Letters to the Editor
mikestand
Published Letters: 55 Editor's Choice: 4
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You say you love music...
[Read the article: Is it too late to start a band at 45?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...and that's a promising start, although "industrial music", beside being a bit of an oxymoron, is kind of a narrow slot to fit a passion into. Let's say it's a genuine passion though; how does it currently express itself? Do you actually play or sing? Because musicians do. They do because they have to, because not doing it is painful, and they not only find time and ways to do it, they often blow off more "practical" enterprises to make time for music. They can't remember a time when they didn't. In other words, if you are really meant to be a musician, at 45 you already are one and you know it.
Now, assuming you are a musician, I have only one piece of advice: do not underestimate how hard it is to get four or five 45+ adults with lives of their own together to practice on a regular basis. Unless they're all alienated would-be corporate dropouts like you, or they've never had a real job, then what you're most likely to hear is "I can't make it that day" from at least three out of four of them no matter what day you suggest for rehearsal. So plan on something else to do in the meantime.
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Apparently it's so important...
[Read the article: Perp Paris and other news]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...that even the War Room needs to spend time on it. Camoflaging your coverage in a layer of irony doesn't change the fact that you feel compelled to jump on the same bandwagon as US and STAR. Give the people what they want, eh? Evidently what Salon's people want is the Hilton gossip, along with an aknowledgement that it's not the gossip, it's the unimportance of the gossip they're interested in...
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"We are powerless. All we can do is pray...
[Read the article: Paris isn't free -- and neither are we]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...that one day, Paris Hilton will show mercy on us all, and go away."
Nope. Doesn't work like that. You have to ignore her first.
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pubius maximus nailed it...
[Read the article: Dear Readers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]..."Now you find yourself placed in the awkward position of defending your odd bit of Dowd-like character assassination as really just an intelligent, serious study (oh, please) of gender roles in politics."
This same little quirk links Bush, Hillary and now you: you're all just too God-awful proud, egocentric and/or arrogant to admit an error. You'll all twist yourselves in knots, stand on your heads and peel raisins, to justify something you know damn well you tossed off without sufficient thought. But Heaven forbid you admit doing something we all know everybody does every day - make a mistake. This makes me tired.
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If your coverage of the upcoming campaign...
[Read the article: You, too, can be a campaign reporter: Take the test!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...avoids the cliches and celebrity style reporting you amusingly parody here, then I understand your point. If not, then it's just so much arch cant.
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It is entirely unsurprising...
[Read the article: Ending the war vs. supporting the troops]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...that "reporters" would default to the tired cliches, for an extremely basic reason. They are not in the business of trying to make people think new thoughts - to do that risks people turning the page or flipping the channel. They are in the business of keeping eyeballs on them, and the surest way to do that is to reinforce something people already think, reduce the story to an easily understandable form, in the simplest terms.
"The one thing the media cannot resist is a cliche".
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Simple-minded explanation
[Read the article: Ending the war vs. supporting the troops]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"...words even mentally-challenged liberals should be able to comprehend..."
"We were peacefully minding our own business..."
"After very thoughtful deliberations..."
"...through the incredible bravery and skill of our fighting men and women are now achieving major successes in both Afghanistan and Iraq..."
"Yet insane left-wing partisans are now attempting to flush our hard won gains down the toilet..."
"We will be hit with hundreds of attacks which will make 9/11 look like a picnic..."
"That is why cutting and running is diametrically opposed to supporting our troops..."
Yep, we get it. Perhaps more than you know.
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So you've "snuck in" to the mens' a few times...
[Read the article: Caught dirty-handed]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...and you can tell all your sisters out there with absolute authority that men piss on the floor.
Well we don't, at least not in the toilets I've used over the course of 57 years. Not sure where you've been.
Just wanted to clear that up.
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The thing that I find interesting...
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...is the fact that the whole sorry incident was recorded and sold onto the internet so quickly. Figured to be more than coincidence.
Turns out it was more. Apparently it's pretty common for those surrounding OJ to surrepetitiously have recorders running, in case he loosens up enough to let something slip about the murders.
I find this image oddly compelling and appropriate. The "associates" OJ hangs with - who would be "friends" in most other contexts - are in fact sharks sniffing for a drop of blood in the water that can be turned into a big payday.
If the concept of "hell" has any meaning, it must be something like this - doomed to spend your life, relaxing and socializing with people single-mindedly focused on selling you out.
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It is absolutely unsurprising...
[Read the article: A bipartisan end to the war? Fat chance]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...that nobody on either side will do anything substantive to try to end the war. Everybody is getting what they need from the situation as it stands.
Bush has nothing to lose. His ONLY hope is to be proven right, or at least to let the next guy be proven wrong.
The Repubs want to be able to continue to pander to the Base That Supports the Troops.
The Dems would rather have a campaign issue, ie, It's Their War, than take any chance of being labeled cowardly or defeatist, which it should be noted, is exactly what would in fact happen.
This game of "Why I Oughtta..." is entirely predictable, although cynical, and would even be rational if not for the mounting death toll.