Letters to the Editor
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The Art of Being a Gentleman
Sorry, wrong again, Richard. You are making some colossal and unwarranted assumptions. Of course Americans feel anger when they watch the death toll going up daily in Iraq. If that doesn't make you angry then you are dead inside. But to assume that we are having a knee jerk anger reaction to Iraq and that is all we are angry about is a colossal misreading of this matter.
The war is just one of the things among many we are angry about, among many that Mr. Colbert spoke of in his performance piece. Many of us know that we should have a presence in the Middle East, bases, an Embassy, and input and influence. And that might have happened with someone else in charge. But Bush has bungled that whole mission abominably. Through mistake after mistake, he has mangled any chance the US has of having an appreciated influence there.
You also accuse us of being influenced by bloggers. I don't read blogs just as I don't depend on the Wikipedia. Unlike our president, I prefer to listen to experts who devote their lives to penetrating the nuances of their science, political science, military science, chess, art, statesmanship, whatever their passions are that spur them on to bringing the highest discipline to their chosen field of study. We are not all crack pots.
Now here's something I never thought I would be doing--lecturing a Congressman on the art of being a Gentleman. The essence of being a Gentleman is doing and saying the appropriate things at the appropriate time. You are no Gentleman, Richard. There is such a thing as righteous anger. I am not referring to the bible thumping, illiterate, deprived and depraved right-wing extremist mental dwarfs, but to the true indignation we feel at Bush and his other morons who are tearing this Country to shreds. This anger is patriotism. It is not cowardly as you are acting. It is what needs to be said at the time it needs to be said. It is the Gentlemanly thing to do. It is how a Democracy is supposed to work. You are trapped in the political correctness these micro-brains have tried to force on us while they say one crazy thing after another.
It may be rude for me to call you by your first name, to lecture you, and it would be rude if I were to say you have no balls and are not a Gentleman. But that does seem appropriate in light of your behavior. But it is never rude to stand up for our Constitution and our way of life against an Administration that intends to turn us into their pet vision of what they want us to be by breaking laws and lying, withholding information, pandering to anyone they can manipulate, throwing away our funds, hurting our ill and elderly, committing one criminal act after another, and letting their rich friends run roughshod over our lives and our environment.
It would be rude not to speak up. And it would be rude and cowardly to be indignant with those who do speak up. And the best thing for you to do is to be a Gentleman, let yourself feel the Nation's anger, understand it, and do something about it.
Pat Mencke
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On Richard Cohen
I feel bad for Richard Cohen and all the trash e-mails he has received. I guess he deserves them since he made statements which are as outrageous as Colbert. If he thinks that Colbert was rude, he has gone to the same level when he insulted Colbert.Colbert was invited to speak to the event, so,is that what they wanted? or are they sorry they invited him? For myself, if I was invited to speak for Bush, I would have told the truth with a comical approch as Colbert did.
This President shuns away from people who want to tell him what they think by prearranging his audience every time he gives a speech and therefore never knows how real people think and what they really like to say.That is pitiful and absurd. Colbert spoke for many of us and we support him all the way.We could care less on what Richard Cohen thinks and the evidence that he would like to suppress free speech. Mr.Cohen,should go take a cold shower and shut up.
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My LTTE to WaPo (CC to funny little Richie):
I wonder, is this the type of raw hatred emanating from Richie's inbox, or was that just his breakfast burritos clouding his perceptions?
Date: Thu, 4 May 2006 11:00:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Ron Barth, Jr."
Subject: "So Not Funny," Richard Cohen
To: "Washington Post Letters to the Editor"
CC: cohenr@washpost.com
Dear Sirs:
Since Mr. Cohen has chosen to fulminate on Stephen Colbert's comedic performance (and the rudeness thereof), I choose to respond.
First, contrary to Mr. Cohen, I found Colbert's performance brilliant. It was hysterically funny to those of us, unlike Mr. Cohen, who recognize the harm being done to this country by Bush and his cronies. For those of us who've recognized Emperor Bush's nudity since before his selection by the Supremes, it was immensely gratifying and hugely entertaining to see and hear someone speak the truths that Bush is an incompetent fool, and the press corps have served as stenographers for administration talking points. As soon as someone pays Mr. Cohen for being so funny -- as he so humbly describes himself -- I will consider his criticism of a professional's comedic performance relevant.
Regarding rudeness, I cannot imagine anything more rude than Mr. Bush's foray into comedy at the Radio and Television Correspondents event at which he unveiled the high hilarity of his "Where are the WMDs" skit. Never mind that thousands were dead -- and continue to die -- because of his administration's fabrications about the imminent danger posed by Saddam's fictional WMD stockpiles, the complicit press laughed along and lauded Bush for his genial simulacrum of bonhomie. That's rude.
And Colbert was hilarious.
Best,
Ron Barth, Jr.