We can have a difference of opinion. We can even spin the facts one way or another to fit our point of view. Sometimes we might even get our facts wrong. I know I have. But to willfully write down words you know to be untrue and then commit them to print is the mark of a liar. That’s what the Washington Missourian has done by publishing Brad Hildebrand’s most recent letter about me. In it Hildebrand says I complimented his radio station and was a regular listener. But he and Bill Miller both know that’s not true.

This is the letter I wrote that Hildebrand was responding to:

On June 4 The Washington Missourian published a letter to the editor by Brad Hildebrand, the general manager of a local radio station, in which he defended Sen. Brian Nieves’ regular practice of bullying by writing …

“I was bullied as a kid. It made me tougher and a better person …”

Apparently Hildebrand’s childhood experience didn’t make him tough enough. In a new letter published on June 28 he laments that he’s “being hit with the shrapnel and becoming collateral damage due to inaccurate statements and false characterizations of my stations and me personally.”

What did he expect?

Hildebrand traffics in vitriol. His type of radio programming thrives on confrontation and personal attacks. This is how he makes his living. He’s not some innocent bystander. But when the personal attacks are aimed at him he falls to pieces.

If Hildebrand is going to profit from giving mean-spirited carnival barkers like Nieves a microphone to spew his own brand of “inaccurate statements and false characterizations,” then he should expect to get caught in the crossfire once in awhile.

If he can’t handle that he should pick a different radio format. Until he does he should stop his bellyaching and spare us the sob stories.

Hildebrand’s response is not simply an “inaccurate statement” or “false characterization.” He is openly, knowingly lying, and the Missourian has gone along with it. Sure, it is a schoolyard taunt on the same maturity level as “I know you are but what am I?” That’s what people like Hildebrand do when they are backed into a corner and can’t defend themselves through logic or reason. I get that. I expect that from people like him. Lying is his fallback position. It’s his stock and trade. It’s why he is so comfortable featuring other dishonest people like Brian Nieves on his radio station. But I thought perhaps Miller was different. I thought he had a bit more integrity. I thought he had been around long enough to know the difference between fact, opinion and bald face lying. I guess I was wrong. In the end, I have to remind myself they are all part of the same tribe. Conservative. Authoritarian. Liars.