Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday December 14, 2010 - 10:44:00 PM

A Christmas Carol;"Fair Game"; Ishmael Reed’s New York Times Op-Ed; Beware the Evil Republicans

A Christmas Carol

From its first publication in 1843, A Christmas Carol has charmed and inspired millions. Less well known is the fact that this little book of celebration grew out of a dark period in the author’s career-and, in some ways, changed the course of his life forever . In a very real sense, Dickens popularized many aspects of the Christmas we celebrate today, including great family gatherings, seasonal drinks and dishes and gift giving. Even our language has been enriched by the tale. Who has not known a “Scrooge,” or uttered “Bah! Humbug!” when feeling irritated or disbelieving. And the phrase “Merry Christmas!” gained wider usage after the story appeared.

A Christmas Carol may become an even more relevant tale as people cope with what is expected to be an economically bleak holiday season. Fast forward to 2010, and America is in an acute economic crisis. There are a number of similar themes, including the increasing gap between the rich and poor. People in the working class are losing their homes or struggling to heat their homes, and we're going into the holiday season with anticipated layoffs and high unemployment. For many, it looks like a pretty dreary Christmas.

The message in A Christmas Carol also says it's not just good enough to donate money, but individuals need to get involved, as Scrooge learns in the end. This is a message we can all keep in mind this year. You never lose by giving.

Ted Rudow III,MA

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"Fair Game"

There is still time to see Fair Game about the "Plame Affair," where Valerie Plame was outed as a covert CIA operative in retribution for her husband James C. Wilson's op-ed piece in the New York Times arguing that, in his State of the Union Address, President Bush misrepresented intelligence leading up to the invasion by suggesting without evidence that the Iraqi regime sought uranium to manufacture nuclear weapons. It was well acted by Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. David Andrews and Adam LeFevre made smarmy Scooter Libby and Karl Rove respectively. I was reluctant to see the movie because I knew it would make me angry. It did. Why? Because it reminded me that the Iraq war was a hoax on the American people and the world. I fantasize that mea culpas will be forthcoming from Bush, Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzalez, Condoleezza Rice, and Paul Wolfowitz. I won't hold my breath though.

Ralph E. Stone

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Ishmael Reed’s New York Times Op-Ed

Ishmael Reed’s Op-Ed piece in the NYTimes (Dec. 12: p.10) criticizing progressives for objecting to Obama’s donation of millions to the billion

aires appears to counter what the not so progressive Black Caucus stated. They are opposed to the economic plan of shifting more money from the people to the banks. Barbara Lee read the statement on KPFA, the station where Reed announced his recent awards event in Berkeley. Ishmael Reed could read or listen to that statement and also peruse the article in the same issue of the NY Times on the secret nine banks who manage derivative billions. (Dec 12: p.1) Economics doesn’t seem to be Reed’s best subject but he can still bone up on it. If a news article isn’t easy enough to understand then the visual of Obama leaving the podium to Bill Clinton, the hotshot who pushed NAFTA through to ruin Mexican farmers and undermined welfare in the US, should be clear enough. Bush asked Tony Blair to speak to the Congress on the Iraq war and Obama asked Clinton to speak to the press on the class war. How cool can Obama get while he freezes out the lower middle and lower class folks who voted for him?

R.G. Davis,Ph. D,

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Beware the Evil Republicans

Yes Virginia, Republicans in your state, and in many other states, want
to repeal the new health care bill. The GOP has also been trying to do the same
with Medicare and Social Security since their inception. What have Republicans
got against well run government programs? Thanks to saner minds in the past,
you're still receiving your Social Security check every month and Medicare
services.

The rest of the industrialized world enjoy universal health care from
birth to death. Is this bad, can all these countries be wrong? If you're Fox
News, Republicans and the Tea Party it's bad. If they had their way 300 million
Americans will lose the opportunity for health care reform and eventual
universal health coverage.

Evil stalks the land in the form of the Republican Party who have
aspirations to deny you the health care coverage you so rightly deserve; and, if
the GOP can find a way to dismantle Social Security and Medicare they will.

Are you listening America! The 50 million Americans who benefit from
these programs seem oblivious to the intentions of the GOP.

Ron Lowe

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