Letters to the Editor
EDL
Published Letters: 58 Editor's Choice: 4
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No WHAT, no opinion?
[Read the article: Welcome to no-choice America]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Although I agree with the other letters published below, I am weary of the notion that because I am not a woman, I do not get to have an opinion on abortion, as a previous writer just suggested.
As a man, if I father a child, I am a big part of that pregnancy. I have responsibilities and therefore I have rights. In fact, it's for this reason that while I support a woman's right to choose, I am sometimes uncomfortable with it being protected under the umbrella of "privacy," since that presumably shuts me out.
More importantly, I believe that while the future of abortion is uncertain, so is how our present-day abortion rights will be viewed in the future. It's entirely possible that several generations after abortion is outlawed, moral people will be at a loss for how their moral predecessors could have supported the pro-choice movement. I don't know that this will happen, but it seems like a reasonable possibility. If so, then nothing less than how our country and our generation will be understood is at stake, and I have a stake in that-- uterus or no.
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Can't say as I'm surprised...
[Read the article: The Democrats' disarray, the Republicans' delight]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If it's true that the press is starting to shift its focus to the Democrtats' lack of a unified position on Iraq (from the administration's lack of a plan for Iraq), then it does seem like it was inevitable. Not because of any bias or fear on the media's part, but because the press is in the business of telling stories, and sooner or later, all storytellers change things up a little. They have to; no tale can continue in one direction, down one path, without the hero's (or villain's) fortunes changing. This was what I kept noticing in the months leading up to the 2004 election.
My hope--again, if this observation is true--is that an Abramoff bombshell is coming, and that it comes after, not before, the media has exhausted the Democrats' lack of unity angle. My fear--and it has been my fear since the first dings started appearing in the right wing's armor--is that we'd peak too soon. I hope that's not what we're seeing now.
One other thing: why should the Democratic Party (or the Republican one for that matter) necessarily HAVE a unified position on Iraq. Why is it not OK for one leader to have one vision, and another leader to have another, even if they belong to the same party? Doesn't it cheapen the war to reduce it to a political platform? Let Social Security and taxes (also serious matters, no doubt) be the stuff of political platforms--not war.
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Choices
[Read the article: My secret is about to be revealed]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The decision to tell her husband and the decision to tell the wife of a married lover are not similar.
Technically, the letter writer's deception is an ongoing one, but practically, the incidents took place long ago, and don't seem to reflect on her commitment to her husband. The same cannot be said of the presently cheating husband, whose actions do damage to his wife's dignity, security, and possibly health. Not to give the letter writer a total pass for her past, but there *are* heirarchies of deception and injury.
And it seems to me that within such a heirarchy, this Doug character may rank above the letter writer but below the adulterous husband. This Doug may be a fool, a rat bastard, or both, but one could argue that an injurious truth slightly edges out an injurious lie. Not that I would buy someone an ice cream for giving me either one.
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Is this too practical a perspective?
[Read the article: Should I give up on having a life in the theater?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I would be curious to know more about what truly entrances the letter writer: if it is the prospect of a career in the arts, or if it is the art itself. Is there any reason the writer couldn't forge a career in whatever, wherever, and work in community theater or some such? There have to be ways of satisfying (if only in part) the urge to create without dedicating one's whole career to it.
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Boo hoo what?
[Read the article: Confessions of a utility actor]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am always amazed by letter writers like Tomkin--people who not only write something grossly uninformed, but, by admitting they have not read what they are writing about, *admit* that they are uninformed.
Thankfully, Mr. Birkenhead's piece was not what Tomkin stereotyped it as being. And that is to Mr. Birkenhead's credit. I have lived in L.A. for 8 years, been affiliated with the entertainment industry for over 15 (since high school), and learned things from Mr. Birkenhead's article that I did not know before.
As for Tomkin, why do some people post letters to the editor without at least aspiring to be as intelligent as the publication they are writing to? Could this be a consequence of the digital, information, blogging age? If so, more's the pity.
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Responsibility?
[Read the article: My boyfriend is an abusive alcoholic]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]No one should have to suffer what this writer is going through, which brings me to one of the letter's more disconcerting points.
"Should I just try to disappear until he gets over this and meets someone new to terrorize?" the writer asks. While the boyfriend--and only the boyfriend--is responsible for his actions and their consequences, I can't help but feel that when confronted by evil behavior, it is our responsibility to stop it not only for our own sake, but also for the sake of hypothetical victims in the future.
There are probably good arguments for this position and good arguments against it. Either way, I was a little disturbed by how casually the writer seems to dismiss a future suffering that will be as real--or worse--than hers is now.
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Did I miss something, or...
[Read the article: I know in my heart I'm going to leave my husband ... but when and how?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...does the writer never take into account the effect leaving her husband could have on her daughter? Of the three, I have the most sympathy for the child.