Letters to the Editor
Stargell
Published Letters: 29 Editor's Choice: 6
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She is a narcissist
[Read the article: I enjoy men until we get to the bedroom]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...Oh yes she is! The whole letter is about what she gets out of it, the thrill of the chase, the drama, the attention she gets, on and on. It's really very immature, kind of adolescent. People with a healthy sex drive have at least some degree of focus on the OTHER person, and enjoy giving pleasure (not out of altruism, but in a "it turns me on to see you so turned on" way). No hint of any long-term relationships, even family or friends. She has problems. If someone truly has no interest in the opposite sex, whatever. If someone has physical, pharmacological, or relationship issues affecting their sex life, my heart goes out. But the way she is an attention slut, yet kind of bragging that her tastes are too refined to do the nasty bugs the crap outta me.
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Man, this is (was?) me
[Read the article: Help! I'm avoiding and hiding again!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wow, add me to the list of people who saw themselves in this letter. I especially have problems not calling friends back, internally sickened that I am letting a treasured friendship deteriorate. Also, I am very busy at work taking care of little piddly tasks, while I put off important, meaningful tasks until the last possible second (oh, the stories I could tell). I seek out stupid things to do instead of doing what I KNOW I should be doing. We should both be in therapy! But I put therapy off too... Actually, things have steadily improved the last year - here is what helped some. First, recognize the power of simple HABIT. Humans are not always driven by deep, thoughtful forces, but by simple inertia. Remember the second part of inertia's definition is "a body in motion remains in motion". Do a little bit of important tasks every every every friggin' day, till it feels wierd to not do it. As opposed to handling things the opposite way - even if you do indeed finally spend all weekend organizing bills in your filthy den, at the end of that task you will be left feeling "that sucked - I hate paperwork - I am a loser." But doing 10 minutes a day feels much better. Second, as a previous commenter implied, lists often prevent things from getting done. If you are a listmaker, stop it, or reserve lists only for the littlest, piddliest things you would forget without writing them down. Do things right now instead. And lastly, this sounds dorky, but get in touch with your inner voice - my new motto is "You KNOW what you need to do - so do it!". It's about having the most trust and respect for this inner voice, loving your inner voice, and turning over responsibility to your inner voice to guide you. Wow, that last part sounds sappy, but it is helping. Otherwise, though, I think therpay would help.
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What is the point of this essay?
[Read the article: Country boy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Boy, this essay got on my nerves big time. Look, I am no right winger - I voted aginst GWB twice. But this article was pure liberal snobbery, and is the kind of thing that makes moderates sympathize with the republican party. Heaven forfend, you came in contact with families from the military - I hope you took a shower, so as not to contact some disease. It must be so much more enlightened in Manhattan or Paris. I'm sure you will return to France with the next book deal. Seriously, this article reads like a over-the-top satire of east-coast elitism.
As to the pledge of allegiance, let's read the words...I can understand how the mention of God is perhaps unnecessary, but the rest of the pledge is simply a few bland, brief, vague platitudes - how thin skinned are you? "Liberty and Justice for all" - are you against liberty and justice? Or is it the "indivisibl(ity)" that bugs you, as it would be preferrable to live in an easy divisible, fractious nation, like the former Yugoslavia, or Iraq, where lack of any national cohesiveness leads to genocide/oppression/war.
I repeat - any moderate who reads some crap like this this will tragically come away thinking less of the Democratic party. If you want to take a moralistic tone, fine, but I suggest one moral principle would be to show some basic respect (as opposed to contempt) for normal, mediocre, ordinary Americans, the rubes that we are. But I suppose stroking your own ego is more important than winning an election.
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Oh Please!
[Read the article: Lapdogs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The overarching assumption behind this article, that the media would ever be expected by any mature adult to stop a determined government backed by majority public opinion, is ridiculously arrogant. Sorry, but you're just a reporter - get over yourself. Your job as a journalist is to describe and interpret current events to the populace - the end. If you want to be an activist, that is your decision as an individual. But I somehow doubt the founding fathers intended for the people to influence our leaders via Joe Reporter talking smack to the president in a childish attempt to publicly embarrass him, as if this is junior high school. Please don't misunderstand my point, the media oviously has every right to ask any question it damn well pleases to anyone without anyone's patriotism being called into question, but to wring your hands and say "if only we had stood up to him..." is self-centered whininess. My personal perspective as an anti-Bush, anti-war conservative is that the press WAS pretty critical from the get-go - what do you want, for a journalist to set himself on fire during a national press conference? This administration is going to do whatever it wants until the PEOPLE, not a journalistic elite, make enough of a fuss.