Regarding the op-ed piece from Frank Luntz printed in the Sept. 30 Gazette-Times, "Behind anger is a call for change": It was one more attempt by a professional wordsmith to play on the anger and fear in the average American using populist language.

He acts the part of a disinterested observer, even while his livelihood is funded by the very "elites" he seems to lambaste - Luntz is a long-time political consultant for the GOP and Fox News Corp., whose specialty is to give you all those repetitive sound bites we hear used by most Republican politicians and conservative talk show hosts.

Just thumb through a copy of his "Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear" to learn about his techniques for controlled manipulation of information. He has been in the thick of the effort to stifle health-care reform by providing the GOP with strategic advice, including avoiding discussion of economics and focusing on "bureaucrats," "politicians" and "Washington."

Luntz's feigned concern about the common man's plight, today's lack of accountability and lack of respect for others ignores his own personal contribution to the degradation of political discourse and the promotion of hyper-partisanship we are saddled with today. I might begin to "trust" what Mr. Luntz has to say when he publishes his own mea culpa and takes responsibility for contributing to the toxic political culture he has been paid to help create.

Gary Angelo, Corvallis