Greta: Speaking out since 3rd grade - and not always right

'Off the Record,' 11/19/14: I love speaking out on things that bother me. A blistering 1962 letter to the Appleton Post Crescent suggests I've been doing this a long time

By Greta Van Susteren

Let's all go "Off the Record" for a minute. What I love about my job is that I get to put a spotlight on issues that I sometimes find objectionable. For example, that very obnoxious behavior by Jonathan Gruber arrogantly calling the American people "stupid." Now, that annoyed me, so I have been speaking out about it.

Then I got to thinking. Is this new, speaking out publicly when I don't like something? Well, apparently, not exactly, because I found this article today. It looks like I have been speaking out for a long time, as far as back as the 3rd grade.

Here is my blistering letter to the editor of the Appleton Post Crescent on August 15, 1962, on my Raggedy Ann Doll stationery, objecting to a back-to-school story headline, "Here Is Happy News for Parents: School Resumes in About 23 Days." Happy news? I wrote the editor saying I didn't like school, so I didn't like his headline and added, how would you like it if I had done that to him when he was in school?

So some things don't change. I'm still speaking out and of course, I'm not always right. And that's my "Off the Record" comment tonight.