To the editor,

I imagine you will be interested to know, Mr. Pazdernik, that after this letter to the editor, I am finished communicating with you. It is not because of your viewpoints, your condescending attitude. I have revised my letters over and over to make certain they are respectful, and I recommend that you do the same.

You have called me “intellectually lazy” and charged me with letting feelings “supersede the facts.” You have assumed I am not well-read, and you reached a new low with references to getting whacked with a yardstick by Catholic nuns for not completing assignments (I completed all my assignments and received straight A’s.) Plus, that is quite an inappropriate comment to a 72-year-old Catholic grandmother who you don’t know and who doesn’t wish to know you (and please don’t tell me I am too old be to intellectually competent).

I thought you might like to read the economic paper I am presenting at the Midwest Economic Association in Chicago next week, but you didn’t request it. You should also know that there is a direct relation between level of education and the ability to think analytically and critically and be closely attuned to credible news sources, unlike those who would stereotype a group of undocumented immigrants on the basis of one or two nefarious individuals, or suck up the passionate display of horror by Republican Katie Britt in her response to President Biden’s State of the Union Address—you will recall she described a brutal gang rape by a Hispanic cartel (but didn’t mention it didn’t happen in the U.S. and it occurred during the presidency of George Bush.) She and other writers to this paper really don’t know that drug and human traffickers and cartels enter through legal points of entry, and what we need is better surveillance technology (not a wall).

Finally, please do not call me Jackie. We are not on personal terms. You may refer to me as Jacqueline or Dr. Murray Brux, honored emeritus professor of economics.

Dr. Jacqueline Murray Brux

Town of River Falls