Letters to the Editor
Eric Samuelsen
Published Letters: 30 Editor's Choice: 5
-
Top Five books? Really?
[Read the article: The top five books on the Kennedy assassination]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Only in a conspiracy fantasy world are these the five top books on the Kennedy assassination. Why leave off the excellent books by Gerald Posner or Jim Moore? Why not be honest enough to say 'look, I've got an agenda here, I think there was a massive conspiracy to kill Kennedy and I think there was, at least, a second gunman, so these are the books that make that case most convincingly?' Why not have the intellectual and journalistic honesty to say 'here are five good conspiracy theory books, but there are also excellent books arguing for Oswald as sole assassin--they include these, by Posner and by Moore etc. Read them and make up your own mind.
I've probably read thirty books on this subject, and find nearly all of them fail, as Talbot puts it, 'the logic test.' Any conspiracy to kill the President of the United States must have been immense, and huge conspiracies unravel. What seems clear is that there WAS a conspiracy after the fact. I think Bobby Kennedy was desperate to prevent the American people from learning just how ill his brother was, and so threw up some smoke screens regarding the autopsy. I think LBJ was just as concerned that the genuine Oswald/Cuba connections be covered up--in that atmosphere, there could well have been public pressure to punish Cuba, quite possibly leading to a US/Soviet confrontation scenario. Those conspiracies DID come unraveled--we now know that John Kennedy suffered from Addison's disease (then called Bright's disease). The truth did eventually come out. We also know that Oswald's trip to Mexico had some significance--he was likely trying to get Cuban sanction for the assassination. So, yes, there were a couple of major conspiracies regarding the Kennedy assassination, and yes, we know more today than folks did forty years ago. And surely the Warren Report had some flaws. As for these five books Talbot recommends so strongly? Read 'em--found 'em unconvincing. Sorry.
-
Your family too, huh?
[Read the article: The real war on Christmas]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Amazing. Will Wheaton's talking about my Dad here too, formerly a pro-union, sheet metal worker, Humphrey Democrat. But Bill O'Reilly and the rest of the Fox News team are about to ruin my Christmas too. Every night, my Dad is on and on about the transportation strike in New York. He's practically frothing at the mouth--'The Mayor or the Governor should fire them, like Reagan did!' Reagan?!?!? I want to scream. The same Ronald Reagan who you thought ought to be impeached over Iran/Contra? Since when have you EVER been on the side of management?
In the interest of peace and harmony, I watched Fox News with him, for One Solid Hour. I'd never actually watched an entire broadcast before. Unfreakingbelievable. So when I gently (I promise, gently) pointed out that real journalists don't actually feel it necessary to remind you every five minutes that they're being fair and balanced, he looked at me pityingly and said 'you've really bought into the liberal media line, haven't you.'
My twenty four year old son actually talked him into watching five minutes of the Colbert Report. He squirmed and snorted and growled, and then told us that if that was supposed to be funny, he didn't get it. But he got it.
I don't know where all this came from, but I think it has a lot to do with Clinton. I think the idea of discussing blowjobs on national TV unhinged him. But I really don't know how to handle this. Christmas is in two days, and they're not leaving for three days after that. And I honestly am afraid that my father and my son are going to come to blows.
-
Couldn't agree more. Except. . . .
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Life-long Giants fan here, and part of me couldn't agree more. Put the soap opera behind us, and get on with the business of building a ballclub. Build a ballclub around Cain and Lowery and Accardo, see what you can get in prospects for Schmidt and Benitez and Moises and Durham. Absolutely. Oh, and I wouldn't mind losing Brian Sabean; that'd be good too.
Except. . .
They're my team, and they're trying to win with Mark Sweeney at first, and Happy Peter at third. They're trying to win with standouts from the 1995 All-star game scattered throughout their lineup. They're trying to win with no team speed at all, with no idea who's going to be healthy any given night. And Eliezar Alfonso and Lance Niekro count as 'prospects,' sort of. In its own way, it's sort of fascinating.
And sure, Barry's past it, and yeah he cheated and lied and is in most respects a terrible human being. And yeah, the cream and the clear gave him a competitive edge, though probably he was hitting against pitchers who were also juiced. But man, it was fun while it lasted, watching a guy so dangerous it made sense to intentionally walk him with runners on first and second, no out, late innings of a tie game, as the Braves did once. We'll never see anything like it again.
Eric Samuelsen
-
Ollie Brown!
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ah, yes, Downtown Ollie Brown. And enshrining him's not so preposterous. After all, Bill Mazeroski got in despite mediocre offense because he was the greatest defensive second baseman of all time. So should the Hall honor someone who was the best at something? The best ever? So Ollie Brown should be in, because he had the best outfield throwing arm ever.
Not really, of course. But why not Bob Boone, best defensive catcher? Why not Ron Hunt, best lousy infielder at getting hit by pitches? Why not Downtown Ollie Brown?