Letters to the Editor
fondlementalist
Published Letters: 21 Editor's Choice: 2
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I second that
[Read the article: I love L.A.]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]AfterThat said it so well there's not much to add. I, too, hail from Los Angeles. I left the Socal area for the first time for what was supposed to be a vacation at the age of 19 in the Pacific Northwest and decided two days into the venture to NEVER go home.
Up until that point, I lived under the smoggy illusion that life in LA was what life was like everywhere, more or less. Everywhere had crime. Everywhere had racial tensions. You know, its poor pissed on whites who misdirected their class rage toward the Mexicans moving in, and the raging black underclass who were murderously fed up with the Koreans who owned stores in their neighborhood. Everywhere had traffic. Everywhere was populated by rich, plastic vapid assholes who thought they were better than everyone else. Boy was I wrong.
In the past ten years, I've lived in Seattle, Spokane, Wash., Couer d'Alene, Idaho, Virginia Beach, Va., Colorado Springs, Co. and now Atlanta. I am happy to report there is NO place like LA. Everywhere else I've lived or visited has been cleaner, friendlier, more inviting all around.
Thank you, Mr. Keillor, for your kind words about my hometown. But if I might interject -- Seattle, stand up and be counted! You are lovely -- cultured, yet unpretentious. I felt thoroughly at home (if a little wet) during the time I spent at one of your universities. New York, speak up! When I first visited you in the 2000, I was astounded. I had no idea a throbbing metropolis could be like this. The people were a little brisk, but extremely helpful. I was shocked by their willingness to assist a stranger. Vermont, please, let's make this all about you! If only the rest of the United States could adopt your liberal independence, we could wake up from this long national nightmare that did not end in the 70s it seems -- apparently, it was just getting warmed up.
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Hey Judge Dread
[Read the article: I'm so damned judgmental!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Have you ever done something seemingly against your will that was not in your best interests to do and could actually have harmful reprecussions, like, oh I don't know: visibly displaying your judgement of others while they are sharing their woes with you? Substitute that for drinking, gambling, sleeping with with a stranger, compulsive lying, etc. etc. and you will suddenly realize that you too are human, all too human.
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Bush is like Jesus
[Read the article: How can I love my Republican parents?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]He comes to seperate husband from wife, parent from child (if you let him). LW, I'm a 31 socialist -- my Republican Christian fundamentalist dad died when I was 19. I wish I hadn't spent that last year of his life fighting with him about politics and religion. Yes, it's true that the Bible is obviously and demonstratably errant; and yes, it's true that the leftist principles I adopted in late adolescence were an extension of the values I was raised with (unlike a lot of Republican Christian fundamentalists, my dad was an honest, decent, non judgemental person); and yes it's true that socialism is the creed that makes the most social and economic sense for people of our working class station. (Dad laughed at Clinton in 1992 for suggesting we need a nationalized health care plan, but he died of cancer in 1996 without health care; he probably would have lived if he would have gone to the doctor when he first started noticing symptoms ... but he didn't because he didn't want to pluck down the money for tests and doctor visits.) As true as all of this was and is, it would have been irrelevant if I would have known the moments I was spending with him were the last we'd share. I would have found better things to talk about. I suggest you do the same with your parents. If your parents just happen to be assholes in addition to being Republicans, then just keep it light and polite and fulfill your filial duties of visiting once or twice a year and calling now and then. And accept the fact that they are never going to be just to your liking. Your wife, kids, and in-laws won't be either by the way ... neither will future presidents.
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Don't be a fag, vote GOP
[Read the article: War Room contest: Pick the Democrats' bumper sticker]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]DEM: Read our lips: no new wars
GOP: Don't be a fag, vote GOP (I'm sure their real slogan will go something like this, and it will be effective.)