David Thompson has had some bad columns before, but his Feb. 25 "Conservatives, liberals both have their fair share of shortcomings" is a poorly reasoned piece.

Firstly, I would hate to see this political science major's reasoning of something complex, such as "The Republic" or "The Birth of Tragedy," because he sure doesn't have something as simple as Machiavelli down. He treats fortune like a commodity, where Machiavelli treats it as a force. He writes as if fortune is something that can be carefully used, like influence or prestige, but Machiavelli clearly states fortune is something to be mastered. He should clearly reread this text before he proceeds to abuse it.

Michael Griffith
international relations senior