Letters to the Editor
nellcooper
Published Letters: 20 Editor's Choice: 6
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First Bush comes back, now Paglia
[Read the article: Dancing as fast as she can]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This piece only convinced me that Paglia is the Madonna of academics, working to confirm a personal sense of self-worth through publicity and self-aggrandizement. Much of the piece is a litany of "I told you so" with self-referential call-backs to past articles and opinions. Obviously, I haven't been back to college for a bit since, when I was studying the goal in academic, scientific and critical writing was to find external and third-party evidence supporting your hypothesis. Apparently, we have now regressed to experiential anecdotes and opinions as valid support for a point of view. If this is an example of serious criticism in the 21st Century then it's no wonder Dan Brown and the "DaVinci Code" rule the booklists while being banned by the fiercest fundamentalists as evil heresy and Fox News is the choice of the heartland!
To claim proudly, nay smugly, that she is a student (Okay, let's be honest. Paglia never presents herself as a "student" but as a connoisseur, a master) of disco while announcing she never dances to it is like claiming to be a connoisseur of chocolate who is allergic to the stuff. Disco is like marching music -- if your feet aren't compelled to move than it's a failure. As is Ms. Paglia's piece. I won't even discuss her "hipper than thou" playlist.
I think Salon's (and my) money would be better spent on finding truly thoughtful and thought-provoking writers (new and old) and developing them and let Ms. Paglia continue her hiatus.
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Integrity means having to say you're sorry
[Read the article: Washington Post on Domenech: "We did plenty of background checks"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Apparently, Brady and the Washington Post have lost themselves and their understanding of how trust is earned and held. Pursuing articles with no other purpose than to provocate and represent a specific political bias, particularly when looking not for reportage but "whose opinions are not necessarily in line with the majority of people who read the site", diminshes the trust of the majority of the Washington Post's readers. It smacks of slanting coverage to appease unscrupulous critics. It brings to mind the McCarthy Era and the Hearst publications. Brady would serve his paper and his public better by finding the new Edward R. Murrow -- or Woodward -- who finds the facts and does what's right. No matter how unpopular with the current Globally Warmed politcal climate.
BTW, Brady, here's a tip from the hinterlands -- the people know the NeoCons are lying.
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Peace, dude, in Sea-Tac
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]While there is little else good to say about Sea-Tac airport, they do have a Meditation Room in which one can sit quietly and hear one's own thoughts (or non-thoughts if you've achieved the Buddhist state of non-thinking meditation). I've loved it since I first visited Sea-Tac a decade ago. Alas, it was once conveniently located on the clearly visible second-level at the end of the once lovely art gallery lined concourse, the new construction and security measures have it hidden from most people. It took a good 15 minutes of hunting for the right stairs and roaming down administrative hallways to find the last time I was stuck at Sea-Tac. But it's still there and still worth the hunt for a little peace and quiet.
There's a reason why you Las Vegas and them parks pound relentless away at your senses with visual and physical noise; it stops you from thinking and making intelligent decisions (like not betting, getting drunk or wasting your money on those mouse ears). Unfortunately, we seem to be turning the rest of our world into Vegas. Meet you in the Meditation Room.
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Reality is scarier
[Read the article: A scary survey for the GOP]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It would be nice to believe that a) people are gaining wisdom and b) a change in parties will make a difference, but fear -- of change, of the economy, of the future -- is still the ruling emotion here in the hinterlands. And for all of the low-level muttering, the yellow and red, white and blue ribbon decals still adorn the SUVs, trucks and mini-vans and I'm still considered "unpatriotic" because I don't support torture, rape and massacre by our troops. And as much as I'd like to believe that the Deomocrats would make a difference, so long as a candidate must raise roughly $10,000 per day to campaign we will be stuck with a plutocracy at best, an oligarchy at worst.
It's not apathy that's keeping people from voting, it's learned hopelessness.
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Messenger pigeon from the front lines
[Read the article: Chasing tail]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Unlimited choice and easy access shake the world in unpredictable ways, ...
Mr. Manjoo should talk with small specialty retail shop owners in suburban and rural areas if he wishes to find out some of the unpredicted effects on our culture of unlimited choice. Unfortunately, it will mean less tangible choices for much of the country.
I will soon be closing my specialty retail establishment, on the heels of the closing of the local fabric, crafts, yarn and quilting shops, due to two phenomena. The first and obvious one is that people no longer use what's available, they demand what they think they want and they chisel to get it at a Wal-mart or Costco price. The second is burn-out caused by people unwilling, and in increasing cases unable, to think. For many customers shopping -- the act of making a choice and decision-- has become too hard. They refuse to read labels, even price labels. They complain of too many choices and can't make a simple decision. And they are wanting me to choose so they can have someone to blame if the choice proves unpopular later.
It explains a lot about our current politics and society. It also bodes ill for our economy. The tail is now wagging the economic dog -- which makes it hard for the dog to walk, let alone run.