief that editorial columnists should be chosen to represent a broad range of political persuasion. That said, such editorial contribution should represent a knowledgeable and responsible effort toward presenting data that supports the writer’s beliefs.

While I often rile at the writings of Charles Krauthammer, he is a brilliant columnist who represents a very right-wing dialogue through the use of data, often carefully but always cleverly chosen. Mona Charen, however, does neither, and her column of Feb. 18 demonstrates her scientific and editorial weakness vividly. By ascribing the Environmental Protection Act to be responsible for the consequences of California’s current drought, she gives this act a divine power that it certainly lacks. She vividly states the realities of an altered climate, but ascribes them to the Environmental Protection Agency, again overstating the circumscribed powers of this agency.

Climate science is a huge body of established fact, all of which she ignores. There are far, far better conservative writers available. Why not pick a good one? Mona Charen is not that writer.

Bruce Becker

Spokane