The latest cheap shot at U.S. Rep. Phil Roe in Robert Houk’s column Nov. 18 was interesting because the basis of it was that the congressman said favorable things about the military, and military service and how this experience is needed in our legislative branch. Since he said this at Veterans Day, the editor was able to dust off the new shot of “big pander bear.”

Well, pandering is not what Roe is about and it is interesting that the columnist, after making this claim, did not have one example of Roe pandering by saying something the opposite in a meeting of a nonmilitary audience. In fact, he has said many favorable things about the military in many venues to many different groups.

To me, pandering would be where someone says to a west coast audience something like the “coal companies can open new plants, but they are going to go bankrupt” with the new regulations, then go to coal country and say something like, um, “I am all for clean coal.” That is a pander bear.

JACK VAN ZANDT

Jonesborough