Letters to the Editor
marktgarten
Published Letters: 192 Editor's Choice: 24
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Virginity
[Read the article: "WTF" of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As a guy, I have been on both sides of the virginity-losing experience. As much of a relief as it was to lose mine (I was very happy to get it over with before I turned 19, and yes, I know that is immature), it was pretty stressful both times. Certainly when I was on the other end, I was too completely freaked out about her being in pain to enjoy any of it. So why virginity-losing or -taking is so great is lost on me.
Of course, maybe that's the point of stuff like 'liquid virgin tightening lubricant': the theoretical thrill of the conquest or excitement of your first time without the actual pain and general unpleasantness of the event. We tend to assume its all for the guy, but I can imagine lots of women might like to reexperience it, but replacing the awkward 17 year old kid of the actual event with her present day hot, sexually knowledgable boyfriend/husband. A sort of live-action simulacra, perhaps? Not saying it isn't still kind of creepy, but . . . I dunno. Just a thought.
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Whatevs
[Read the article: McCain advisor woos Clinton supporters]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My mom was a Clinton supporter. In fact, my mom was practically the Clinton supporter archetype: white, over 50, lowerish income, religious (protestant though, not Catholic). Yet my mom is absolutely not voting for McCain. She's even actually going to go to the polls to vote Obama even though she lives in Idaho where her Dem vote is pretty meaningless. She's even pro-life for crying outside! Still, she's voting for Obama. I know my mom's story is anecdotal, but I just can't believe that there are millions of Clinton supporters who are now going to go for McCain.
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RE: DNC and Pepsi Center
[Read the article: Judge OKs protest zones for Dem convention]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Contrary to what some posters have been speculating, the suit was not against the DNC or the owners of the Pepsi Center. The ACLU sued the U.S. Secret Service and the City of Denver, not the DNC. While the DNC and the Pepsi Center owners are undoubtedly happy with the ruling, it does not appear that they were parties to the suit (I have not seen the pleadings, but I did read the article AK cited to).
As for the ruling itself, it is not surprising. Such restrictions are typical and, whether you like it or not, are not deemed to be in violation of the U.S. Constitution. It may not be the kind of freedom we want, but, let's get real for a minute, it is not fascism. It is the result of an attempt to balance out different people's freedoms and security/safety concerns. Personally, I believe that putting the protesters behind the media tent is unnecessary and overly restrictive. Still, I don't think it's fascist.
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Seems Reasonable
[Read the article: Hamdan sentenced to 5 1/2 years]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For all the hysterics and strum and drang and teeth-gnashing on all sides of this mess, 5 1/2 years for ObL's driver and bodyguard seems kind of reasonable. Maybe next time, our government can get this result without all the torture and human rights violations. That would be an improvement.
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War Room: Where Obama and Clinton Supporters Fight On
[Read the article: Crying Wolfson]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Democratic nomination fight is over. Obama won and Clinton lost. Yet here in War Room, it never ends, especially when Schaller is at the helm. This time Schaller's back with a classic dog bites man story: former upper eschelon Clinton campaign worker blames something other than his/her own work for the campaign's failure. Awesome! Now Obama's supporters and Clinton's supporters can come back out for another round. "Obama sucks!" "No way! It's Clinton who sucks!" It's still as fresh as it was way-back-when, really. Who an forget Schaller's classic anti-Bill Clinton post "Bill Clinton Denies Being Racist" and the resulting fight between Obama and Clinton supporters? I'm still seething! Who can forget where they were when some PUMA group you never heard of said something horribly terrible about . . . something or other . . . maybe about how sucky they think Obama is . . . or maybe how they still like Clinton. Scandalous!
Salon, please, enough is enough. I'm happy Obama won. Apparently some Clinton people still like Clinton better and/or are still bitter. I guess some people like Schaller are still bitter that some Clinton people are still bitter. Whatever. Can War Room please move on now?
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@GW in Ohio
[Read the article: Where have you gone, Allen Iverson?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Whatevs.
Signed,
Dumb, deluded NBA fan
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@ Kirk
[Read the article: Lolo Jones' Olympian failure]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Nobody is saying that Lolo Jones deserves an Olympic medal. She lost, fair and square. That said, some of us don't feel the need to shit all over her because she tripped on a hurdle. I'm disappointed in her defeat and still proud that she represented my country. Is that so hard for you to understand?
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@timbuktom
[Read the article: Hacker: Gymnast He is 14, not 16]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]He is good, but not as much as if her name was "Poon". "Pun" would also work, but only for people in the know. I'm guessing there would be a lot of comments about underage Pun.
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@dataguyx
[Read the article: Clinton still carrying heavy debt]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Are you sure? What kind of entity is a political campaign? If it is a corporation or limited liability company, then I don't see how its insolvency would forever cripple Clinton's ability to run for president. In other words, just because "HRC '08 for President, LLC" goes bankrupt, doesn't mean that the assets of the llc's members can be attached in bk. Most likely, the campaign will do its best to pay off first those who actually expect to get paid regardless of the campaign's success, then people like Penn, who probably expect that some campaigns will fail and go into bk. Those "losses" then could get used to offset profits made shilling for other campaigns, foreign countries and whatnot. I mean, I could be wrong, but that seems reasonable.
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Reggaeton and Republicans
[Read the article: McCain scores major endorsement]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Reggeaton and republicans seem like a good match, as both are painful to listen to for any length of time. One of the best things about leaving Miami to come back to L.A. was getting away from reggeaton. I'll take Mexican ranchero music anyday.