(October 10, 2005)
[Ed. As a reminder to Letter writers: If you want your letters to be published, you must include your first and last names and your city and state of residence. Thank you.] Yin-Yan: Charles Marowitz's The Leader Of The OppositionEditor: Ralph Nader is still the best leader of the opposition, contrary to your statement about him. His so-called hubris is only in the mind of the Democratic Party, which has demonized him for its own propaganda purposes to deflect blame from itself. As for "alienation from realpolitik" no one understands better than Nader the true state of affairs in public and foreign policy in this country. For more than forty years he has consistently worked in the public interest and continues, with the utmost integrity and adherence to principle, to do so. He has many supporters all over the country who recognize this even if you don't. Perhaps you think he helped elect George Bush in 2000. This shows you are not aware that Al Gore won Florida that year when all the votes were finally counted months later. Time to catch up, Mr. Marowitz. Ivana Edwards New York, New York, USA - September 26, 2005 Charles Marowitz responds: I was staunch for Nader in 2000 and before, but have come to the conclusion that he is unelectable due to the realities of American realpolitik. I say this with sorrow because in terms of his critique of America's ills, he is right on the money. What is needed is a leader who will rise on a tidal wave that washes away the bulwarks of the status quo. The "conventional reformers" just can't hack it any longer. Every good impulse dies in committee. Every misstep gets "investigated" to death. What is needed now is a quantum leap in a dynamic new direction; a national surge motivated by the perception that the 2-party system is dead as a dodo. A new leader must emerge who personifies brutal truth-telling and not just heightened rhetoric. To the Editor: Charles Marowitz, calling for a Leader of the Opposition, articulates what many of us feel -- an urgent yearning for leadership. While Mr. Marowitz feels there are no visible understudies, there are two people who come to mind. Congressman John Conyers of Michigan is the one person in Congress who has put actions above words, and has demonstrated his commitment to a just America through those actions. While he has courageously and tirelessly worked to expose the deep flaws in our electoral system, he has not gone so far as to call the black kettle black. I would hope he can make that extra leap. Conyers in 2008 would have my vote, no matter what political party he was running in. Cindy Sheehan is the other understudy who comes to mind. Not so much because I think she would make a great president, though she would certainly top Bush or even Hillary. But because she represents the leadership truly missing from American politics -- the leadership of thousands of unrecognizable faces, small-scale leaders making up the backbone of a movement. Martin Luther King Jr. and his prophet-like eloquence was a blessing for this earth, but he should also teach us the dangers of relying on an individual's leadership. Like the thousands of leaders who made up the civil rights movement, we need an opposition today that focuses not on the personality of a single individual, but on the potential we all have in leading the way together. Decentralized leadership like this cannot be felled with a bullet. Eli Beckerman Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA - September 26, 2005 [Ed. Bill Moyers would make a great candidate too. He may well be the most trusted "dissident" in the country... Or a woman... Comes to mind Barbara Lee, Cynthia McKinney, Maxine Walters...] ********** Treasonous publication. Send the Frenchie home: About SwansSir: Your publication has been relentlessly anti-Bush. You keep attacking the president of the United States of America -- our president. I see you are French. Time for you to go home. That's all I have to say. Shame on you. Matt Huckabee Little Rock, Arkansas, USA - September 30, 2005 [ed. Could someone point me out to our anti-Bush campaign compared to our Clinton one? It's the system, stupid. This said, ********** Tangling Lines: Linda Eve Diamond's LinesDear Editor: Great writing, great ideas with an excellent closing thought. Thank you. Clemente Toglia Red Bank, New Jersey, USA - September 27, 2005 ********** We appreciate and welcome your comments. Please, sign your e-mail with your name AND add your city, state, country, address and phone number. If we publish your opinion we will only include your name, city, state, and country. Send your comments to the Editor. (Letters may be shortened and edited) |