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Cover All
I like the cover (Dec. 14 LEO). Very artistic. Just make sure you would do the same to Michael Moore if future events required it.
Aaron Leibson
Beware of Snow
Attn: Ross Gordon:
Great article and absolutely on target (“Turn off Idiot Central,” Dec. 14 LEO)! Please, please somebody stop the insanity of the news media — liberal and conservative — TV and print! I don’t like starting my day depressed, yet I don’t want to live under a shell and be unaware of the world around me. Quit blowing it all out of proportion. “Just the facts, ma’am!” That’s all I need. I don’t need you to paint the story with your liberal/conservative slant. I actually have a brain and can usually figure out who the “bad guys” are. Give us a little credit! Oh, and by the way, just in case that snow really does start to fall ... I always have bread and milk and toilet paper on hand. I’ll be OK!
Elaine Minton
Let’s Get It Kong
Since I called my band King Kong, a lot of people want to know what I think of the new “King Kong” movie. I think it stinks. First of all, it’s way too long. It takes an hour and a half before they even get to Skull Island. Also, there are too many digital special effects, like in “Star Wars” or “Jurassic Park,” and the tumbling dinosaur sequence just goes on and on. Most of all, the new “King Kong” isn’t sexy. In the original, Fay Wray comes out on the deck of the boat wearing that white flapper dress, her hair frizzed out, and her nipples were hard. She was a hot chick! Naomi Watts by comparison appears asexual. Are hard nipples too offensive for a family audience in this day and age? Watts is so fake, she could almost be a digital character — like Jar Jar Binks. When Kong brought Fay Wray to his lair, he stripped her clothes off with his thumb and forefinger, and he would have performed an act too gruesome for words had he not been distracted by a pterodactyl. And Fay Wray seemed like she almost wanted it. In the new version, Naomi Watts just sits there while Kong chews on bamboo. So boring.
“King Kong” is an archetypical adventure story of the collective unconscious. It’s Kong’s primitive phallus vs. the civilized phallus represented by the Empire State Building. We have come so far so fast. It is madness, and mankind, civilized as we are, has created monsters of our own, like the new “King Kong” flick. It is a monstrous flop.
Ethan Buckler
Ode to the Curmudgeon
Winter approaches, I prepare to nestle, all snug in my chair, no demons to wrestle. When what to my tired old eyes does appear but a poll on CNN, no pleasure to hear.
Shall we say, “Seasons Greetings”? Shall we say, “Merry Christmas”? Are stores being subjected to fundamentalist litmus?
“Who cares?,” I exclaim, with cheeks flushed rosy, aroused from my attempt to just be cozy.
How dare these idiots of doubtful religiosity inflict their views with such bellicosity. They’ve made me react, against my will, by more of their venom, stupidity and swill.
Who gives a fat fiddle how anyone greets me, as long as it’s kindly with no desire to defeat me.
Would a little tiny baby, a Jew through and through, want anyone castigated? What say you?
I say, “Bah, Humbug!” for all to hear, who’ve created an issue at this time of year; “Bah, Humbug,” to all who deflect attention from major world problems of huge dimension.
Go feed the hungry, help the widow, the orphan, the poor, then which greeting you utter will matter no more.
I am now tired of my own diatribe, my rantings, my vent, but I just want to tell you what I have just sent — a true wish for your happiness all through the year and your own special holiday filled with good cheer.
Love to all on your own special day.
Angeline B. Golden
Big Rock No Playground
While all of the conversation concerning Big Rock is now revolving around the loop issue, I would like to comment on the impending playground. According to a recent letter in The C-J, many are looking forward to the addition of the playground. Well at least one person is not. I had hoped that since the sign notifying us of the addition had been removed, so had the idea of a playground. The park area at Big Rock is very small. It is also a peaceful, tranquil spot to enjoy the sounds of the creek and nature in general. We have many playgrounds and other parks in the area specifically for children, including Cherokee and Seneca parks, which are very close to Big Rock. I realize that is dangerous in today’s “it’s all about the children” society to voice an opinion that does not include wanting children present in every aspect and area of our existence. But there are still adults who would like to be able to go to a quiet, tranquil spot just to read, reflect, walk a dog, etc., without encountering children. Unpopular? Maybe. Unheard of? I hope not.
Michele Moore
10 Ways to Pull Out
As John Yarmuth wrote two weeks ago, “A lot of Americans believe our mission (in Iraq) is completed.” Good point. But, we also know that we cannot simply pull out. Colin Powell was right, too, when he warned, “Break it and you buy it.” Here are 10 suggestions that seem pretty reasonable to me.
1. Publicly renounce any intention to use Iraq as a long-term military base.
2. Commit to a phase-out of U.S. troops as soon as an international peacekeeping force can be established.
3. Announce a cease-fire and re-train our army for a peacekeeping mission.
4. Establish a regional coalition in consultation with the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the U.N.
5. Reduce the staff of our embassy in Baghdad. Presently, it’s the largest U.S. Embassy staff in the world.
6. Allow the citizens of Iraq to consider a referendum on partitioning their country. It’s their decision, not ours.
7. Step up economic reconstruction efforts.
8. Identify the war profiteers and kick them out.
9. Stop the “we can do it on our own” political rhetoric.
10. Publicly re-examine our government’s process for engaging our country in war.
Tom Louderback
Honor and Integrity?
After five years in office, have Bush and Cheney restored honor and integrity to the Oval Office? I think the answer is a resounding NO! Was it honorable and honest to intentionally mislead our country into invading and occupying Iraq?
More than anything else it was Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky that cost Al Gore the presidency in 2000, even though Gore won the popular vote by 500,000 votes. That affair enabled Bush and Cheney to make the campaign pledge they would restore honor and integrity to the presidency. Minus the affair, the 2000 race would not have been close. Too many politicians will say and do anything to get elected and reelected.
To be accountable and believable, Bush and Cheney should have to tell the American people how they have restored honor and integrity to the Oval Office.
Paul L. Whiteley Sr.
