L.A. WeeklyDon’t Deride the Rails
Regarding “Red
Line to Somewhere” [March 4–10], I read with dismay in the introduction
to an interview with Henry Waxman the inaccurate fact that “the Red Line ends
at Wilshire and Normandie.” The Red Line in fact ends at Wilshire and Western,
about a half-mile west of Normandie. However, I applaud the exposé of Henry
Waxman as an obstacle to sensible transportation options in SoCal, despite his
assertions to the contrary. It is pathetic to claim support for transit while
doing nothing to assist it, especially as a congressional representative to
the very district that would benefit from a subway extension.
But what is most appalling is Waxman’s flat-out false assertion that the Metro
Rail system “is the most expensive subway system in the history of the world.”
The Red Line (actually two lines) was built for more or less $4 billion, and
the other lines for less than $1 billion each. Compare this to the Second Avenue
subway line in New York, with a projected cost of $17 billion. Such assertions
perpetuate propaganda that somehow the wool was pulled over the eyes of SoCal
voters, when in fact the very people whose responsibility it was to provide
oversight on cost overruns are these same officials.
I ride the Red Line between Los Feliz and downtown every day. It is hardly a
train to nowhere; on the contrary, it is very heavily used night and day. It
would be a fantastic economic boon to Los Angeles to provide this wonderful
resource to the rest of the city and county. While Tom LaBonge and Antonio Villaraigosa
provide vision and leadership on this issue, Zev Yaroslavsky and Henry Waxman
just don’t seem to get it, or even care.
—Bert Green
Los Angeles
A Victim of His Own Mouth
Let’s give the Weekly a hand for once again not giving
a fair and accurate assessment of the facts surrounding Eason Jordan resigning
for making his unfounded comments about U.S. military targeting journalists
in Iraq [Filtered, “Misspeak
No Evil,” February 18–24]. What you fail to include (of course) is that
Jordan has a bit of a history of making wild accusations with no proof whatsoever
to back them up.
Let’s put it into perspective. At the News Exchange conference in Portugal,
Jordan told an audience of news executives, “The reality is that at least 10
journalists have been killed by U.S. military, and according to reports I believe
to be true, journalists have been arrested and tortured by U.S. forces.”
Now, that’s a nice little piece of information conveniently left out to make
it seem that Jordan was an innocent victim of the right-wing bloggers. At least
he did the right thing by stepping down. Eason wasn’t so much a victim of the
right wing but really a victim of his own mouth, and ultimately he became a
liability to CNN.
As someone with family serving in Iraq, I find Jordan’s repeated comments to
be the lowest form of partisan contempt and obviously an effort to undermine
our military at a time when there is nothing more important than our success.
His comments were no accident and only added more reason for anti-U.S. sentiment.
Jordan didn’t “misspeak” and was held to task for his false information, and
rightly so.
—Shane Van Dyke
Eagle Rock
A Question of Compassion
Erin Aubry Kaplan should declare moral bankruptcy while she still
has some morality to lose [“Gun
Shy,” February 18–24]. Had Devin Brown been shot while asleep in his bed
(more likely, in that case, by a black gang member), he would have looked to
all the world what he would have been — a helpless victim. In fact, he was not
in his bed, but to Kaplan it is not legitimate to ask the questions that would
come first to a responsible adult of any color: How the hell do his parent(s)
and his neighborhood allow him to be anywhere but in his room after 10 p.m.,
let alone in a stolen car at 3 a.m.? To assert that whites do not have compassion
for this poor child because they ask these questions is as racist as Kaplan
thinks her entire world must be.
—Howard Bregman
Los Angeles
We Stand Corrected
Ella Taylor might be relieved to know there is nothing “chilling”
about the neglectful mother in Nobody Knows calling herself “your
mother” to her children [“Miles
From Nowhere,” February 11–17]. Referring to oneself in the third person,
particularly within the family, is standard Japanese.
—Hope Anderson
Los Angeles
Writing Off the Wall
I’ve been an avid fan of your paper since moving to L.A. last
year — until this week [February 25–March 3].
As if Seven McDonald’s
aimless non-story about her slacker buddy wasn’t enough, you continued the quality
nosedive with Kate
Sulivan chatting with a pal about the Mars Volta, then Jonathan
Gold combining every clichéd comment ever made about that same band into
a pompous, self-aware monologue.
What happened? Were these “writers” up against deadlines and all out of ideas?
—Melanie Aleman
Hollywood
Correction
In the cover story on Jared
Diamond [February 18–24], the wrong venue was listed for an upcoming exhibit
based on Diamond’s work. In May, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
will mount a full-scale exhibit, “Collapse?,” inspired by the book.
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