Letters to the Editor
mattwa33186
Published Letters: 395 Editor's Choice: 41
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Witness protection
[Read the article: "Sopranos" wrap-up: Hide-and-seek]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have to admit, I hated this season until last night. It seemed like they were trying to convince us that Tony was nothing more than a thug, and we should feel guilty for any connection we felt with him - and doing a poor job of it.
Christopher needed to die. He was clearly a danger to Tony and his family, beyond help. I didn't blame Tony for killing him. Same with the beating he gave Coco. Well deserved and just enough, all things considered.
Last night, though, it all started coming together for me. This is going to be an M. Night Shamalan type ending, where we see Tony for what he always was and we never noticed - a big fish in a small pond, respected in the same way Silvio and Paulie were respected because he was reliable, but mostly tolerated by New York because of his father. A boy prince, just like AJ. All this time we were led to believe that the big New York crime families were petty and small time, but we were seeing them through Tony's eyes, the eyes of a child, basically. The deals were small because small deals were all they trusted Tony with. The Feds are interested in Tony not for himself, but for the information he can give them about the important crime families.
Phil isn't acting out from emotion, he just doesn't have the affection for Tony that Johnny and the other guys had. He sees Tony with clear eyes, recognizes that he has brought his weakest people closest to himself instead of distancing them, which makes him a liability to everyone. The asbestos deal was Phil giving Tony an opportunity to accept the role he is most suited for, a captain reporting to New York, and when Tony refuses Phil is left with no choice but to kill him.
The comparison between the 2 attacks sums everything up - Phil trusts his people because he knows he has surrounded himself with reliable professionals, he doesn't care if everybody knows he did it, and they get the job done. Tony and everyone who works for him are scared to death that they are going to get caught, they handle everything badly, and they botch the job. Silvio gets killed (close to it anyway) because he didn't have his gun on him - so even the most professional guy on his crew dies from an amature mistake.
After all these years of seeing Tony through the eyes of the people in New Jersey, we are finally seeing him through the eyes of everyone else, and so is Tony. Ultimately, he will be stripped of the shell he has built around himself and he will do exactly what AJ would do - save himself.
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Sean SIberio
[Read the article: Ron Paul is blowing up real good]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So let me get this straight. Millions of white immigrants came here in the 18 and 1900's and faced prejudice that was nearly beyond belief (like both sides of my family). They did not have the benefit of a government that took from the rich to give them cable television and powdered milk, but they did have a government that insisted that their Constitutional rights were, for the most part, protected. And they were, for the most part, successful to greater or lesser degrees.
But now minorities, in the face of less prejudice and bigotry than the Irish, Italians, and Eastern European Jews faced, need the government to intercede on their behalf so they can be successful? And you say this is not a racist attitude?
By the way, the estimated windfall that a typical Mexican family will receive by benefit of one female family member managing to have a baby on US soil is in the mid to high 7 figures. So we do have a couple of social programs around yet.
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All things must come to an end
[Read the article: "Sopranos" wrap-up: Hide-and-seek]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Speaking of Star Trek, Gene Rodenberry once said that no TV series with a fixed core of characters has more than 100 episodes in it. By that point, all the relationships have been established, all the stories told.
As much as I liked the Sopranos, I am more upset about the upcoming final season of The Wire, the greatest show in the history of television. I can guarantee that one won't have a happy ending either.
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At least it's something
[Read the article: Libby sentenced to 30 months]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I always thought the penalty for treason was that you were hung by the neck until dead. But at least he didn't skate, though I'm sure he'll do his 15 months (you know he's racking up the good time already) at a country club close to home when we should be asking Putin if he has a salt mine we can borrow.
As for talking, it doesn't do any good. Remember Richard Clark? Bob Graham? No one listens, no one really cares enough to actually do anything about this. The criminals in charge now will make millions selling books (I'm half suprised Libby's lawyers didn't bring up the fact that his conviction prevents him from profiting from a book deal when pleading for leniency) that we will all read and rage and howl about when we no longer have to allow what we know to drive us to action.
We have the administration we deserve.
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Not suprising
[Read the article: Judge cites Libby's guilt; Wilson ponders Cheney's role]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In a normal universe, I'd expect the AG to say something along the lines of "Any day we put a fucking traitor behind bars is a good day in my book". But this is the bizzaro universe where the Justice Department is there to protect criminals and the White House is only accontable to the voices in GW's head so we get no comments all around.
I guess treason has been redifined as giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the administration.