Letters

Congress race poses array of hot issues

I think your Aug. 26 cover headline, "Bitter Pill," is also an apt description of Michael Green's simplistic attempt to characterize the congressional race for District 1 as a one-issue criticism of Rep. Berkley [Backstory, "Voting Early and Often"]. Is Mr. Green deliberately trying to mislead the voters, or is he simply that uninformed?

If he had done the least amount of research--say, for example, reading the events calendar in the previous issue of the paper that prints him--he would have known about a congressional debate hosted by Ann Reynolds and myself on education, another important issue on which we are challenging the incumbent. And if he had called the congresswoman's office, he would have found out that she took the event seriously enough to send a spokesperson to represent her position. I was pleased with this progress. Because if there was one overriding principle that motivated me to enter this race, it was that the American voting public deserves the opportunity to have an open and full discourse on all the issues that affect them.

However, since Mr. Green seems unaware of the other issues in the Democratic primary (or chooses to ignore them), I'll give him a brief list:

• The USA PATRIOT Act. (The incumbent voted for it.)

• The "pick your poison" prescription drug bill for seniors. (The incumbent voted for it.)

• The "No Child Left Behind" fiasco. (The incumbent voted for it--and still maintains that it can be fixed with just 9 billion more dollars. I have argued that it is flawed legislation, and needs to be repealed--a position that apparently John Kerry and the National Education Association agree with!)

Would Mr. Green ask us to dismiss all these as just "wrong votes for good reasons"? When do our elected officials take responsibility for their mistakes? I'm hoping it's on Sept. 7th!

And of course there is the vote that gave the president unlimited authority to invade a sovereign nation, without any evidence that Iraq posed a real and imminent threat to U.S. national security. Let's examine the consequences of that single vote: By the end of this year, the war in Iraq will have cost the American taxpayers $200 billion. It has already taken the lives of 968 of our American troops, produced another 6,500 wounded American soldiers, as well as the Iraqi dead, which number anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000. Where is the "good" in this "wrong vote"?

Finally, Mr. Green insults Ann Reynolds and myself by suggesting that we may have felt differently had we "pondered" how difficult it is to cast such a vote. Yes, and I'm sure we'd all feel a lot more forgiving toward Richard Nixon if we "pondered" how hard it was to send the plumbers into the Watergate Building. But politics is unforgiving, for good reason. And I can assure you, Mr. Green, that I "pondered" how that Iraqi vote was cast--and whether I truly wanted to make the commitment to run in this campaign in opposition to it--a lot longer than you "pondered" the facts in your pandering attack on Rep. Berkley's congressional opponents.

--Brian Kral,

Democratic candidate

for Congress, District 1

Critic misses point of Gallery Au Go-Go

What to reply, what to reply...

Do me a favor, Ms. Yowell, if you're going to trash my gallery and its current exhibit, do your homework ["Blowing Smoke," Erika Yowell, Aug. 26].

This gallery is run by one person, me. It is operated without receiving any donations or making any profits since the day I opened it in 2001. I curate every show, hang every piece, design every promo poster and type out every label (Sorry, they weren't all up but artwork was coming in all through the night). Part of what people love about this place is the urgency and energy that come with all the shows I've done.

The gallery is "lowbrow" by design and it is open to all artists regardless of what you or anyone else considers their skill level to be. I run themed shows that inspire local artists to try something new and challenging as well as giving them a reason to create. The 300-plus people who attended the opening and after-party seemed to enjoy themselves. Isn't that what art should be, a celebration?

By the sound and tone of your writing, you reinforce the reasons I opened Gallery Au Go-Go to begin with, to be a voice against the pretentiousness that is so commonly associated with an "art" community. Your vocabulary is quite impressive. I'm sure my patrons and I all needed a dictionary to get through your review.

You don't have to like my name or the fact that the gallery is located next to my tattoo parlor. I don't care. But understand this; I am a true local, this is my town and I run my part of it the way I want. Do me a favor, as you won't like the upcoming exhibits any more than this one...stay away. Go downtown and sip wine with the mayor and congratulate everyone around you for getting it right. I'm not sure how we were voted "Best Art Gallery in Las Vegas" in last year's Review-Journal readers poll. Perhaps the staff was drunk.

When you mocked this show, remember, you're also taking shots at the more than 60 Las Vegas artists who tried and succeeded in doing something unique and unseen in the valley. I'm not saying I need to be critic proof. You're welcome to your opinion, as am I. Now excuse me while I go light up a cigar with your paper.

--Dirk Vermin

Film critic gets five stars

Of all the weeklies, dailies and local magazines in Las Vegas, Jeannette Catsoulis' movie reviews are always intellectually fulfilling and thought provoking.

Whether I agree with her reviews or not does not matter. Her writings are consistently interesting reads, with some deeper thought and points of view than most columns that I read on a local level.

Thanks for her work. She is one of my favorite writers and reviewers, and I sometimes get downright upset at some other reviewers who I do not think have the depth or capacity to understand the meaning beyond the pale.

--Jaimie Blue