A reader wrote in to tell us that Warren Olney invited Amiri Baraka to speak on To The Point today about the whole Jesse Jackson/Barack Obama "balls brawl."

Olney never mentions that Baraka is a controversial figure regarded by many to be an anti-Semite -- an oversight that irks our reader. The reader, of course, blogged about it, and wrote Olney an e-mail, which prompted this response:

From: Warren Olney Cc: point@kcrw.org Sent: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 1:00 pm Subject: Re: July 11 Broadcast

Michael, thanks for the message.

We're aware of the controversy about Amiri Baraka who, of course, denies the charge of anti-Semitism. In any case, we weren't discussing anything relevant to that controversy in today's program.

Best regards,

Warren Olney
Host, Executive Producer
"To the Point"

Our question: What makes a poet -- controversial or not -- an expert on gonads? Food for thought. Anyway, Shabbat Shalom!