The Son Also Rises

I enjoyed your endorsement of my father, Pat Paulsen [“Surf Report: Pat Paulsen for President … Again,” Oct. 31-Nov. 6]. It may interest you to know that we are still running him for elective office and gathered quite a bit of support for him, including write-in votes, during this year’s primaries. Check out our site (paulsen.com) to see the list of slogans his loyal fans have sent to us (“Thinking inside the box,” etc.). We’ve even started the process of passing the political baton from my father to myself: Look up Monty Paulsen for President on youtube. We may not have had the support in 2008, but look for us to return and clean up this mess in 2012.

Comment by Montgomery Paulsen, Oct. 30

 

Hope and Skepticism

I want to thank Marc Cooper for his wonderfully accurate article [“Hope, Not Faith: It’s Going to Take a Whole Lot More Than a Democratic Majority to Save Us,” Oct. 31-Nov. 6], which takes individual pieces of the puzzle and binds them together in what is a sobering but dead-on panoramic perspective of the time we’re living in. I have always looked forward to reading his work, and this piece provides a snapshot of exactly where we are in these crazy, scary, fast-moving times.

Comment by Jonathan Kaplan, Nov. 1

 

The Shepard Fairy cover on L.A. Weekly [Oct. 31-Nov. 6] looked fucking awesome, but only when held at least 10 feet away from one’s bullshit detector. Specifically, the inclusion of a peace sign beneath the portrait of Obama (the counter to the skull beneath John McCain’s) suggested that the left might be all too willing to commit itself to the same sort of blind allegiance to their candidate’s image, while completely ignoring the reality of what his policies promote, that the last eight years have taught us to abhor. Obama plans to expand our military presence in Afghanistan, brags of his willingness to ignore international law in pursuit of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, maintains the necessity for fear and paranoia in our assessment of the Iranian nuclear program, and supports the brutal occupation of the Palestinians by the Israelis. Peace? Let’s not be so uncritical that we make our own concept of the word equivalent to the last president’s concept of freedom.

Mr. Fish, L.A. Weekly

 

Hitting Home on Homelessness

I would like to applaud Matthew Fleischer for his story “Down and Out at the Americana” [Oct. 17-23]. His approach to investigating the borders of public/private space was both inventive and relevant to the current issue of homelessness in and around Los Angeles. I appreciated his well-researched background information about other urban spaces, such as the Grove and Disneyland, which walk an ill-defined line of public vs. private. In addition, I found his angle of reporting about how these ambiguously public commercial spaces treated a homeless man very interesting. Although Los Angeles has more homeless people than any other U.S. city, advocacy for the homeless continues to be an unpopular political issue. I congratulate Fleischer for taking on the not-so-sexy topic of the treatment of homeless people in our most pristine and upscale urban spaces.

Comment by Julie from Venice on Nov. 2

  

Send letters to 3861 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, CA 90230. E-mail ­readerswrite@laweekly.com. Or fax to (323) 465-3220. Letters may be edited for purposes of space or clarity.

 

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.