Labels should be chosen carefully

To The Eagle:

Re: Chuck Wolfe's letter published April 8, 2010. It is obvious that Mr. Wolfe is unhappy with the current situation in Washington DC, as well as here in Washington state. This doesn't come as a surprise, there are many people upset with the recent legislation passed by our elected representatives. True, you may not have voted for them, but they are still your elected representatives, just as G. W. Bush was my president for a time.

What I do find surprising is that he would openly label himself as a "brownshirt." The Meriam-Webster dictionary defines brownshirt as " : nazi; especially : storm trooper," The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "a member of a Nazi militia founded by Hitler in 1921 and suppressed in 1934, with brown uniforms." And The Free Dictionary defines it as "1. A Nazi, especially a storm trooper., 2. A racist, especially a violent, right-wing one." I would hope that we have not sunk to a level that people feel free to openly proclaiming their Nazi membership and/or racist violent beliefs in such a public way without fear of censure. Rather, I hope this is simply a case of someone not fully understanding a term which they think has a nice "ring" to it. Similar to the Tea Party members thinking that calling themselves "Teabaggers" was a good idea. (When in doubt, "Google" before using).

Ron Ackermann

Port Orchard