I've been taking some criticism for the content in Sunday's Insight section. Critics have pointed out that two of our columns came from writers aligned with the Idaho Freedom Foundation — Wayne Hoffman and Briana LeClaire — while a third article came from Republican state schools superinterindent Tom Luna.

The LeClaire guest opinion regarding charter schools was a response to a Sunday guest opinion criticizing charter schools.
The Luna guest opinion was a response to a March 3 editorial (and my March 5 column) criticizing his plans for use of stimulus dollars.

I believe it was appropriate — and fair — to run both of these responses on Sunday.

Trust me, I get criticism from both sides. When a reader complains about one day's Opinion content — whether they consider it too conservative or too liberal — I often ask them to keep track of what they see over a week, two weeks or a month. What they will see is a section that presents a variety of views and opinions, from across the political spectrum.

It is easy to walk away from one day's page — any day's page — and get an incomplete picture.

As for Hoffman's weekly column, he made a proposal to the paper some months ago. We thought he would add something to our section, so we added him to the lineup. In the same vein, we had previously added a monthly column on sustainability and energy issues from John Gardner, a Boise State University associate vice president. Gardner made a proposal. We liked the idea, so we added his column.

I have a standing offer. If someone wants to propose a column that would offer us a unique perspective or insight, send me a proposal. I'll look at it.