Letters to the Editor
Allene Swienckowski
Published Letters: 175 Editor's Choice: 10
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The Woodward Coverup
[Read the article: The Woodward coverup]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The vagaries of journalism continue to baffle me and I'm certain others as well. Most of the press corps have their undies in a bunch because Bob Woodward didn't expose and proclaim all he knew about the Valerie Plame (sic) leak. What if in a world where all things could be equal, Woodward decided to act with integrity and decided not to 'out' Plame as an agent? Wouldn't it be just grand if journos once again decided that news, real news was more important than political antagonisms and that they have the power to protect individuals as well as expose chicanery? My, my...what a concept.
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When Is It Time to Stop "canoodling" With Our Children?"
[Read the article: When is it time to stop "canoodling" with our children?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have three children, two girls and one son. My youngest attends a university on the east coast and when she comes home during the school year and during the summer it is not unusal for her to sit on my lap or to cuddle with me on the couch. Of my three children, my youngest is the one that has remained "the baby" to me, yet all three, ranging in age from 32 to 20, still need a mommy hug or to sit on my lap, despite the fact that they all three dwarf my physical self during these moments...
I have never had sexual feelings towards any of my children. I breast fed all three and the experience was unpleasant at best. I never experienced pleasure from my breast's being stimulated until I was well past the age of fifty.
Although I am close to celebrating my 40th wedding anniversary, I have never been the type of person to engage in public displays of affection with my children or anyone else for that matter, including their father.
As a society, we Americans tend to be prudes and much of our society frowns upon public display of affection, even between family members. I think one of the things that most of us need is a hug, a well placed kiss, or merely a warm pat on the back that conveys acceptance and support. We have ingested a fair amount of fear into our schools and teachers and administrators are prohibted from giving a sometimes much needed gesture of affection to a child who needs more than a "good job, or well done" to encourage a child to try just a little bit harder, or to a child who has suffered an earth shattering loss. We have become a suspicious and intolerant society and the fact is, each of us needs a little bit more love and affection to get us through the day and even more so during the tough times.
If this mother and son are comfortable sharing time and physical nearness, then they should be allowed to share it whenever and wherever the need strikes them without recrimination from the rest of us.
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"Rove's Moment of Truth"
[Read the article: Rove's moment of truth?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Joe Conason ended his essay with a series of, what I would consider, rhetorical questions regarding Karl Rove's responses and testimony before the grand jury about his involvement, knowledge, and possible outing of Valerie Plame to the new media. For a brief moment I would like to pretend that these were not rhetorical questions.
Mr. Conason, Carl Rove is a man who clearly operates from a position of power and arrogance. He began to learn how to manipulate the systems decades ago when he began to whittle his political career under the glare of Watergate. The tactics of this group to win at any cost are easy to identify: divide and conquer. Anyone or anything that attacks their position or tries to undermine their credibility, their immdeiate and swift response is simply to discredit by lies or innuendo. This man and his ilk are masters of intimidation.
To think that Americans have lost the ability to freely express themselves about any issue in this country is a travesty. If anyone expresses a deep feeling of not wanting this country to beinvolved in the war in Iraq...then they suddenly become heinous because they're not supporting the troops or our fight against terrorism. Our freedoms are being subverted while the constant drumbeat to defeat terrorism blares a mantra so loud that far too many Americans are responding to the threat of terrorism rather than the actuality of real terrorism within our shores.
How is it possible for this great nation not to recognize that we all have been compromised by a group of people who claim to be fighting for democracy in Iraq while passing laws to limit the freedoms of Americans in this country under the guise of fighting terrorism?
Sorry, I ended this piece with a question, and yet my question is truly not rhetorical!