Thursday, May 01, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Letters

Clinton doesn't deserve praise

I am sick and tired of you Clintonistas bashing Bush with lies and half-truths [Editor's Note, April 24]. Calling the military that overwhelmed Iraq "Clinton's military" is beyond the pale. Clinton cut the military by 50 percent and had the audacity to say he was cutting government, while in fact he was hiring more civilians for the government. If Clinton had still been president he would have sent two cruise missiles to attack an Iraqi aspirin factory, instead of a full attack on Iraq. Also, when Clinton took over the recovering U.S. economy he is touted as a master economist--not the inheritor of Bush 1's recovering economy. And [it's laughable] to say that if Clinton had a third term (perish the thought), he would have turned around the economy that was going sour. From your reasoning I guess we can also call that Clinton's sour economy.

As far as Clinton now giving masterful, well-received speeches, I beg to differ. He has been booed on many occasions, but that is never reported by the liberal press.

--Don Savage

Tribe mentality doesn't work for all gays

Thanks to the magic of the Internet, your April 17 column in the Mercury ["All You Can Eat," The Homeowner, Mike Prevatt] has found its way to the East Coast. Are you sure you're only 27? Your commentary is so on target and not, unfortunately, confined to Las Vegas.

As a 52-year-old gay man (HAPPILY ensconced in a 10-plus-year relationship), more and more I feel less and less connected to the "gay community." I don't even know what that means anymore. I've long since passed the age where I'm even VISIBLE if I were to walk into a gay bar. But being invisible has its advantages.

There have always been gay men like the ones you describe as being overly moisturized and looking like they've just stepped out of an Abercrombie and Fitch

ad. In the '70s we (unfortunately) had the "Castro Clone." Everyone wore flannel shirts and jeans and sported a mustache.

There is nothing wrong with being part of a "tribe," especially when you're in your 20s. But at some point in time you need to find your individuality and if your only point of reference is a completely homogenized, vanilla society, you'll be sadly lacking.

I, too, want my plate piled high with a variety of tasty, delectable morsels. I even require that some be aged to perfection, while others ripe off the vine.

Thank goodness I have a wonderful partner to share my dinner with. I'd really hate to be dining alone.

--Victor Martorano

War with Iraq was legitimate

After you ran my letter decrying the intellectual shortcomings of liberal opposition to our action against Iraq [April 10], Ronald Kinum responded with a letter "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." I'll do what he failed to do: address the argument.

"Question both the legitimacy and the legality" of this war by "considering the archive of historic criminal violations perpetrated by Republicans"? I'm sorry, but how does Hollywood blacklisting or Watergate establish that this war is unjust? Legitimacy? To repeat my point, all the pertinent evidence demonstrates that Hussein poses a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States. That's legitimacy. Legality? Exactly what "serious international violations" will President Bush be hauled in front of a tribunal in the Netherlands for breaking?

In my previous letter, I asserted that the treatment this war has received from liberals has been shallow. Mr. Kinum then unleashed a torrent of irrelevant, insulting accusations. Thanks for proving me right, Ronald.

--Jamie Huston

Attack on Bush lacks intelligence

First off, I'd like to suggest that Ronald Kinum research the rise of unisex names in modern society, because Jamie Huston (the author of the letter "Liberals Make Poor Case Against Iraq War" is a man).

Second, and my actual reason for this e-mail: I found his comments regarding the former to be a poor counter-argument, more like a lack thereof. His response is devoid of both an intelligent opposition and basis. He repeatedly trashed everything that was said, yet offered no evidence or reasoning that supported his accusations. His comment about a lack of humanitarianism is inappropriate and out of context because George W. Bush's "attack," so to speak, was an attempt to alleviate "illegal military aggression" directed toward the Iraqi people, and if that is NOT a humane gesture then I do not know what is. I suggest you encourage him to actually grasp the concepts of the topics he chooses to criticize. However, being an American grants you the right to be an idiot asshole if you choose. It is one of the many liberties bestowed up us.

--Yolanda Baca (female)

Iraq war was imperialist action

In the April 10 Letters section, writer Jamie Huston complains of the "liberals" and "the liberal media," that tired old myth that is STILL being dragged out when a member of the right-wing Bush apologists can't conjure an actual argument. Sigh. This is like shooting fish in a barrel, but what the hell; I have a few minutes.

First off, what "liberal media"? He mentions this myth throughout (indeed; his entire screed is based solely upon said myth), yet aside from citing the Mercury (a holding of Stephens Media Group of Arkansas, about as right-wing an organization as one can get; witness another of their holdings, the Review-Journal, referred to by most with functioning brain cells as the Republican-Journal), he notes no actual "liberal media" entity.

Jamie, the Mercury is what is commonly referred to as "alternative media." IOW, it goes AGAINST the "mainstream" news. I'll give you a minute to digest that.

If you were truly open-minded, you'd allow yourself to read, see and hear ACTUAL NEWS instead of the spin, propaganda and outright LIES of the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, Fox and the administration. There IS NO "validity" to this war unless you are an imperialist.

I'm kind of glad I decided never to bring children into this world. It's almost as if I knew that yet another Republican would come along and destroy a rather peaceful and prosperous period of time built by a Democrat. What I didn't realize, however, was how quickly that relative peace and prosperity would be shattered.

I don't blame America; I blame Republicans and people like you, Jamie, for being WILLFULLY ignorant of what goes on outside of your five square feet of personal space.

--Patricia A. Scotto