Letters to the Editor
stackey-dackey
Published Letters: 324 Editor's Choice: 8
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NYNewYork
[Read the article: Betrayed by Obama]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Threatening to "cut someones nuts off" is funny. Wow. What if Jesse made some comment about how he wanted to rip Clinton's uterus out? Not so funny? Oh, right, that would be misogynistic! Or racist against middle aged white women!
Look, I think Jesse Jackson and anyone else has the right to think whatever the hell they want about Barack Obama. He's condescending to black folk (because you and Jesse Jackson are the deciders on that) or he's an empty suit, or unqualified, etc. However, I do think you should strive to keep the tone civil and not threaten castration because somone doesn't agree with you. Is that too much to ask? That Rev. Jackson, the self-appointed spokesman for black folk, not fantasize aloud about doing serious harm to the presumptive democratic nominee?
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Obama and Georgia
[Read the article: Republicans fear black voter surge in the South]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was walking down the street a few weeks in my Georgia town and I noticed a campaign office for Obama. I made the mistake of looking in the window and was "attacked" by one of the campaign workers. He practically ripped my arm out of the socket trying to drag me inside. It was pretty funny, actually. Maybe those cracks about the kool-aid are true! (Just kidding.)
I was pretty much down in the dumps about Obama and FISA, but I didn't want to harsh whatever drug that campaign worker was taking. I mean, I've never seen anyone smile so wide.
Once inside, I saw an old white man, an Indian college student an older black woman and a middle aged Asian man posted at laptops. It was like a Benetton ad up in there.
I don't know if they were bussed in or what, but I do think Obama's campaign is very smart by showing the people of the Georgia he just doesn't speak for blacks, but all demographics. Race is incredibly divisive in the local politics where I live; the city council is consistently deadlocked on every issue because white votes with white and black votes with black. There is one swing vote (black) but she consistently sides with whites so is, of course, despised by the black council members and the black community. They had this dust-up recently over a computer that almost ended in a race riot in the council room. It's ridiculous.
I'm not from here, but I can tell the younger generations are just sick to death of this kind of shit. And Obama is doing a very smart thing by coming to the South and trying to appeal to everyone down here, not just black folks. Sure, he'll never win over some people, but its worth it. Now if he would have just voted against FISA we'd be cool.
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@MerelyMortalMale
[Read the article: Quote of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Overgeneralize much? I mean, c'mon. I know you were responding to another post that overgeneralized as well, but not all woman are like the creature you describe in your letter, who doesn't handle rejection well and never asks men out on dates.
It seems to me these conversations always deevolve into, WOMEN are like this and MEN are like this; no one ever takes into account class, race, ethnicity, national orgin, sexual preference, upbringing, genetics etc., etc., all facts of a person's identity that also shapes their behavior as much as having a penis or a vagina. And I'm talking to everyone; the broadsheet feminists and the broadsheet haters. Stop pretending you know the character of all women or men on the planet.
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Expensive Pork
[Read the article: A wonderful, magical animal]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Maybe the key to enjoying humane pork is to cut back on how often you eat it so you can afford to buy it. Like a treat rather than a staple. You don't have to eat meat for every meal or heck, every day, or heck every other day.
I was a vegetarian for years, and even though I eat meat now and have no quibble with those who abstain or who gorge on it, I can't help but think that though human beings were made to eat meat, we weren't made to eat so much of it. (Of course, there are exceptions based on geography, so I'll say Americans weren't made to eat meat every day.)
When my mom was growing up in the South, they used smoked hamhocks, bacon, fatback, etc. to season all of their greens, turnips, etc. They'd cook some cornbread and that was all they had for dinner; no seperate steak or pork chop. For lunch it was biscuits and drippings (don't ask.) And those hearty breakfasts you hear so much about? Well, they certainly didn't have bacon, eggs, sausauge, biscuits, gravy, grits, etc., every day of the week.
And they weren't weak or protein starved, even though they didn't get to actually eat a pork chop or rack of ribs or a steak every day. They ate, if lucky, one serving of meat a day, more like flavoring, and they were thankful for it because if they didn't slaughter the animal outright, they had to butcher and clean it. Ham and pork belly and pigs feet were treats, not daily staples. (mmm, pigs feet. I don't know why I love them so much, but I do.)
Unfortunately, nowadays, factory farming has made meat so cheap you can afford to eat those huge down home Southern meals everyday. And its killing us. There's this great Boondocks episode about this.