Letters to the Editor
barleymash
Published Letters: 29 Editor's Choice: 7
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Can you blame them?
[Read the article: Don't count Cheney out: Under pressure, senators waffle on spying probe]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Gee. Congress backs off an investigation of warrantless spying when they hear that the country's biggest public supporter of torture has now taken to shooting friends in the face. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. But it's got to make you think. BUSH/CHENEY 2004: SHOOT FIRST, REFUSE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS LATER.
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From a B Movie Buff
[Read the article: Pushing the envelope]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Although I rarely get around to seeing the "well-reviewed" movies until they hit the Netflix recommendations, I do appreciate a great performance — especially when it shows up someplace unexpected. Mickey Rourke's work in Sin City blew me away. And I also agree Naomi Watts stood head and shoulders above any reasonable expectations. I loved King Kong for the spectacle; the moving performance by Watts was pure gravy.
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Ouch
[Read the article: America's Next Top Racist]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]She's a nasty little piece of work, but she's a kid! I hate that she's going to be tarred with these childish, ignorant statements for the rest of her career (if she manages to have one) simply because a camera was on her at a time in her life when most of us were allowed to be idiots in relative anonymity. America's Top Model choosing to air this child's stupidity is, in my opinion, highly unethical. They should have pulled her aside, had a heart-to-heart, told her to reconsider either her ambitions or her prejudices, and then simply lost the tapes. By airing this, they're being as intolerant as she is. But they're adults and should know better.
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Not on national television
[Read the article: America's Next Top Racist]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sorry, but the girl's 18, old enough to take responsibility for the ignorant, racist trash emerging from her piehole…
She's not old enough to drink. Why can't she drink? Because at 18, she's immature. And yes, she should take responsibility for what she says — we all should — but not on national TV at 18. It's unkind and exploitative. She will grow out of this ignorant racist phase, but the stigma will stay with her forever because the producers of some crap reality show needed a villain. A few months ago, sex with her would have been illegal; today the producers can fuck up her whole life with impugnity. While you're bashing the red staters remember that we bash them because we believe ourselves to be the good guys. Good guys don't prey on ignorant children.
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To knutsworth
[Read the article: America's Next Top Racist]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]airing her ignorance is akin to child abuse
I never wrote that. Nor do I believe it. I said it wasn't nice. And it's not. Regardless of the valid points some people are making about 18 being "old enough" for whatever, I believe deep down we're all very happy there's no nationally televised record of our own youthful stupidity, and I think the producers could have done without cashing in on hers. Most people learn to correct their prejudices and insensitivities with help from family and friends, not from national condemnation. You see an 18 year old racist bitch. Well, so do I. She's hard to miss. But I also see vicious, ruthless producers taking advantage of a kid who doesn't yet know better. When they encountered her, they could have acted like humans and moved along. Instead they chose to act like sharks. And that's why I'll never succeed in the reality TV biz. Damn.
wouldn't welcome your condescending and paternalistic attitude towards her
Not at 18, certainly. But in 20 years, she might look back and wish somebody had turned off that camera. The funny thing is, I'm not that nice a guy. Ordinarily I'd be riding the condemnation train, too. But airing this crap struck me as extraordinarily and unnecessarily predatory.
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I don't watch, but wonder where the FCC is?
[Read the article: "24" hour news]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Did I just see a woman get her knee shot off BY THE GOOD GUY? Where the fuck is the FCC? You can get fined $500,000 for saying the word "fuck" but you can torture a woman by shooting her in the knee with impunity? What the hell is wrong with this country?
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It's about time!
[Read the article: Howard Dean: Is the president dishonest or just incompetent?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thank God somebody in the Democratic party has finally stumbled into the "have you stopped beating your wife?" tactic that backs the Republicans into a corner for a change. This construction fits so many Bush Administration issues.
"You were wrong about WMDs. That's a fact. So, Mr. President. Were you incompetent or dishonest?"
"Your tax cuts for the wealthy have turned a historic surplus into a unprecedented deficit in five short years. So, Mr. President. Were you incompetent or dishonest?"
"You were handed a PDB warning that Bin Laden was planning to attack in the U.S. but you went on vacation, later explaining that if you had known something was going to happen, you would have moved heaven and earth to stop it. So, Mr. President. Were you incompetent or dishonest?"
I love this game. I might make a T-Shirt out of it.
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It's tough to play to a crowd who won't give back
[Read the article: Making Colbert go away]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The hardest thing for a comic to do is plow through his routine in front of a hostile audience. The Washington crowd that night was giving nothing back, but Colbert refused to let that stop him. He wasn't bombing at all; it's just that the vast majority of his appreciative audience wouldn't see the monologue until hours or even days later. He was playing to America, but the 2500 or so in the room just had better seats.
Just think what an opportunity he had that night. Imagine having the chance to stand fifteen feet from George W. Bush and take your time laying out each painful truth of his corrupt, incompetent, murderous administration in front of a Washington press corps audience.
I get a kick out of the righties (and even the lefties) who winge and sob that Colbert was "over the line" and "should have shown more respect." Why? Does the president who joked about starting a war over missing WMDs deserve respect? Of course not. He deserves a heaping spoonful of stealing truth every time he dares show his face in public.