Letters to the Editor
toine99
Published Letters: 15 Editor's Choice: 6
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Along for the historical ride?
[Read the article: Talkin' bout my generation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I made a short list of people who made enormous contributions, some at their peril, to making American society more egalitarian, tolerant, and culturally vibrant-- or simply shook things up-- in the decades after World War II. These are also people we think of as "’60’s icons." Then I researched their birth years:
Malcolm X: 1925
Martin Luther King: 1929
Rosa Parks: 1913
Alan Ginsberg: 1926
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: 1917
Timothy Leary: 1920
Jack Kerouac: 1922
Andy Warhol: 1928
Robert Kennedy: 1920
Cesar Chavez: 1927
Betty Friedan: 1921
Gloria Steinem: 1934
Abbie Hoffman: 1936
Jerry Rubin: 1938
Stanley Kubrick: 1928
Norman Morrison (the Quaker who, in 1965, set himself on fire outside the Pentagon): 1933
And last but not least, Albert Hoffman, the inventor of LSD: 1906 (and still kicking)
Even many of the younger iconoclasts of the 60’s were born before the baby boom proper began: Tom Hayden, 1939; John Lennon, 1940; Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, 1941; Mario Savio, 1942; Jesse Jackson, 1941; Muhammad Ali, Jimi Hendrix and Jerry Garcia, 1942.
So what does all this mean? Well, for starters, I guess we need to come up with a silly name for the heroic generation born between 1925 and 1940, because it was they who really knocked down some formidable barriers for the boomers and the rest of us to march past. I think it also means that many of the boomers, were indeed, as Kamiya suggests, "along for the historical ride."
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Chemistry class?
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Dear King:
I enjoyed your columns on the World Baseball Classic. I think the success of the Japanese, Cuban and Korean teams speaks not only to their preparation, but also to a concept that you've dismissed in your column: chemistry. What does it take to hit the cutoff man flawlessly time after time, to execute a perfect hit and run, to have great communication between pitcher and catcher? It's not just a few extra weeks of workouts. It's a group of guys that are highly motivated to win who play well with each other and allow themselves to be managed. Part of that is skill and relentless practice (physics, if you will); part of that is chemistry.That's something that will often be lacking in a group of multimillionaires thrown together. And I'm not just talking about the U.S. or Dominican national teams. Witness the implosion of the Yankees in recent years. It's the same phenomenon. Okay, I've made my point.
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A Lie for the Ages
[Read the article: "Saddam chose to deny inspectors"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Quick, who said this:
"It would never come into [the masses'] heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation."
If you said Adolf Hitler, you're correct. Extra points for sourcing it to Mein Kampf.
Bush's maddening repetition (Sadaam refused to disarm... he wouldn't let the inspectors in) is a classic example of what the Nazis called the Big Lie.
During the run-up to the war, I was continually stunned by the "Sadaam must disarm" recitation. Disarm what??? And I was even more stunned that the press did not ask the same question.
Much respect to Joe Conason for doggedly keeping this outrageous story alive. And to those who think that calling for impeachment is some sort of wacko fringe behavior, try thinking a little harder.
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Why stop at combat boots?
[Read the article: War hero vs. faux cowboy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If campaigning in his old combat boots isn't sufficent to elevate Mr. Webb to high office, I have some further suggestions for him:
1. Start wearing your dogtags outside your suit.
2. Cut your hair so that your old head wound is exposed. If people still don't notice it, pick at it until it bleeds onto your plate of Egg Beaters.
3. Pepper your stump speech with references to your combat experience, i.e., "I have a very strong I'VE KILLED PEOPLE belief in I'VE KILLED PEOPLE supporting Social I'VE KILLED PEOPLE Security."
That should work. It worked for John Kerry. Oops.
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And don't forget Bernie Saunders
[Read the article: The conventional wisdom that would not die]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]... a socialist in the Senate! Okay, it's Vermont, but still...
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Re: Kucinich, the "fringe dweller" "steps up"
[Read the article: The party's over]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I heartily agree with letter writer Michael. Dismissing Kucinich (and by extension, Maxine Waters, Henry Waxman, John Conyers, Bernie Saunders, Russ Feingold, etc.) as "fringe dwellers" is not the way to start a new year and a new Congress.
On the contrary, defining what the "fringe" is depends on your perspective. Is it fringe-like to support what the majority of polled Americans want: getting out of Iraq, not escalating our commitment? I'd say the Dems in the middle are in fact clinging to a fringe: meekly proposing bills to raise the minimum wage and promote stem cell research while avoiding the several 800 pound gorillas in the middle of the room: Iraq, Afghanistan (oh yeah) , climate change, the unprecedented redistribution of wealth upward, our looming energy crisis, our current health care crisis-- to name but a few. I know it's prudent to find common ground and build political momentum, but it's even more important to boldly counteract the radical forces that are in fact threatening our most basic assumptions about life in America. Let's start by demanding a reversal of policy on Iraq. For a fresh perspective, you might want to listen to those who knew the war would be a disaster and therefore voted against it! Oh, I'm sorry, those are the fringe dwellers.
As for Joan Walsh's choice of words, and their underlying meaning, it's most disconcerting to see a man of principles such as Kucinich dismissed with one mean-spirited phrase, while the PR-obsessed, perpetually frightened politicians (Biden, Kerry, Clinton, and yes, Pelosi) are given way too much credit for their ability to do anything but complain whenever Bush drags us all a step further into the quicksand.