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Published July 05, 2010 in Contests by Zach Varnell

Attacks on freedom and liberty are all too common in the mainstream media. Even so, libertarians need to stand strong for freedom and Liberty.

As Michael Morrison pointed out on our Facebook page, a recent attack on liberty came from an editorial cartoonist working for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The cartoon, published on June 20th 2010, depicted a libertarian lifeguard letting all of the swimmers in the pool drown. It seems the cartoonist is saying that libertarians are cold-hearted people that don’t care about others and that our loving big government is the only thing that separates us from chaos and doom. See the cartoon in question here.

Why not refute the claims made by the cartoonist and let others know what liberty-lovers really stand for by writing a letter to the editor?

If you send in your letter to the editor by July 26th and it gets published in the newspaper or on their website you will get a free copy of Liberty A to Z by Harry Browne.

Increase the odds that your letter will get published and potentially reach thousands of people with these tips:

• Reference the cartoon in question.

• Don't try to argue with the editor or cartoonist. Instead, focus your efforts on swaying the opinion of readers to the libertarian perspective.

• Stay on target. You don’t have to address the issue from every perspective.

• Remember that it is okay to be critical, but not hateful. Remarks that are degrading or derogatory will turn off readers and give libertarians a bad name.

• Always, always, always use a spell checker -- and a grammar checker, if possible. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to run your letter by a friend before sending it in.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press’ rules for submitting letters to the editor are to keep them under 200 words and to sign them with your name, address, and telephone number. Send them either by snail mail, fax, or email to:

Editorial page editor, P.O. Box 1447, Chattanooga, TN 37401

Fax: 423-757-6383

email: letters@timesfreepress.com

Also, send a copy of your letter along with your name, address, and phone number to zach@theadvocates.org so that we can send you a free copy of Liberty A to Z if your letter gets published.