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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
I'm an occasional reader of CP's opinion columns, mostly when the columns are linked by Drudge Report. This is my first letter to the editor in response to a column. I'm an old Vietnam vet who is conservative/libertarian on economic issues and liberal/libertarian on social issues.
I largely agree with CP's opinions on social and political issues. I'm a bit more of a hawk on military matters and a bit more of a philistine on artistic/cultural matters than CP. But the differences aren't major.
Overall I find CPs opinions to be informed, open-minded, and sensible. I'm always a little surprised that CP's columns can be so entertaining at the same time that her opinions are so sensible. Usually I equate entertainment with extreme views and a freak show mentality. That is, complex social and political issues are often boring or overly complex, so commentators usually spice them up by portraying them in stark ideological contrasts and speaking of near-apocalyptic consequences. CP, on the other hand, demonstrates a wide knowledge of the issues of the day, reaches balanced conclusions, puts things in perspective, and at the same time still manages to be pungent, biting, and entertaining.
Of course, part of CP's success is due to the nature of the competition. Shock value and stark ideological contrasts have become so much the norm that a sensible, balanced perspective becomes shocking. This shows up in the negative responses of irritated readers in this "letter to the editor" section. Distressed that CP won't toe one or another neat ideological line, readers on both the left and the right dismiss her work as air-headed bloviation or worse. But to such readers I would reply: CP is tackling complex, controversial social and political issues. Why on earth would you expect that they can reasonably be boiled down to easy black/white, right/wrong orthodoxies? If she knows what she is talking about and incorporates the full complexity of political and social controversies, then it would follow that her opinions can't toe the line of any one quick, easy ideological convention or orthodoxy. So why the outrage and dismissal?
One thing that's often missing from CPs pronouncements is substantiation, i.e., some indication of the research and reading that she has done on the issue. But opinion columns aren't research papers; they are done on the quick. Perhaps CP expects her readers to be as informed as she is, in which case they will recognize her opinion as being thoughtful and nuanced. As for the outrage and dismissal of the rest: The hell with it. You can't spoon-feed everyone. You pick your niche and you provide good substance to that audience. The rest won't starve. They can draw their sustenance from the ideological convention and orthodoxy so prevalent elsewhere in the media.
(1) Dear Camille, doesn't Obama suck at talking when he's not giving a speech? And didn't he screw up the Blagojevich thing? -Blake Krass, Pflugerville, Texas
Dear Blake: I like Obama's way of talking more than I like his speeches. But I agree Obama and his team screwed up on the Blago deal, and they need to get better.
(2) Dear Camille, Obama's team sucks, and the Democrat Party haven't done anything good since the Clinton years. The Democrat Congress hasn't done much since they won some seats in 2006 and 2008. They suck. Obama sucks too. I hate the Democrats. They are bozos. I love God and I am his faithful, Jesus-loving servant. -Daine Zaccheo, Iraq
Dear Daine: You're right about my Democrat party! I think you are a Mormon. I agree Congress needs to suck less. I disagree in exactly how they suck. I don't think Nancy Pelosi sucks as much as you think she sucks. But man, Harry Reid sucks.
(3) Dear Camille, Dick Cavett was mean to mock Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin talks real good if you add some punctuation and stuff. Here, let me show you. See, Sarah Palin isn't so bad after all. Suck it, Dick Cavett. -Blaine Walgren
Dear Blaine: Rock on! Blow me, Cavett! Mmmm, Palin. I totally "get" you, Palin. Your speech is be-bop jazz to my ears. And any other people who are mean to Palin can blow me, too. That includes YOU, Katie "stupid-head" Couric! Couric interviewed me, and I found her stupid and ugly.
(4) Dear Camille, I saw "The Weather Underground" and those people are all assholes. The woman was the biggest asshole and she made the men look like wimpy little girly-assholes. Just like in Jefferson Airplane! Also, I would like to recommend an interesting book to you, which is about those assholes. -K. Lenz
Dear K.: You are so right. They are assholes. And those assholes haunted me. I love Jefferson Airplane. Thank you for referencing something old that I can relate to.
(5) Dear Camille, I am a conservative lesbian living in New York (subtext: meet for drinks?). What do you think about the Fairness Doctrine? I think it sucks ass. -Kara McGee
Dear Kara: The Fairness Doctrine does suck ass. And so do the Democrats who support it. And speaking of sucking ass, conservatives are much better at talk radio than liberals are. Especially Rush Limbaugh. He is so great. So are the other conservative radio people. I am a Democrat and all, but I love them.
(6) Dear Camille, did you notice how much global warming has to do with the Iraq war? No, no joke coming, I am just sayin': People were wrong about Iraq, and they're wrong about global warming. Don't you agree? -Jim Carroll
Dear Jim, Oh do I ever agree. I think the Iraq War blows. And I think global warming theory blows. They are so alike. I don't believe in man-made global warming, because it doesn't feel right to me. I don't know much about the science but I prefer other scientific explanations that better suit my ideology and my feelings about the wondrousnous of nature. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to repeat this yet again, for all those who didn't read my simplistic comments about it in several of my past columns.
(7) Dear Camille, I am a right-wing tard-mo. I am also, like, totally Christian. Why are you an atheist? You are going to hell, probably. God bless, Sam
Dear Sam: Thank you for your thought-provoking question. I love the bible, it's the greatest book ever. I think Jesus is really interesting and stuff too. He was, like, a really rockin' performance artist of his time! I can dig that. But I just don't buy into your religious bullshit. Even though it is awesome. And you're awesome for writing! Hugs.
(8) Dear Camille, Do you think the gays are genetic? Or did Freud make them gay? I went to college a long, long time ago. What's up with the gay stuff? (P.S. I am straight, K?) -Henry Delahunt, Shreveport, La.
Dear Henry, Freud is cool, but he's old-skool. But I favor nurture over nature, and I don't really understand the scientific stuff because it's intimidating and not an area where I can talk big. By the way did I mention I wrote some books? Anyway, here are my unsupported views on gay stuff. I still haven't figured it out, really. Sarah Palin makes my nipples sweat.
(9) Dear Camille, I like what you said about "revalorization of the trades"! I am a college professor and these dumb kids are a pain in the ass! Send 'em to trade school and get them out of my hair, fer chrissakes! Aw hell with it, why can't we adopt a caste system? -Marna Krajeski
Marna: Rock on! American academia is down the crapper! The universities are a sham! Liberal arts educations just depress the youth! Why don't more young people aspire to be cobblers? It's a travesty.
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