Letters to the Editor
surfacenuts
Published Letters: 11 Editor's Choice: 3
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I'm sorry that you're not kidding
[Read the article: You don't know Jack?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The only remption Jack Radio has is the pleasing incongruity (created no doubt by a random shuffling computer program that) of song transitions. Beyond that there seems little reason to be excited about Jack Radio and certainly not enough to be writing about it. One respondent said that they found Jack's delivery more interesting than the witless DJ's that polute the airwaves with their banter. Agreed. But what was needed was (is) better DJ's, personalities that challenge listeners. Ultimately, the problem is that everything about rock that is not the music itself is dull and most of the music is dull too. Anyone listening to rock radio gets what they deserve, whether it's a robot with an attitude or a human being with no imagination.
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Give Me Their Names
[Read the article: Patriot Act games]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Where can I get a list of the Democratic senators who are poised to okay the Patriot Act renewel? I have to think Hillary Clinton and Evan Bayh are among the neo-chickenhawks.
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Get Over It
[Read the article: Overcooked]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Havrilesky misses the point. The man is funny and perhaps more importantly incredibly charismatic. I barely knew who Cook was when Tourgasm began airing and while I thought it was not a great show, it was appealing enough to keep me interested. I did hear some of Retaliation and thought that too was hilarious. He possesses a unusual stlye of annunciation that I found mesmerizing in itself even when I was laughing. Is he the best comedian in years? Ha! What a gloriously stupid question! Why even debate such silliness? Performance is utterly subjective. How funny he is, whom he caters to, why HBO is bankrolling him are really beside the point if you don't like him, or if you do. Granted, the lines Havrilesky quotes at the beginning of her piece are embarrassingly bad. It may signal a decline in Cook's material, maybe a slump. I'll watch Vicious Circle and hopefully I'll like it. But to label him a frat boy as a means of getting us to join Havrilesky in despising him is manipulative and pathetic. I expect smarter criticism from Salon.
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You're joking
[Read the article: Teammates: Allen used "N-word" in college]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is a non-story.
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The president's a big boy
[Read the article: Tortured justice]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The chilling provision in the bill not covered in the article is the retroactive immunity for Bush et al from war crimes related to torture and interrogation. This provision should be erased. The president is a big boy who should know the consequences of his actions. Let him lead by example and show his conviction in the usefulness of torturing people for info.
By seeking immunity, the president is hedging his bets: it shows a lack of conviction in his actions. A leader of sound conviction would proceed with torture at the risk of prosecution, believing that Americans would eventually see in hindsight that his methods had been worthwhile--that the gaining of info had saved the country. In seeking immunity he is in effect showing he needs an escape hatch in the event his interrogations not yield anything or enough.
Worse, we should conclude that immunity for torturers and their highers-up will only incentivize an increase in the frequency and severity of torture. Woe to the incarcerated.
Finally, as a matter of character, we are reminded that Bush has casted his presidency in a religious light. "I answer to a higher father," he once said referring to God. If in fact he answers to God, then why is he seeking immunity on earth? God will protect him, as God always provides for those whose ways are righteous. Indeed, if torture is righteous, God will grant eternal immunity for our president. And we will all be saved. But something makes me think torure is not righeous. Moreover, something makes me think that seeking immunity is not the business of the righteous, but rather the business of the selfish. Forgive me then for inferring that immunity is not something God would arrange but rather God's selfish counterpart.
On theother hand, perhaps torture is a pursuit of the blessed (or at least those who thought they were). The Spanish Inquisition comes to mind. Those guys were hardcore Christians too, weren't they?
I say if Bush is a man of courage he will stand up in the sheer light of his convictions rather than crawl into the deep, dark crawl space of a provision tucked in the nether-side of a bill.