WE'LL DECIDE WHAT'S A "DISGRACE" AROUND HERE, THANKS. When the Learning ...
WHAT'S A "DISGRACE" AROUND HERE, THANKS.
When the Learning Annex asked me to teach a course for them, I was delighted. However, I was not delighted when I eventually found out that instead of wanting me to teach a course about astrology or spirituality, they were instead interested in me teaching how to marry a rich man.
Appalled, I kept my promise and taught the course they designed for me. However, I changed the structure of the course to let women know that-like it or not-they must have something going in their own life before they reach out or search for someone successful.
I married for love, not money. I ended up divorcing because I was no longer happy and wanted to be true to myself. I am now an out lesbian and I am happy with the choices I've made in my life. Given my history and bio, I could have taught a more inspirational course instead.
I find that an article written by a proclaimed reporter containing profanity and crass dialect is a disgrace to your publication (A.J. Daulerio, "Gold-Digging 101," 11/24). It is not surprising that the entire article was rude and harshly opinionated, because the person writing it is exactly as such.
I kept my promise to the Learning Annex, but most importantly, I kept a promise to myself that I would not teach women how to be golddiggers. Many of them were very happy with the course and said so out loud before the class ended. Of course that was not written in the article you published, because the reporter chose to write with complete negativity.
Rather than being a coward and hiding behind a pen and piece of paper, the reporter should have come forth like the other reporters there did at the end of the lecture. That alone is a sign that an unpleasant article was the initial objective. The next time someone wants to write about me, request a one-on-one interview to find out the real reason for my public appearances.
Stephanie Adams, Manhattan
FIRST-TIME NAME-CALLER
Excuse me, is J.R. Taylor really as stupid as he just portrayed himself to be on The Majority Report on Air America Radio? Taylor claims that because two morons committed other crimes after killing Matthew Shepard, it wasn't a hate crime ("Exposing Themselves," 12/1). I know Taylor isn't a very bright individual, but how many of their other victims did they kill? Why would they have killed Shepard but not the others? Could it be because they wanted to kill a gay person?
Robert Kaufman, Seattle
TAYLOR-BASHING
In response to J.R. Taylor's column ("Exposing Themselves," 11/30), he and his wingnut buddies must have been beside themselves when 20/20 decided to "show the other side" of the Matthew Shepard case so they could go into their usual shrill liberal-bias routine. Well, thank God Shepard was only killed by meth addicts. I'm sure that makes the crime less vicious and hateful in their eyes.
Only a few problems:
1. The program based its evidence on two known liars who are convicted felons.
2. The retired Laramie Police Chief, Dave O'Malley, said that the killers had not used meth for several days and had no withdrawal symptoms, and that 20/20 failed to report on the jailhouse letters that one of the killers had written, which contained information suggesting that this could have been a bias-driven crime.
3. The two killers were high-fiving and signing autographs in jail after sentencing.
4. Striking someone 19 to 21 times in the face and the head is a concentrated effort to destroy someone.
5. The victim in question can't really present "his side" of the story, being that he's kinda dead and all.
So how is it obvious to "intelligent human beings" that this wasn't a murder based on anti-gay bias? Although I oppose hate-crime legislation, Taylor has shown no concrete proof that this crime wasn't motivated by these factors. Notice how Taylor is doing the exact same thing he condemns: using his political leanings by continuing to use this poor guy as a political volleyball.
Also I find it fascinating that he dismisses Fred Phelps' anti-gay group as being on the fringe. Well, I guess he has been living in the Tora Bora caves since 9/11, as two "mainstream" religious leaders, Falwell and Robertson, who have basically become kingmakers for Bush & Co., blamed the 9/11 attacks partially on gays (with nary a word from the White House-don't wanna alienate your base, now). He must not have a radio or computer in that cave either, as he would know that highly rated syndicated AM personality Michael Savage has gone on some pretty virulent anti-gay tirades, not as he read some of the lovely rhetoric spewed by the town-hall columnists.
And of course gay marriage was not a political issue in the past year, and I just imagined Bush trying to push an amendment through Congress, and there were no anti-gay-marriage ballot measures that passed in several states. The liberal media must have also fabricated those anti-gay quotes by two winning Republican candidates for senator in Oklahoma and South Carolina. Oh, and James Dobson of Focus on the Family must be Andy Kaufman doing a new version of Tony Clifton.
I have to give the Phelps clan some credit; at least you know where they stand. It took some time for the rest of them out there to show their true colors. Has anyone noticed that Phelps & Co. get treated better by the authorities than say, anti-war and anti-convention protestors?
Maybe Taylor should do what he feels many of the entertainers he covers should do: stick to what you're good at (if anything) and stuff the political rhetoric.
Alex Swingle, Manhattan
UM, WASN'T THAT AN APOLOGY?
Did New York Press apologize to Kelly ("News Hole," 12/8)? Pretty big mistake to make. Is Kerik a Republican? If he is, that explains this article. If he were a DemocRAT, this article may never have existed.
Ruth, via email
INEFFABLE INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY
Kerik might be an example of the overemphasis on experience or vicarious experience ("Secretary Kerik," 12/8). As Dahlia Lithwick of Slate noted, the second trials on whether a death penalty should be given reverse the first trial's emphasis on eliminating raw emotion and revenge. The victims of 9/11 (and Kerik?) were given inappropriate authority; in a sense even the 9/11 Commission was given almost infallible authority based on vicarious experience. Sen. Kerry tried to lever his war experience to win the presidency.
R.L.A. Schaefer, Dubuque, IA
BIRDBRAINS INDEED
Thank you so much for writing about my group Birdbrain before our show on Dec. 11. It's very exciting to read such great writing and to have a fabulous review published about us.
I was curious, however, about where you got the photo image that you used for this review. That's not us! I believe that it's an album cover for another group that used to be called Birdbrain (hard-rock band from Boston) that's long broken up. We're a Brooklyn-based experimental pop/jazz group, and our CD image would have been available for you, but unfortunately no one contacted me for one. Also, I am the singer, bandleader and songwriter for the group and the review didn't mention my first name.
All this aside, I'm still very, very grateful and thrilled that you printed a glowing review of Birdbrain.
Yvette Perez, Brooklyn
THE MARSHALL PLAN
I'm the author of a letter to the editor that was printed in the Dec. 8 New York Press concerning Matt Taibbi's 12/1 piece on Will Marshall ("No More Moore"). I feel obligated to inform you that my little tirade was based on a boneheaded factual error on my part. The former legislative director of the Christian Coalition-the person about whom I had exchanged emails with Josh Marshall-is, in fact, Marshall Whitman, not Will Marshall. (Yes, that makes three completely unrelated Marshalls in all.)
Furthermore, while I was somewhat disappointed with Josh Marshall's response to my email, my characterization of that response was excessive and unfair.
For what it's worth, I take full responsibility for both the error and the attack. I know that you're not likely to print a correction or retraction, but I at least wanted to make a good-faith attempt to set the record straight. Josh Marshall didn't deserve the opprobrium.
Steve J. Albert, Manhattan
NATIONWIDE HATE
The same Chuckie Schumer who wants government cameras everywhere also fights tooth and nail to keep Americans from being able to defend themselves ("Don't Blame Ashcroft-Blame Chuck," 12/8). Let him grab all the guns he wants to grab in NY; it's what you people want. I just wish he'd leave the rest of the country alone.
David J Mann, Camarillo, CA
HONKY HATE
Regarding Dan Martino's column ("450 White People Agree," 12/8). Why isn't Wilco in Vibe? Shut up, you stupid racist.
Stuart Bendele, Sparta, NJ
COULDJA USE SMALLER WORDS NEXT TIME?
Complaints about the New York Times' unreadability is symptomatic of America's dumbing down (Russ Smith, "Sixth-Graders Need Not Apply," 12/8). I spent 34 years teaching honors-level and AP biology to some of the brightest kids imaginable. If I had not been lucky enough to teach a program such as those in a fine suburban school district, I doubt I would have lasted. All around me I saw a general decline in student performance. The reasons are myriad (sorry for the Times-like word) and impossible to get into in a short email. I would love to discuss them sometime.
Howard Gleichenhaus, Delray Beach, FL
YOU HEARD IT HERE FRIST
A weak bench-Bill Frist (Russ Smith, "Pledging Their Time," 11/24)? Why bother with polls? I've voted for the winner in the presidential election every time for the last 32 years. I am a moderate, southern born and raised.
When Bill Frist entered the Senate, I told many people to watch him. He will be president, I said. They laughed. Several years later, he becomes Senate Majority Leader.
If you think George Bush was underestimated, wait until you see Bill Frist. Trust me on this.
Ann Garrison, Allentown, NJ
CORPULENT, PERHAPS
I enjoyed Matt Taibbi's column, "No More Moore" (12/1), and I certainly agree with it. I have just one quibble: I wish Taibbi hadn't referred to Moore as "the fat director." I do hope he'll continue to write about the follies of the DLC. Thanks for a great column.
J.J. Dawson, Gary, IN
EVERYTHING TO LOSE
Thank you, thank you, for giving a voice to Matt Taibbi ("No More Moore," 12/1). Outstanding, and he is not the only one noticing. I read his article and it just confirms my belief that the Democrats didn't "get it." How much do they have to lose before they realize they can't be better Republicans than the ones we've already got? Wake up, Democrats! It may be too late already.
Kate Jones, North Bend, OR
OH, CLEVER, CLEVER
I read Matt Taibbi's article on Common Dreams this morning ("No More Moore," 12/1). I hadn't heard of your publication until now. My question is, why haven't the DNC and DLC resigned en masse? Why hasn't there been a massive demand for their resignations? Hasn't anyone noticed that the Republicats hold 28 governorships, the House of Representatives, the Senate, the White House and the Supreme Court?
I read in the Nation that "the presidential race was quite close, and nothing to be ashamed about." Are these people on drugs? Are we now a nation of war criminals with nothing to be ashamed about?
The Demoplicans have proven without a shadow of a doubt that they cannot win any election! They just lost to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party picked up seats in the House and Senate besides. It's Springtime for Hitler and Germany!
If it were not clear to some somnolent Democrats that "their" party had been sold to the ownership of the Republican Party by Al From and Bill Clinton, it ought to be crystal clear now! The Demoplicans went through the motions of an opposition campaign and, wanting to be invited back to participate in the next one, did not protest at all when the "A" team, the team that was "supposed" to win, stole the election for the second time running.
If Americans of color manage to overthrow the present, utterly corrupt leadership and resurrect the Democratic Party, I will indeed be thankful and count them our nation's saviors. But from the tenor of non-outrage at the traitorous performance of the Demoplicans in the media, I think that I will never vote for either party again. (And I expect all the rest of you to do the same.)
The next inflection point in American politics is the 2006 Congressional Election. The only way we can stop the war crimes and the destruction of our Republic is to see that we have an Independent majority in the House that will pull the plug financially on the two-fronted war in the Middle East, that will put some semblance of order back into our nation's finances and that will rededicate our nation to the ideals of freedom and justice we once claimed to hold dear.
John Francis Lee, Thailand
WHAT HAPPENED TO FIGHT?
Thank you very much for running Matt Taibbi's article ("No More Moore," 12/1). His taking issue with From and Marshall's taking the liberty of defining the foundation for the Democratic platform (yet to be defined democratically by consensus and not usurped fiat) is crucial.
From and Marshall do not speak for me. I am distraught that the Dems adopt the guise of the other party. Matt Taibbi's rejection of the DLC's CEO jumping Bush's claim (in the gold-digger's sense) gives me hope, and I don't have a lot of it these days. The totalitarian stratagem and planks of the Republican administration must not be adopted by the Democratic Party.
The options available when overpowered by one's adversary are: give up and die, adapt and transform, withdraw or imitate the victor. Apparently and amazingly Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute and Al From, CEO of the DLC (for God's sake) wish to imitate the Republicans-sort of move in on the Republican platform. They don't seem to realize that they've already done that. Who needs a second Republican Party?
James Lambert, via email
JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE PARANOID?
Since Nov. 2 I've been struggling with a ridiculous paranoid belief that neo-con stealth tactics have been operating behind the scenes in the Democratic Party's leadership. I've been imagining secret Republican operatives, pretending to be Democrats, working from within the Democratic Party not only to undermine its power but to cause it to commit suicide.
How else can we make sense of the party's deafening silence in the wake of a second stolen election? What else can explain the bad advice given to Sen. Kerry? Yes, the media is largely to blame for his supposed failure to connect with all those "red" people out there, but Matt Taibbi's extremely disturbing article has encouraged me to believe my "paranoia" may be justified ("No More Moore," 12/1).
As for Michael Moore, I'm wondering if he is thinking the same thing I am: We should have voted for Nader!
Ronelle Delmont, Pembroke Pines, FL