Photo: "Bad for our country" columnist on assignment at Disneyworld, I mean, the European Union in Brussels, June 2008.

From the homey, heartland pages of the Newton Kansan (circulation 7,602) an apparently erstwhile subscriber to my syndicated weekly column:

Q. Can the Kansan please get rid of the column by Diana West. She is way too negative and her views are too extreme. She is bad for our country.

A. Kansan Managing Editor Christine Wyrick said, “The Kansan is planning to redesign the paper next year. This will include looking at adding some fresh faces to the opinion page.

Love the resounding defense of freedom of speech, diversity of opinion, challenging point of view, etc., etc., etc.

“In the meantime, however--

Brace yourself!

--we’re going to replace West’s column with one by Donna Brazile, who is an educator, political activist and author associated with the Democratic Party.

You might say.

“She was the first African-American to direct a major presidential campaign.

Got me there.

“We hope this helps bring more balance to our opinion pages.”

Now, Donna Brazile is a nice lady whom I run into from time to time in  the make-up room at CNN but I couldn't let this just sit there...so very tempting... So I wrote:

Dear Ms. Wyrick,
I see from your charming q & a posted online that you have decided to "balance" your page by replacing my column with...Donna Brazile's--a Democratic strategist! I'm trying not to laugh. That's not "balance," my dear, that's tilting Left. And just in time for the New Era.
Heaven help our free press.
Diana West

And I mean it.