Locutus

You've demonstrated that little red stars are what you live for. Now could you please explain how you manage to type while kissing Joan Walsh's ass at the same time? -- Some No Name Given Anonymous Cheap Asshole who won't buy a Salon subscription.

I have demonstrated nothing of the sort, you asshole.

I live, as the lady just said, as somewhat of a narcissist, how about you? You're so ashamed of yourself you won't even sign with a consistent pseudonym. What's that say about you, you asshole!

I've never met Joan Walsh, but I like her a lot and I would gladly plant my face in her ass if she asked me to. (LOL)

Gimmie a star!

St Fuad,

You got banned from my site because you mistook it for a place where you could act out.

Therefore, you were no longer welcome. However, I wish you wouldn't lie about why you were tossed. Agreement isn't necessary. Not acting like asshole is. If you were tossed,

that's why.

you HAPPEN to be the tree where villagers post their notes. you just aren't that important. kamiya in particular, since this is in reference to *his* article, decided to think of himself as white - married white, thinks white, gave up association with the "other". Hey! Gary! the Palestinians won't think you are white (but they *will* exploit your confusion of identity). you want to find out who your friends are, Gary? GET POOR!

This is probably neither a fair nor accurate subject title. Nevertheless, the 275 letters and counting is a remarkable compilation of opinions and remarks that given further study would reveal much about American culture. I have to admit that there is no way I have time to read all the response letters submitted to Salon. It is hard to imagine how anyone has time to read all these letters. And if you did read all the letters, what does that say about your life? Anyway, to my point which is that these letters reveal alot about the personality and character of the letter writer and not necessarily much about what or how the letter writer thinks.

What a vast array of comments! To think that there is a face, a sentient being behind each of these letters. But, who? Some letters are so completely irrational (at times disturbing) that you can not help but wonder what planet these people are from. Others are so tightly composed and focused on the most insignificant and often mundane subjects. It is a little alarming and I cannot help but wonder if I have ever known or met people like this? Many of the letters express some real insight and/or fresh ideas and genuinely provoke as much (sometimes more) thought as the subject of the original article. I kind of get envious of those letter writers. Everyone can see they got their act together in life. Many, if not most writers are expressing common thinking. They serve the useful purpose of characterizing how most people think – a baseline if you will of “middle America.” All and all, I enjoy the letters these articles generate and consider it a form of entertainment. I do not mean this in a light or condescending way. I certainly empathize with the amount of time and thought that goes into most of the letters.

It occurs to me that writing, either letters or the articles, is a strong form of narcissism. Most of the time, when we put a piece of writing out in the public domain, we are telling others what we think and that what we think is important enough for others to know. It is implied that if we are going to be allowed to express our views (factual or not), then we must permit others to do the same, whether it be about what we write or something else entirely. Obviously, not everyone is thrilled with the “feedback” that they receive. The question of whether letters should be anonymous or not, speaks directly to how people perceive themselves and how concerned they are with how other people might perceive them. Again it is all replete with narcissism. My argument would be that since writing is so narcissistic, it gives each of us and those who read what we write, an opportunity to peer into our souls and learn quite a bit about who and what we are, how we think and how we think of others, expressed or implied.

So, I can imagine Gary et al. reading our letters, and trying to imagine who are these faceless people? Is this America at its best or worst? To think about all the cumulative energy and time taken to reply to the article, what does it all mean? Is there hope or reason for concern? Should we even spend anymore time thinking about what it all means? Of course, I have no idea what you all are really thinking. But I leave you with a couple thoughts, clichés actually.

From the car sales world – There is an ass for every seat.

And, a personal favorite – You cannot be all things to all people. All you can try to do is be true unto yourself.

So, everyone pile on! Who knows where this bus will take us next?

Cheers!

P.S. You know someone should write a serious book about “Letters to the Editor.”

A number of responses have posed variations on, "Why are professional writers so thin-skinned and precious?". Part of the answer is this: unless a letter writer is responding out of some profound personal experience - writing about a death in their family in reply to article about grieving, for example - a lot of on-line letter writing is the result of minutes of thought.

Paid writers live with what they write for weeks or sometimes months beforehand. It occupies at least a corner of their mind continually prior to publishing. Their relationship to what they write is formed through living with it. A piece of that writer goes with the story. This is simply not the case for most letter writers, I would suggest.