Letters to the Editor
maureenodonnell
Published Letters: 1107 Editor's Choice: 5
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The Chameleon Candidate
[Read the article: Dolores Huerta: "Como se llama" Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It was interesting to read that Dolores Hueta is a sister of a man who did heroic work on behalf of the vineyard workers in California, also evoking memories of Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" in my mind. As for Senator Obama using the Chavez slogan, this is hardly surprising. Watching his progress from afar, I am reminded of a chameleon who, in his case, takes his political coloration from the surrounding environment according as the need arises. Or perhaps comparing Obama to a chimera is more apt, a magical creature made up of many parts as, for instance, the iconic Martin Luther King, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and, more startlingly, Ronald Reagan who has been praised in Reno by the Senator from Chicago. Is there no end to his blarney which would leave "Honey" Fitz (JFK's grandfather) in the shade? Somebody posted in Salon that the Senator mentioned in his autobiography that his mother was a romantic who, among other things, had dreams or some other vague notions about Peace Corps. All fine and dandy but did she ever work for Peace Corps. I knew Americans who did and it meant much more than a romantic dream. All this will-of-the=wisp stuff has more to do with Hollywood than the Oval Office.
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Arriba Huerta!
[Read the article: Dolores Huerta: "Como se llama" Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sorry for the typo which caused me to misspell the surname.
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To Anonymous p.2
[Read the article: Dolores Huerta: "Como se llama" Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thank you for your reply and I hope you understand that the war in Iraq is a cause of great perturbation in Western Europe with huge protest marches against the invasion in March/April 2003. When it was found that Saddam Hussein's "weapons of mass destruction" did not exist. there was and still is real anger. The latest bellicose verbiage from President Bush about Iran is far from comforting. Now, Anonymous, I have a few salient questions about Senator Obama which you might care to answer:
1. Did Senator Obama state, as was reported in British papers, that he would have no qualms about American military personnel breaching the borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan if in "hot pursuit" of AlQuaeda operatives? If he did, I can only conclude that he ALSO has the attitude that the sovereignty of Pakistan is of no importance. No matter what I or anyone else thinks of Pakistani politics, Pakistan is a sovereign country which has had an uneasy relationship with India. Furthermore, Pakistan is a Muslim country which has nuclear weapons and, if Senator Obama was quoted correctly in the European press, I consider that particular statement arrogant, foolish and irresponsible. The U.S. does not have any right to invade another country on such a flimsy basis. Perhaps you could clarify this.
2. You say that Senator Obama opposed the war in Iraq. The war began in March 2003 and within twelve months the situation was getting beyond American control. At that point,
many Americans realized the folly of the invasion. As JFK once said "Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan".
I don't have to explain what the late President Kennedy meant but I would like to know the date when Barack Obama was sworn in as a Senator and the date on which he denounced the war in Iraq, as these dates would affect my perception of him.
3. You state that Barack Obama's mother was an anthropologist.
Did she publish any books, academic papers or anything of that nature, for the general public to read in the way that eminent anthropologists such as Margaret Mead and the Leakey family did? The Leakeys did a lot of their work on the Ngorogoro Crater in East Africa and I wonder if the late Ann Dunham-Obama-Soetero did any of her work in Africa. I'd like more information from you on that matter.
Mr./Ms. Anonymous, you seem to have misread my reference to Senator Obama as "the chameleon candidate". A chameleon takes on the colour of the surround leaves and flowers as a form of camouflage and for other reasons. A "chameleon candidate", such as I think Barack Obama to be, seems to take on a different political coloration in order to blend in with whichever audience he is addressing - belonging to an Afrocentric Church in Chicago, appealing to the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire by being "Everyman" and to younger voters by
being "hip" as though the ability to be a good dancer is a pre-requisite for election to the Presidency. I have no idea whatever which version of Senator Obama is being presented to the voters of South Carolina but I gather that in Nevada B.O. is not only fluent in English but also in Spanish, allying himself now with Latinos. The journalist, Christopher Hitchens, has written a very caustic article on Senator Obama which was published on this side of the world and Andrew Sullivan has written an adoring article on Obama. I don't like either of these journalist but that's beside the point. What really matters is the truth because the future leader of the West must be exactly who he or she claims to be. "Pie-in-the-sky" is just not good enough at this dangerous time in history.
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To Amerigo
[Read the article: Dolores Huerta: "Como se llama" Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't suppose your surname is Vespucci but I have a fair idea where you're coming from. Are you also Anonymous, to whom I directed the questions. Perhaps you'd like to play a game of "blind man's bluff" but all I want are straightforward answers, which, for some reason or other, seem to present enormous difficulties. As for Wikipedia, that is for High School students, in general, and for those interested in gathering some skimpy details. I asked some specific questions but, so far, I've got only defensive responses. You should be able to do better than that. Suggestion: just give clear and coherent answers and don't think that shilly-shallying will "pull the wool" over anyone's eyes. Americans have the reputation of being enthusiasts for openness but I'm beginning to find that this is yet another fallacy.