Rene Sanchez responds

On Thursday I wrote about the Star Tribune column libeling Pete Hegseth and the Vets for Freedom in “Nick Coleman defames a hometown hero.” I included the message I had written to Star Tribune managing editor Rene Sanchez:

I’d be grateful for your response to my question whether Coleman should have asked Pete Hegseth…for comment before running the column.
I believe that Coleman’s allegation that VFF is a Republican front group is a demonstrably false allegation. Coleman might have learned as much had he attended any of the group’s two or three local events on Tuesday or had he spoken with any of the decorated war heroes who were in town as part of the tour. Of course, that might have taken a little longer than the 15 seconds of online research he appears to have conducted for the column.
One more question: Isn’t the Star Tribune embarrassed to publish a column like this by one of its featured metro columnists regarding a hometown hero?
I’m sincerely grateful for your courtesies.

Mr. Sanchez responded yesterday afternoon:

Sorry for the delayed response. I’m battling a terrible cold, as you unfortunately had to hear on the phone yesterday when you called.
Nick’s column fell within the license we allow for commentary. Ideally, it would have been good to hear from Pete Hegsbeth, too. But Nick plainly called him and others in the group American heroes with an unquestionable right to express their views. He just pointed out that the group also has waded into the politics of the war, which seemed to worry that particular school principal.
By the way, I had a good conversation about this yesterday with Pete Hegseth.

I trust that readers can draw the appropriate conclusions from Mr. Sanchez’s response on their own.

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