Letters to the Editor
omooex
Published Letters: 964 Editor's Choice: 5
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Racism, Omooex, White People, Racism, Sharpton
[Read the article: Sympathy for the devil: Leave Rev. Al alone!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In response to the poster who claimed that I assumed he was white: Its you assuming that I thought you were white. You won't find that assumption in my letter or in its tone if you read it again, I frankly don't understand where you got that.
Your argument about Sharpton basically is that the Tawana Brawley case is one of the worst acts in history, and that Sharpton has engaged in subsequent horrible racist acts. The former assertion is pretty subjective, but the latter is demonstrable. Prove it, in otherwords. What are these incidents,why were they so reprehensible?
Lastly, my only point is that no one who is interested in issues of racism should overlook the good done by Sharpton. He put non-white issues on the map last election. People who make hay out of the Sharpton/Brawley, seem far less perturbed about the mayor of SF sleeping with his campaign mgrs. wife, Clinton getting a bj on taxpayer time, and the Democrats jury-rigging the last primary to maintain two-party rule. That smacks of racism with the following arithmetic--a black leaders excesses and lapses are more durable than a white one's. I used to think of Sharpton the way you do, but had the opportunity to witness his community and local efforts in my 6 years of living in NYC.
Your problem may be that you only notice Sharpton when someone has accused him of something. Do some research look up his daily efforts, his oratory, his organization.
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What is Moderate?
[Read the article: Can American Jews unplug the Israel lobby?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Not going to get into the debate about right to exist, who murdered whom, etc. However, I do want to keep things real here. While I admire Salon for incisive writing on AIPAC, I'm a little disturbed to find that it considers Oslo to be a moderate position and that going back to an Oslo like framework is the road ahead. What many people don't realize is that the current Intifada was a culmination of years of resentment of Oslo on the part of the Palestinian people.
The Oslo years brought in a flush of NGO dollars and corruption into the Palestinian territories, but very little for the average, non-professional Palestininian. In fact, just about the only work available was the construction of Israeli colonies on the peripheries of the Palestinian autonomous areas--this is because the settlement population doubled during the period due to Israeli government programs and investment. One can hardly blame Palestinians for wanting to shrug off the negotiations framework they'd been backed into--it was an Israeli serving device for instituting the territorial gains made during the Israeli occupation.
So just to be clear--AIPAC certainly doesn't have any answers in the way of peace for Israel. On the other hand, going back to an Oslo type structure is silly. Its what caused the current situation to begin with. For there to be a moderate approach, the US would have to completely keep its hands off the conflict, allowing Israeli and Palestinians to work things out on a more balanced playing field--Israeli kept in check by the world community, Palestinians brought to the table with the promise of real gains, and not cynical manipulations. Just saying.
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I work in a Hospice
[Read the article: I found my father dead]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have to say it is rather hollow when someone says sorry for your loss; I say it anywhere from 5 to 10 times a week. They will never feel what you feel at that particular moment, nor can they really help (though they can hurt)--nor should they. In some sense, as Americans, we tend to view death as a rare misfortune, when it is actually the only constant. All of the people doing their best to feign sorrow for you, will one day feel something along the lines of what you are feeling now, if they have not already, and one day someone they know will be feeling it for them.
It is senseless, but if it makes any difference, we are all in this together--we share a continuum of sadness, so we need to respect each other's space. Mourners should understand that the world didn't do anything especially horrible to them, the people who interact with them should understand that the shoe will one day be on the other foot. And if anything, get everything you can out of life right now, today, for no better reason than none of this makes any sense and no one knows if there is a heaven or hell, and your own death is not theoretical is it as real as this minute is.
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Gore and Other Politicians: Please Get Real
[Read the article: Swooning over Gore]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks to Al Gore for getting environmental issues on the map with an accesible (and mostly boring) film for the mainstream. However, and not to sound like a Republican shill, does he need to live in a mansion, for chrissakes? One of the reasons Republicans get so much hay out of these kinds of tidbits is that democrats leave themselves open with such copious hypocrisy. Can't get your neighbors to let you install solar panels? Then move. Surely, Mr. Gore can afford to live in any lifestyle he chooses--he could build a 20 room mansion from straw bale if he wanted to, it could have mud floors and be powered by farts and cow-shit. How can the man ask so many people to begin changing their lives, if he--who could do it without batting an economic eye--won't do it...