Letters to the Editor
Dmagnificent
Published Letters: 151 Editor's Choice: 6
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A bit much, but so is the offense
[Read the article: Betrayed by Obama]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think that Ms Walsh is being a bit harsh on Obama in this editorial. I am EXTREMELY disappointed in Obama's vote on the FISA bill. I am starting to wonder whether Obama is a one-term stop-gap president. My faith in him has slipped dramatically over this issue, but I still think that Ms. Walsh goes too far.
She mentions Obama's support of the Supreme Court decision on the 2nd Amendment. There is nothing new there. Obama said more than once during the primary season that he agreed with that misinterpretation of the Constitution. I strongly disagree with him on the issue.
As for the "partial birth abortion" issue, abortion is a tricky subject and a politician taking a nuanced stance on a minor sub-issue is not something to panic about. The law provides ample time for women who are mentally distressed by an unplanned pregnancy to get an abortion. The third trimester abortion is a brutal procedure that should only be used in the MOST extreme of cases. There is a big moral difference between terminating an early pregnancy and killing a child who is capable of surviving outside of the womb. Delayed buyer's remorse is not good enough. The argument that Ms Walsh is trying to make actually makes the Republican position on partial birth abortion seem more acceptable because her position is well down the slippery slope that Republicans were warning about.
As for her Clinton comments: Joan, you had come so far back into the reality based community. Don't retreat now. You say that We can't know that Hillary would have voted just like Obama did if she were the nominee. True, but then you make an equally unsubstantiatable claim that she learned her lesson from her war authorization vote. This is not only speculation, but ignores obvious evidence to the contrary- KYL-LEIBERMAN, 'nuff said.
What Obama did was wrong. I have contacted the campaign and let them know my disgust. I made it clear that my future support was not assured if the Obama that I helped make the nominee is not more clearly seen in Obama the nominee. No, Obama was never the great Progressive hope that he was made out to be, but Hillary was never a centrist/populist either. Criticize Obama for what he did, but keep the fantasy elements out of it, please.
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Mom and Dad Save The World?
[Read the article: The ultimate family DVD list]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If such a dubious selection can make the list, I would have to put The Stupids starring Tom Arnold and Jessica Lundy on the list. It is overlooked and underrated.
As a bonus, it contains a song called "I am my own Grandpa." Any movie with such a song deserves at least one viewing.
And what is up with bashing The Little Mermaid and Pocahontas? Those are two of Disney's best modern movies. I said in '89 and I'll say it again. Mermaid and Do the Right Thing were the two best movies of that year. Yes, it changed the ending and thus the moral, but it still works as a classic fairy tale. It is hard to take a critic seriously who would bash a movie with the lyrics of the late, great Howard Ashman, whose death was the first step on the rather swift decline of the modern Disney animated film.
And, yes, Disney did transform the chubby 13 year old Native American into a marriage aged sexpot, but they also created a surprisingly well made film. It has a more adult tone than many modern Disney films, including an on-screen killing. And despite the subsequent marketing of Pocahontas as one of the Disney Princesses, the movie was not a fairy tale romance. It dealt with the issue of love in a way that was quite serious for animated fare. Love doesn't conquer all in Pocahontas. Pocahontas is faced with an adult choice and forgoes her happily ever after. Lastly, I would argue that Pocahontas is one of the better films to emerge from that time frame about Native Americans. It deftly avoids the overly PC traps that comprised the backbone of highly overrated films like Dances With Wolves. The Native Americans are not presented as this perfect civilization that was destroyed by the evil white man. The warlike, brutal side of Native American society is given more attention in this Disney cartoon than in most modern movies involving Native Americans. It has a balance that more adult films on the subject sorely lack.
So, while I agree with the need for a list of kids flicks that go beyond the standard Disney flicks, I strongly disagree with the choice of the two aforementioned films as examples of bad kid flicks. They seem to have been chosen randomly. With Brother Bear, Home on the Range, Chicken Little, Cars, the grossly overrated (non-Disney) Shrek movies, and anything Disney has released direct-to-DVD out there, why pick two that arguably earn the header Disney Masterpiece™?
Speaking of direct -to-video titles, Muppet Classic Theater is an hour of pure fun and I urge all parents to write Disney and get them to finally release this little gem on DVD, and not just because my daughter has just about worn out our VHS copy.