In Letters to the Editor in Surfside News on Sept. 24, a piece of infantile doggerel was published that appears to have been scraped off a toilet stall from a public restroom. The letter, entitled, “Poem Polemic,” is written by P. G’Bur, who does not appear to be a registered voter in Malibu. In my opinion, it may well have been written by someone other than the stated author. Using the English language to demean and savage our mayor and others with such statements as “she’ll snatch your first born” and “set fire to your hair” is beyond loathing. Whoever wrote this piece of adolescent prattle has the moral backbone of a chocolate eclair. How does mean-spirited deprecation of our neighbors help our struggle for slow growth, protection of the environment, and prevent PCH from becoming a 27-mile parking lot?
I ask the question: “Will Carolyn Van Horn, Tom Hasse and Walt Keller repudiate such gutter slander?” I call upon them to renounce this debasing defamation. I find this type of political barbarism beneath the contempt of all of us who have worked so hard in election after election to help Carolyn, Walt and Tom get elected. I will be ashamed if any of our elected leaders stand by and do not denounce this personal slander. If Carolyn, Tom and Walt are silent on this issue, as a diligent supporter of all three, I can only say that their silence will be deafening. I am only reminded of what Joseph Welsh said to Senator McCarthy during the Army hearings in 1954: “Have you no shame?”
Ken Kearsley