Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 94 Editor's Choice: 19
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Cary minimizes anti-Semitism? What are you smoking?
[Read the article: Hey, Mel, where's the passion?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I usually don't get into pointless debates with other letter writers, but I really feel like I can let the statements that Cary somehow minimized Gibson's anti-Semitism stand without a response. Sparky the Wonder Pony even went so far as to put "hyper-sensitive" in quotes in his/her letter, implying that Cary actually said that Jews were hyper-sensitive to Mel's statements (which, of course, Cary didn't say, at all, but just seeing it quoted like that made me go look it up to see if I'd somehow missed it).
I don't know if you noticed, but Cary spent the entire article minimizing the fact that Mel Gibson got rip-roaring drunk and then went barrelling down a narrow, twisty road. In the short term, that is a lot more likely to get someone killed that rants about "the Jews." The whole point of the article is exaggeration for comic effect. Obviously the whole incident is tawdry and reveals Gibson as drunk and a bigot, which is why it's newsworthy. The exaggeration comes in when a real drunk (or ex-drunk, in this case) tries to top the tawdryness. "Sure, you ran from the cops, but you didn't even get in the car! Sure, you ranted about Jews, but the police officer probably wasn't even Jewish -- why not actually insult his ethnic group so as to increase the chances that he'll beat you up! And you call yourself a self-destructive addict!"
I hate that I should have to say this, but I'm Jewish, and I didn't get even a frission of discomfort from Cary's piece. It saddens me that people don't get it, because in general I think that Jews have, over centuries of suffering and persecution, developed the most finely attuned sense of irony the human race has ever known.
Speaking of which, this bit had me giggling:
"Even worse, when asked about the bottle, Gibson blandly replied that it wasn't his. Again, the pitiful mark of a novice. The experienced drunken driver soon grows tired of repeating the same old lie and becomes creative. For instance, he could have said an old Jewish banker left it there."
C'mon, Mel, you can't even be an anti-Semite right!
jf
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nice
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]King, just wanted to say that this is a really nicely written article. A shame it had to be on such a sad subject, but that's not your fault. I hope someone who is or will someday be in Holyfield's position gets a chance to read it.
jf
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wonkette's take
[Read the article: "Security moms" feel insecure, forsake GOP]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]is pretty hilarious:
http://www.wonkette.com/politics/washington-post/post-politics-headlines-translated-195285.php
jf
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"harpy"
[Read the article: Chad harpy strikes again]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]not exactly a gender-neutral term of abuse, now is it? not to sound like a humorless feminist, but jeez.
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the perils of victory
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've never had particularly strong feelings about the BoSox, though I thought it was funny when I attended an A's-Sox game in Oakland a few years ago in which the hometeam pounded the visitors and some drunk guy behind me shouted "1918" over and over again for most of the last four innings. I was miffed going to a recent O's-Sox game at Camden Yards and feeling like I was at a Boston home game, but that's more the fault of apathetic Baltimoreans than the Sox's.
But I remember thinking when I, like a lot of people, felt warm and fuzzy for the Sox after their 2004 series win, that this was the end of the mystique. Before 2004, Boston could take its losses, or, worse, its almost-wins, and file them away as another chapter of The Curse, a fun little exercize that was almost as enjoyable as winning. Post-2004, a losing BoSox nine aren't cursed; they're just losers.
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horse-slaughter reference?
[Read the article: Crocodile tears]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The author made a passing reference to Congress' failure to pass an anti-horse slaughter bill despite its support by the American public as evidence of the US's disengagement from wildlife. I'm assuming this is the same sort of law as the one that was up for vote by referendum in California a few years ago, which would have banned the slaughter of horses for food (it lost, if I recall correctly).
Horses are domestic animals, not "wildlife". They aren't even native to this continent. And they certainly aren't endangered by any stretch of the imagination. While a host of cultural and emotional factors would keep me from actually buying horsemeat, I am baffled as to why horses should be kept out of the US food market and, say, cows should be kept in.
jf
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there's a distinction...
[Read the article: I think my boss has been cheating on his taxes]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The LW is a comptroller for the company, not his boss. From the sound of it, the boss has ben cheating on his personal taxes. The company taxes are clean.
I agree with Cary that he needs to follow the rules of his profession as they apply to his job. And find a new job, pronto.
jf
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maybe not so simple...
[Read the article: Deaf woman walking]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]While I don't know much about this issue, I do know that a lot of opponents of Dr. Fernandes say that they are being caricatured as deaf purists. Interesting blog post here on opposition to her leadership style rather than anything cultural:
http://www.deafdc.com/blog/?p=619
It is interesting to note that the candidate that the protesters are backing was also not raised ASL-speaking.
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Ford and Playboy
[Read the article: How would Jesus vote?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There's a clip floating around on YouTube of Ford responding to questions about whether he was in the Playboy box at the Superbowl by saying "Yeah, what can I say. I like football and I like women."
Somehow I gotta think that earns him bubba points.