Letters

COOPER DOUBLE BILL

Thanks for Marc Cooper’s article “March Madness” [Dissonance, March 21–27]. Cooper put into words exactly the way that I feel about Bush’s ill-considered war. The article was a nuanced anti-war position that I don’t hear from the larger anti-war movement. But then again, the bumper-sticker sloganeering of the Bush administration doesn’t exactly encourage a nuanced reply.

—Robert Payne
Studio City

Re: Marc Cooper’s “Political Life: Shopping for a Hero,” [A Considerable Town, March 21–27]. Was I at the same Howard Dean reception as this overheated piece described? I drove to that party in my 8-year-old Mazda looking for someone with the guts to speak his mind. And when he did speak his mind, it was such a shock to most of us we naturally got excited. Animal Housetoga party? Hardly. The age range was teenage through 87 years. They were earnest and eager, and many found their candidate, and the rest of us left thinking we were going to follow this guy’s campaign.

—Linda Feldman
Los Angeles

Re: “Shopping for a Hero.” We’re extremely lucky to have Marc Cooper tell it like it is. He’s got the guts to say the uncomfortable. Thank you, L.A. Weekly, for giving him a place to say it.

—Louise Steinman
Los Angeles

MEYERSON ON ZE BRINK

Re: “On the Brink” [Powerlines, March 14–20]. Harold Meyerson’s reflections on our conflict with Iraq are interesting, if not very accurate. As when he speaks about the “allies” that have stood by us for 60 years. He means, of course, France.

Let’s look at this “ally.” In 1944, when our soldiers were dying in French hedgerows, the populace was stripping American dead. While American soldiers were dying to get to Paris, the French waited until the city was open then marched in as “victors.” In the 1950s, France sold materials to communist-bloc countries and in at least one instance allowed a Soviet spy to escape after killing an American agent. In the 1960s, France had a brisk trade with China and Hanoi, making sure that there were always enough munitions to kill Americans.

The story could go on and on, but the point is the French have no morals, no loyalty and, most of all, no courage.

—Kenneth Dowling
Wilmington, Delaware

SPECIAL

Re: David L. Ulin’s “The New Parent Trap” [A Considerable Town, March 14–20]. What a shameful way to get your point across — coaching your 4-year-old, who should only recognize the president’s face at that age, not his father’s opinion of the man. Can you sink any lower? My son is 6 now, and he knows who the president is — and knows that no matter what, he is the leader of our country. As embarrassing as Clinton was as a president, I taught my son that the job is one that not many people can achieve, nor do they want to. It takes someone special. Maybe someday Mr. Ulin can teach his kid a new word: respect.

—Mike Calderon
Dallas, Texas

MOST IMPORTANT

It does not come as any surprise that the media have turned the war against Iraq into another charade. The amount of filtering, sanitizing, propaganda, mindless analysis and flat-out deception that goes on in our media is obscene. I’m hoping that the Weekly continues to provide a fresh, clear, truthful picture of the war, however painful it might be. I’m hoping that you will show the other side of the war too, the Iraqi civilians suffering in this plight. This, after all, is perhaps the most important reality that needs to be acknowledged in this crisis.

—Leticia Montez
Los Angeles

SHOW PEOPLE — YOU GOTTA LOVE ’EM

Re: Nikki Finke’s “Boycott the Oscars” [Deadline Hollywood, March 21–27]. I think that this part of your article says it all: “When the acting community’s anti-war sentiment began to be organized by director-producer Robert Greenwald in December, he had only 10 celebrities as signatories to a call for peace. A small news conference was held at Hollywood’s Les Deux Cafe. To everyone’s amazement, the French bistro was jammed with global media. Soon Artists United’s membership expanded to 50, then 75, then 100, now even more.” These celebrities are more interested in self-promotion on a “global media” stage, rather than in world peace.

—David Green
Atlanta, Georgia

Hollywood celebrities are an odd bunch who deal in fantasy, self-aggrandizement and conjecture, day in and day out. Is it any wonder they don’t have a clue ‰ as to what reality is east of Palm Springs? At a time such as this, why does Hollywood really think anybody gives a rat’s keister about who does or who doesn’t decide to “protest” at the Oscars? How many of these ego-boosting gabfests do stars need to feel good about themselves? Frankly, if nobody showed up it’d be a welcome break from the comatose festivites seen in past years. I, for one, would not be heartbroken. The more Hollywood imbeciles sound off, the more the average “Joe and Jane Lunchbucket” will realize there are better entertainment options besides movies and TV.