(October 22, 2007)
[If you want your letters to be published, you must include your first and last names and your city and state of residence. Also, please, enter in the subject line of your e-mail "letter to the editor," and specify the article or the subject on which you are commenting.] Right on: Joel Hirschhorn's Irresponsible Americans To the Editor: The article is right on, but there is another alternative to calling a Constitutional Convention. Check out Get Out Of Our House (GOOOH). We have created a system that intends to evict the 435 members of the US House of Representatives and replace them with everyday Americans just like you -- chosen by the people of each district. The new representatives will define their own platform and not be affiliated with a party. They will be funded by GOOOH (pronounced "go"), not be special interests. There will be no incumbency advantage and there will be accountability. The system really could work. Tim Cox Liberty Hill, Texas, USA - October 8, 2007 ********** Some liked it: Gilles d'Aymery's The Bollinger Effect: Smear And War To the Editor: I thoroughly enjoyed your commentary on the esteemed Mr. Bollinger's motives and Ahmed Ahmadinejad invitation. Just excellent. Unfortunately, most Americans will never know these truths you so aptly point to because they do not read. Warm Regards, Jacqueline Cloud Destin, Florida, USA - October 8, 2007 ********** Some didn't: Gilles d'Aymery's The Bollinger Effect: Smear And War Mr. Gilles d'Aymery: I read your article. If Iran is so nice, America is so ugly, and Ahmadinejad is such a nice person, why don't you go and live there? You might enjoy the time of your life. Why did you leave France to live in the U.S.? Do you follow up what your Muslim friends are doing there and all over Europe? Rgds From a lover of US and Israeli Freedom. Ahron Siev Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA - October 9, 2007 ********** Famous at Last! Jan Baughman's The Ideological Struggle Of The 21st Century To the Editor: Jan Baughman's cartoon is exquisite! I am going to frame it. Carol Warner Christen Yamhill, Oregon, USA - October 8, 2007 ********** Reason vs. Racketeering: Joel Hirschhorn's Irresponsible Americans Dear Sirs, I admire the reasoned words and ideas you present. However, let us step back and look at what's really going on. Like you, I have spent many, many years pleading reasonable ideas but to only little effect, and only recently I've stepped back and made the truthful observation that reason/logic do not sway people who are in a RACKET providing immediate benefits to them even if fatal to us in the long run. A racket is a partial solutional behavior that can be milked perpetually to the benefit of those involved. It's subtle. It's an ILLUSION of a good/service that people buy into and it WAS NOT CONSIDERED WHEN THE FOUNDING FATHERS CREATED THE CONSTITUTION. Greed is not good as Adam Smith infers. Without social responsibility it degenerates into RACKETEERING. Maximum efficiency for the common good means LESS MONEY for LESS PEOPLE, at least in the initial acceptance phase, and is thus resisted by those making junk that's in use by a lot of people. Racketeers know this and to protect their rackets they know to tilt the playing field in their favor -- in this case pervert the US Government to favor them by ruining the balance of power of the Constitution into something that can be bought as needed. After the Civil War, industrialization created mass-produced machines and consumer gadgets creating "THEY," THE CORPORATIONS, to provide the social fabric instead of agrarian farming. With huge pots of money, "THEY," THE CORPORATIONS, corrupted the Constitution with the 17th Amendment and other subtle attacks to strip us of daily supervision of elected officials who then are bought off by the need to get direct elected, which requires money for mass media/appearances, etc. The key perversion was the 17th Amendment -- fortunately 10 states didn't sign it and could stop having their senators float to Washington D.C. for 6 years at a time after a corporation-funded election but would be temporary appointed ambassadors watched closely by the State senators at the State courthouse that you and I can take a day off from work to go to and demand action on NATIONAL issues, not pig farmer zoning. If we can restore the 17th Amendment and start getting WE THE PEOPLE's inputs driving events, we can then get a Constitutional convention to fix our agrarian-based Constitution and have it reformed to smash "THEY," THE CORPORATIONS, from ever running our nation-state again. Mike Sparks Atlanta, Georgia, USA - October 10, 2007 ********** Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran -- Not! Gilles d'Aymery's The Bollinger Effect: Smear And War To the Editor: Thanks to Gilles d'Aymery for the appreciative reference to my work and for his fine writing I am increasingly appalled by the degree of demonisation and smearing to which he points and the lack of capacity to consider arguments from those with whom one may disagree -- especially if one expects subterfuge. Even business negotiators can handle that. I was somewhat bemused at his reference to my former role. My purpose in writing the article was to highlight the arguments worth considering. It is curious how dependent we are on the institutional context from which such arguments are made -- even before considering the argument. I guess it is not the fact that the President of Iran made points in an academic environment that counts but the fact that it was Columbia. It says a lot for how arguments get authenticated independently of content. My sense is that there will be a lot more polarization and the strike will take place as a consequence. Best regards, Anthony Judge Brussels, Belgium, European Union - October 8, 2007 ********** October 2007 is Che Guevara Month! To the Editor: October 9 was the 40th anniversary of Che's death, which was widely reported in the international press. I would personally appreciate anything you can do this month to help me publicize the new edition of Death of a Revolutionary: Che Guevara's Last Mission, since this edition was revised and has been published to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Che's death and the 80th anniversary of his birth (2008). The publisher's Web page for the book is at: http://www.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall07/033094.htm Best regards, Richard L. Harris Professor of Global Studies and World Languages and Cultures California State University, Monterey Bay Sacramento, California, USA - October 9, 2007 **********
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