LETTERS to the Editor.Gore Vidal Noun 1. Gore Vidal - United States writer (born in 1925) Eugene Luther Vidal, Vidal Is Right Reading Gore Vidal's article "To: Bill, Fr: Management, Re: Mind Your Place" (October issue) was both a frightening and confirming experience. Years ago, when I was more politically active during the Vietnam era Vietnam Era is a term used by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to classify veterans of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam Era is considered to have begun in 1964 and ended in 1975. The U.S. Congress, U.S. , I learned how this country actually works. I learned that the real power lay in the hands of the wealthy, rather than in government, that decisions were made behind the scenes by people we rarely hear of, and that our President either cooperates on some issues or ultimately faces disgrace or assassination Assassination See also Murder. assassins Fanatical Moslem sect that smoked hashish and murdered Crusaders (11th—12th centuries). [Islamic Hist.: Brewer Note-Book, 52] Brutus conspirator and assassin of Julius Caesar. [Br. . I believed it then; I am sure of it now. As one who participated in peaceful demonstrations and civil disobedience civil disobedience, refusal to obey a law or follow a policy believed to be unjust. Practitioners of civil disobediance basing their actions on moral right and usually employ the nonviolent technique of passive resistance in order to bring wider attention to the , I felt that the power could eventually be in the hands of the people if we just got our act together. Now, however, there are mega and multinational corporations
My question is, what can we possibly do against such odds? Even if we could find a million or more people who would stand up against the wealthy, what lever do we have against them? If they are as arrogant as Vidal says, is there any way of reaching their conscience or good will? I don't think so. The only way that we could possibly bring them to their knees is through huge and long-term labor strikes and universal boycotts of their products and services. That could bring us to either a bloody revolution or starvation. Joan Burds Saint Genevieve, Missouri Gore Vidal expressed my feelings about the modern American Presidency. This one-sided, pro-business climate had been steadily growing since Nixon took office. The thing that appalls me is that the middle class buys into the "what's good for business is good for the country" rhetoric that is constantly spewed by conservatives. The result is that we have changed from being a nation of citizens to a nation of consumers (which is confirmed by falling voter turnout), who only care about what we can buy, not who we are. With no real two-party system A two-party system is a form of party system where two major political parties dominate the voting in nearly all elections. As a result, all, or nearly all, elected offices end up being held by candidates endorsed by the two major parties. , the "Republicrats" in Washington continue to cut needed services while giving more and more of the pie to the rich in the form of capital gains tax cuts and higher exemptions on inheritance taxes. And the middle class stands back and supports all of this in the hope that it will be "good for the economy." The two party system is dead. The Presidency has turned into a public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most job for big business. Shame on us for allowing this to happen. America is a nation of equal citizens, not a playground for the rich and powerful. There is more to America than a free market. This is not the United States of America UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The name of this country. The United States, now thirty-one in number, are Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, , Inc. Rick Soule Vista, California Nuclear Spoon Scare-Mongering Anne-Marie Cusac's article contains the typical scare-mongering tactics of the uninformed ("Nuclear Spoons," October issue). The 10 mrem per year dose would be a maximum and next to nothing. Even at 10 mrem per year, Cusac does not put this amount into its proper perspective. The average square mile of dirt one foot deep contains naturally radioactive elements such as one ton of K-40, three tons of U-238, and six tons of Th-232. This comes to an average exposure of 28 mrem/year from the ground we walk on. Other examples include: radon gas from the decay of natural uranium: 200 mrem/ year (equal to eating twenty spoons a year); cosmic radiation: 28 mrem/year; living downwind from a coal plant: 36 mrem/year; and products like smoke detectors, lantern mantles, TV and CRT screens all add up to the average American receiving approximately 360 mrem/year even if they never touch a spoon. Even our own body contains natural radioactivity, as we give ourselves 39 mrem/year. I laugh at your 10 mrem. Michael Ledo New Ellenton, South Carolina New Ellenton is a town in Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 2,250 at the 2000 census. History New Ellenton was formed from the citizens of Ellenton a farming town chartered in 1880 situated on the Charleston and Western Carolina Railroad in I just finished reading the article on the DOE plan to allow private companies to reprocess re·proc·ess tr.v. re·proc·essed, re·proc·ess·ing, re·proc·ess·es To cause to undergo special or additional processing before reuse. Verb 1. various metals contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. by low-level radiation. After a moment's thought, the solution to this potentially devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. health crisis occurred to me. The safest place for radioactive metal is ... inside bullets. Since bullets are made of lead, it would shield against the radioactive decay associated with these isotopes, and any radiation hazard is pretty much secondary to the primary trauma of the gunshot wound itself. Granted, some rounds do fragment on impact, but certain calibers are much less prone, such as relatively slow, heavy handguns like the .38 special, .44 special, and .45 automatic. Mike Pfeiffer Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa is a suburban middle class city in Orange County, California, United States. The population was 108,724 at the 2000 census. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to a suburban city with an economy based on Why Is Tobacco Different? I was disappointed to find John M. Jr. and Wendell Berry's flagrantly self-serving "Why We Need the Tobacco Program" in your October issue. The Berry brothers take McCarthyism to its mirror extreme by suggesting that anyone who does not believe in paying farmers to grow carcinogens Carcinogens Substances in the environment that cause cancer, presumably by inducing mutations, with prolonged exposure. Mentioned in: Colon Cancer, Rectal Cancer must be a rightwing, free market capitalist. Well, I am not a free market capitalist but a progressive and a socialist. I believe in working together to provide everyone an equal opportunity and a decent standard of living. I support economic democracy and oppose the Social Darwinism of our free market system. I also think that tobacco farmers are a bunch of whiny brats and fail to see how they can be viewed as poster children of the left wing. If any other businesses asked for a government handout (as they often do), we progressives would vehemently oppose them (as we often do). Why is this business any different? Regarding competition from Third World wage slaves, I find Congress's position as reprehensible rep·re·hen·si·ble adj. Deserving rebuke or censure; blameworthy. See Synonyms at blameworthy. [Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin repreh as anyone else, but I would remind the Berrys that we have the power to ban the import of these products if we wish. I cannot, however, comprehend the idea that we have the responsibility to help the tobacco (or any other) industry sell its products to the rest of the world. Tracye Sine Owens Cross Roads, Alabama Owens Cross Roads is a town in Madison County, Alabama, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town is 1,124. Zinn Wrong About `Ryan'? I'm writing in response to Howard Zinn's October column ("Private Ryan Saves War," Culture). Zinn sets up a strawman with the question: "Will this film help persuade the next generation that such scenes must never occur again?" Gee, I thought when Spielberg filmed the agonizing mother crouched over upon hearing of the loss of her three sons, he was urging me to send my own two sons for machinegun fodder. I don't think so. I too, like Zinn, am a veteran (Vietnam). I, too, like Zinn, want truth in motion pictures, and that's why I value documentaries. But Saving Private Ryan is not a documentary, but a fictional telling of D-Day and thereafter. Zinn wants the movie to make a statement concerning political leaders who glorify war. Unfortunately, this is not the movie that Spielberg made, nor the one I saw. So being the critic that Zinn is, he's going to review a movie that should have been made that wasn't. Good for him. Let me know when it opens in my neighborhood. Ted Lederer Kankakee, Illinois As usual, Howard Zinn delves beneath all the superficialities that have been heaped on our gullible heads. He informs us that Saving Private Ryan is a powerful continuation of the glorification glo·ri·fy tr.v. glo·ri·fied, glo·ri·fy·ing, glo·ri·fies 1. To give glory, honor, or high praise to; exalt. 2. of war, despite all the loss of life, limb, and spirit. I am grateful that Zinn, a historian who adds insight to fact, has helped me feel less lonely about thinking that war is not only hell, but a hell that needs to end. He sees so clearly that Saving Private Ryan is an unpoetic page out of history, asking no challenging questions and in no way daring to be anti-war. Richard J. Holmes Hays, Kansas Defend Privacy The Progressive's argument to censure President Clinton is problematic. It is inconsistent because it condemns him for actions that are none of its business. After chiding the right wing (correctly, in my view) for reviving Puritan morality regarding the President's sex life ("The New Puritans," Editor's Note, November issue), you then rebuke him for lying about it ("Censure Bill Clinton," Comment, same issue). Matthew Rothschild writes "[most people] ... don't want Peeping Toms with subpoena subpoena (səpē`nə) [Lat.,=under penalty], in law, an order to a witness to appear before a court. A subpoena ad testificandum [Lat. power peering into their windows to see whether they're in the missionary position." Yet the editors later pronounce, "We do not condone Bill Clinton's behavior. Any way you slice it, his shenanigans shenanigans Noun, pl Informal 1. mischief or nonsense 2. trickery or deception [origin unknown] have been abominable." In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , after arguing that the President is entitled to privacy in regard to his personal life, you judge, him for lying about what he did. But any questions about his sex life never should have been asked in the first place if his sex life is, in fact, private, as you say it should be. Either we are entitled to privacy or we aren't. Which is it going to be? You can do better. How 'bout it next issue? Hint: Defend the right to privacy for all Americans, including Presidents, and return Puritanism, in all its guises, to the seventeenth century where it belongs. Krister Knapp Boston, Massachusetts Derailing the Farce In a recent editorial, you suggested that a Clinton resignation would only encourage the rightwing fanatics ("Impeachment impeachment, formal accusation issued by a legislature against a public official charged with crime or other serious misconduct. In a looser sense the term is sometimes applied also to the trial by the legislature that may follow. Farce," Comment, September issue). I'm not sure I agree. I think the only thing that will discourage them is if we vote them out of office. A Clinton resignation would at least derail de·rail intr. & tr.v. de·railed, de·rail·ing, de·rails 1. To run or cause to run off the rails. 2. this current farce. All of that notwithstanding, the prospect for repealing any of the regressive anti-humanitarian and anti-civil rights legislation which Clinton has signed seems unlikely. Bill Michel Mountain View, California For the census-designated place, see Mountain View, Contra Costa County, California. For other places called "Mountain View", see . Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city gets its name from the views of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Oops! Corrections: Julie Jacobson did not receive endorsement from the Hawaii Government Employees Union this 1998 election cycle ("Ten Races to Watch," John Nichols, November issue). Jacobson was endorsed in 1996. This time HGEU left the endorsement open. She remains a supporter of the workers. Also, it is Lanny Sinkin, not Larry Sinkin running for the County Council in Hilo. Julie Jacobson Kurtistown, Hawaii Oops, Again! In the November Comment "Censure Bill Clinton," Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution was said to have the subheading sub·head·ing n. See subhead. subheading Noun the heading of a subdivision of a piece of writing Noun 1. , "All civil offices forfeited for certain offenses." The Constitution, in fact, has no such subheading. It was added by The World Almanac almanac, originally, a calendar with notations of astronomical and other data. Almanacs have been known in simple form almost since the invention of writing, for they served to record religious feasts, seasonal changes, and the like. , which I did not notice. Matthew Rothschild Editor The editors welcome correspondence from readers on all topics, but prefer to publish letters that comment directly on material previously published in The Progressive. All letters' may be edited for clarity and conciseness. Letters may also be e-mailed to: godwin@ progressive.org. Please include your city and state. |
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