Letters to the Editor
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Published Letters: 84 Editor's Choice: 4
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Hands off my TV boyfriend!
[Read the article: Stalking Dr. House]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ms. Burana has captured in scintilating style and enviable verve my own special crush on Hugh Laurie. How could she know? I am a 56 year old college professor with grown sons and a loving and very lovable husband, but I am crushing on Mr. Laurie like an addled teenager. Perhaps the reason is that I never did this kind of thing when I actually was a teen, so I am making up for lost time in a most enjoyable and non-fattening way. I have just one thing to add: Lily, back away from my TV boyfriend, he is totally not available!
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An essay as smart and sexy as Hugh
[Read the article: Stalking Dr. House]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The chief reason I read Salon each day is to find intelligent, engaging, well-written and insightful analysis of the world around me. I am interested in politics, sports, international relations, human endeavors, and the arts so Salon is the perfect place for me. With this in mind, I found Ms. Burana's smart and funny piece on Hugh Laurie perfect in every way. She wrote in a deft style that captured the sexy, sassy, and extremely intelligent nature of this accomplished and complex actor. In addition, she reported on an interesting phenomenon of the electronic age -- cyber infatuations -- by focussing on a man supremely worthy of the admiration he has inspired in so many fans. I am quite surprised at the animus toward Lily Burana's light, frothy, and completely lovely essay.
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House: To change or not to change, that is the cliffhanger
[Read the article: I Like to Watch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am disappointed with this review of the excellent season finale of "House." As other readers have pointed out the many factual errors in this review, I won't dwell on these surprising lapses. I am more concerned that the reviewer seems not to have understood the primary focus of the entire series: the minute and fascinating recalibrations of the psyche of the complex Dr. House.
Other shows focus on the external travails of their characters -- sexual shennigans, murders, nuclear explosions, superpowers, and supposedly mysterious islands are the rather obvious trade of most prime time dramas these days. "House," however, takes as its mission the unfolding of the inner life of a failable, twisted, wounded, and infinitely sympathetic human being. If the proper study of mankind is man, then "House" fulfills that pupose in fine style.
With this in mind it is easy to appreciate the painstakingly careful way in which the "House" finale unveiled for attentive viewers yet another facet of the good doctor's personality. We learned that despite all evidence to the contrary, he is more flexible, open to change, and eager to repair his damaged life than we had heretofore imagined. Losing his team was a momentous event in the life of this tortured, stubborn man; saving the Cuban refugee was life-changing for her and for her doctor too. Whether the enchantingly resistant House will be able to sustain these small steps going forward is the "cliffhanger" that propels us through the summer. The "House" finale delivered in superb fashion on the promise of the breathtakingly convoluted season just past and set us up for another great year to come.
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Obama is not "testy"...
[Read the article: Is Obama getting "testy"?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...but I am getting slightly peeved, perturbed, and pissed off at the way that the press is blowing up a slight incident into a major drama. Obama has been a model of forceful, consistent presentation throughout this entire campaign. On the other hand the Clintons have become increasingly shrill, strident, off-kilter and out of touch with what really matters to American voters today.
I hope that soon the media will focus on the questions that actually concern us rather than a faux drama that creates transient headlines and takes our attention away from the real issues of the day -- the war in Iraq, the tottering economy, the dismal status of the United States on the world stage. In other words, we need analysis of the Bush/Chaney legacy rather than the minor squabbles of the Democratic candidates.
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Obama on a roll
[Read the article: Obama and the Kennedy legend]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Today's endorsement of Barack Obama by Caroline Kennedy and Ted Kennedy is a transcendent moment in American politics. Watching the resplendent white head of Senator Kennedy and the poignantly familiar auburn mane of Caroline bend toward Senator Obama's cropped head was poetic in the visuals and powerful in symbolism. The Clintons, relegated to Kennedy-wannabe status for the past two decades, were sidelined again, this time by their own slimey performance of Nixonian race-baiting in the run-up to the South Carolina primary. Hillary, talented and capable, has again paid a high price for Bill's inability to check his tongue and scornful finger wagging.
Obama has the humanity and wisdom, the solid experience, the self-knowledge, the energy, compassion and the soaring vision to provide the leadership our nation needs in this shaky time.
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Oh, does Obama have a white mother?
[Read the article: Obama and race in California]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...I hadn't realized that! How ridiculous and biased to critize Sen. Obama for running an ad featuring pictures of his late mother when Sen. Clinton brought her mother (and daughter) on the campaign trail as has Sen. McCain in recent days. I found the story of Obama's mother's struggle with impersonal and arrogant insurance agencies in the last months of her battle with cancer to be both an effective and moving personal testimony to the current broken state of our health system. Obama gets it. And this ad shows that he does.
On the vexed question of whether Latinos will support Obama in the coming election, I want to note that I live in central New Jersey and work with many Latinos of varying national backgrounds. Several of my colleagues have pointed out that Latinos are a diverse and complex group without a single viewpoint or identity. Many conservative, establishment-oriented Latinos will vote for Hillary Clinton or John McCain certainly. But a large number of working class, progressive, and college-educated Latinos will support Obama as the candidate who best represents their interests, their vision, and their hopes for the future.
And for the record, I am black, my husband is white, my college-age kids are of mixed race and we all enthusiastically support Barack Obama.