Letters to the Editor
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Not quite Michaela
Agreeing to the deabate, and then withdrawing from the debate make the Democrats look week.
If the Democrats had graciously turned down Fox News' offer in the first place they would have looked relativly strong and self aware.
Agreeing and then pulling out makes the Democrats look like:
a) they are disorganized as they some how agreed to a debate without ever realizing that Fox might have some sort of bias.
b) they are wishy washy and beholden to their most extreame members who refuse to even aknowledge other opinions on issues exist.
Giving Fox a wide birth would have been wise from Day 1, however that's not what the Dem's did. They agreed to something, and pulled out begging the question why?
The Meme that they are too afraid to have their week positions questioned will be repeated because of this, and that will only cost them in the end.
People recognize Fox is bias, but they also recognize that pulling out plays into every bad sterotype the Democrats have.
In the end, the real reason they pulled out, if you want my opinion, was to screw over Edwards, who, had he alone pulled out for "reasons of personal fortitude" he would have received a great deal of free publicity at the expence of "the front runner" Hillary Clinton.
By having word from onhigh comedown that no one is participating robs edwards of his thunder and keeps him in his current also ran category.
Yes that's just conspiracy talk, but that too is a meme to get repeated by this very poorly planned run of occurances.
The Democrats pulling defeat from the Jaws of Victory since 1980 (humor intended).
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JGM
I've read most of the letters: few react to Ms. Paglia's piece positively. The letters tend to be much more cogently written than the article itself. I'm not sure what the criteria are for a red star, but I don't think the stars are meant to reflect the views of the readership.
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Sorry JGM
I actually liked the Colin Grey piece. It's Paglia I have a problem with (that, and checking out your letter thoroughly before responding).
I'm curious about what bothered you about Grey's response?
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Appreciating Capitalism and Camille
Capitalism works. So does inherited monarchy. In the case of a benevolent despot, a monarchy can work very efficiently to run the trains on time and grow economies while pleasing the masses with something (the godlike ruler) to believe in. That doesn't mean we should be content to stop human history at monarchy and marvel at it's wonderfulness.. Ms. Paglia excoriates liberals for not appreciating capitalism while in nearly the same breath she watches black men unloading the cocoa and references the child labor implicit in the trade. The left's job is not to tinker with the mechanisms of greed run amok but to change the game. Darwinistic selfishness is not the only important human trait and capitalism is not the end of history. Whatever new system progressives and all the world's people cobble together will not be the end of history either.
Even the winners in the capitalism racket are discovering that dying with the most toys is not as satisfying as it once seemed. Fame is now replacing money as the most desired goal of the young The masses are discovering that "money can't buy me love," and something appears to be broken somewhere in the center of our lives.
Michelle Murphy
P.S. Good job Camille; soliciting emails and holding out the possibility of a personal response in your next column. Way to get to the "Most Popular" on Salon's list and blogged by all. You sure know something about pursuing fame. Worked for me.
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RE: Cliff Notes for Paglia
I haven 't laughed so hard.
I don't even want to waste the time writing all of the reasons that I can stand Camille, but, she does server a purpose. The postings to her articles are smart, focused and funny. They make for great reading.
I think the reason Camille likes Ann C so much is she is looking in a mirror. A mean-spirited self-involved pseudo-intellectual who knows how to work the media to create more press for herself and sell her books (I think there is a similar vein with her love of Madonna--all 3 of them are media whores).
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Withdrawing from the debate makes Democrats look like ...
... how did Ann Coulter put it?
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glad you're back
Glad you're back Camille. The highly charged, entertaining style, the independent thought, I like it. I marvel at some of the reactions to your writing that I read in the letters. No matter. Rock on, Camille.
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Thank Salon for open-mindedness!
I am delighted that Paglia is back with a regular column on Salon.com. I agree with other readers that her narcissism would seem to be as vibrant as ever, but give her credit for not being as angry as so many of Salon's readers seem to be. I don't get all the rage expressed in these letters. So Paglia's got an opinion. So she has penis envy. So she's got blind spots (huge ones, and she has the grace to acknowledge them restrospectively in many cases). I'll never forget the piece she wrote after the Columbia space shuttle crashed and the Bush administration was beating the war drums. She offers a different kind of intellectual energy than other academics. What's wrong with a collection of ideas and energies?? To me the wonderful thing about Salon.com has always been that it includes lots of opinions in ways that you almost never find in conservative news magazines or networks. Good work Salon. Thank you Camille!
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Snoozer
This chic is a very boring, dull writer. Why is she writing for Salon? Is she some sort of 60's counter-culture hero or something? Very poor...very poor indeed. Salon, you're better than this hack. Let's get it together.
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Welcome Back, Camille!
Camille's comments on Ann Coulter's gender weirdness were priceless. I have always thought that Coulter is a transgendered performance artist. A big glamourous fake whose goal is to get as much air time as possible and to make millions by saying the most outrageous nonsense and not actually believing a word of it. She has succeeded brilliantly.