Letters 

In a word, hilarious. After reading "Weapons of Mass Stupidity" (June 4), I am really not sure if Hal Crowther's "frothing at the mouth" diatribe against the Fox News Channel was satirical or not. Mr. Crowther, please go back about 10 years and look at the pass that Bill Clinton was given by CNN and most of the major news networks. They did not call him the Teflon president for nothing. I am sure that you were just as blindly supportive of his presidency as you are wholly against Mr. Bush's. Lies are lies, regardless of political party affiliation.

I find that Fox News does beat the drum loud for the Republican side, however CNN and ABC more than make up the cheering section for the Democrat side. I think most learned people will look at both sides of an issue and make up their own minds. It is just lazy journalism for Mr. Crowther to sit upon his soapbox and look down his nose at those that do not share his worldview. His extreme is just as repugnant as the opposite.

-- Michael Hicks, Concord

American Jacobins

Hal Crowther's article on Bush and Fox news is one of the best pieces I've read in some time. He managed to capture my feelings 100 percent. It is re-assuring to know there are still real Americans who refuse to be cowed by the tyranny of stupidity we are currently living under. Fox News makes the Bush war mongers seem like legion, yet I have a hard time finding anyone who will strongly defend them in one on one debate (these guys despise fair debates). We are living under the influence of phony quick time polls that tell us how we are supposed to feel about every issue. Fox news and talk radio are the American Jacobins, ideological enforcers for the regime whose job is to intimidate all dissenters.

-- Andy Gunn, Plainview, NY

Hal The Twisted Liberal

Mr. Crowther, like most liberals, embraces free thought only as long as that free thought results in one arriving at the proper politically correct conclusions. With regard to Iraq, Bush- and America-hating liberals ignore the mass graves and the growing evidence that a WMD program was in place. Prior to the war liberals whined that another Vietnam was coming and dysfunctional celebs rallied against America while our young men and women were on the field of battle.

As the war in Iraq drew to a close, CNN confessed to spinning stories in favor of Saddam to "protect" their field reporters, openly admitting that this may be responsible for more than a few deaths. Add to this the current farce that's playing out at The New York Times and finish off with a helping of the editor of the Los Angeles Times asserting that he will no longer tolerate a liberal bias at his newspaper.

When watching Fox News I see balanced no-spin reporting and commentary that strives more than any other media source to present all sides to any given story. If you want to see bias, all one needs to do is to pick up an LA or New York Times, or, for that matter, any issue of Creative Loafing. Liberalism has made America stupid long enough. And while the last lying liberal was in the White House getting serviced by an intern, terrorists were already planning 9-11.

-- Kelly Boatright, Charlotte

Lucy Has 'Splainin' To Do

The interment of Japanese citizens in the US during World War Two, while regrettable from today's perspective, is in no way commensurate with the acts of the Nazis, especially their acts against the Jews ("America the Dutiful," by Lucy Perkins, May 28).

The idea of equating the two is at best insensitive and at worst an irresponsible twisting of facts. It is an affront to the memories of six million people that perished under the Nazis. An apology is in order, in my opinion.

-- John Kurti, Cornelius

Fresh Beats Free

"Dairy Dilemma," the Rev. Christopher Cole's letter to CL (May 28), employs the same sort of myopia I often see in pseudo-libertarians. While I agree that federal price supports distort the milk market, I'm unsure that a free-market approach would do anything appreciable to actually help anyone, consumer or producer. True, taxes would be lower, and I agree that free markets inside the US would be fairer. I am unable to discern whether the author felt there was not enough milk on the market, too much milk, prices too high, or prices too low.

I know one thing: I was fortunate enough to have actual producing dairies nearby each town I lived in, in Florida, Texas, and Ohio, and it was only when I moved to Charlotte that I found the milk a totally alien, stale, unfresh commodity produced far away and dealt with like an interstate industrial operation rather than a local, fresh product. If I have to be taxed, and I was allowed to actually vote on the issue, I would choose to spend a tiny bit to actually drink fresh, locally produced, sanitary, and uncontaminated milk. The irony is that I really do support free markets. I just wish these dumb consumers would wise up and spend their money like I would! They're screwing up the directions the market should go automatically! Bad consumers!

-- Russell Newsom, Charlotte

An Arena For The People?

City Council is getting what they want -- 62 out of 70 expressions of interest for luxury seats ("Arena Marketing Report Hidden," by Tara Servatius, June 4). That is where the money is and unfortunately this is what has clouded the judgment of City Council. It is sad that the proposed bar and restaurant wouldn't be for the "people" of Charlotte or NC, but for the luxury seat holders and the rich.

The fact that a city would only cater to the rich really disheartens me. Pat, Lynn and the rest of City Council should be looking out for the city, not just for the rich and for the corporations and for reasons of personal gain.

It is not surprising that the city spent $150,000 on the marketing report. What amazes me is that the Council flat-out ignored the people of Charlotte when they voted against the financial backing of the arena, in which most people thought they were voting on whether there would be an arena or not. Regardless, the demand for a new arena or NBA is not highly visible in Charlotte. I hope the council members enjoy their new NBA team!

Where is our Whitewater Park? Now that would be for the people!

-- Denise R. Everett, Charlotte

Originality's Not Necessary

In response to Steve Bailey's letter ("Missing Music," June 4): There are different reasons people listen to music. People who are not musicians generally enjoy hearing songs they know because they like to sing along and/or dance. Maybe I do not clearly understand the meaning of "cover" band, but if it means playing other people's songs (not only top 40), you have to remember that, number one, not all musicians are prolific songwriters or have enough material to comprise an entire gig. I have detected an element of superiority (arrogance) in this rank of musicians who think they are better than everyone else because they play original material. I just went to hear one of the greatest finger-style guitarists alive today (Doc Watson), and I don't think he wrote many of the songs he played. The art (yes, "art") of interpretation is a wonderful way to express and share one's love for great music that has been passed down sometimes for generations. That's what makes music so great. . .it's a communication between people that gives us a sense of being tied together on this dirt ball flying through space. I don't have a lot of time to spend criticizing other musicians, or the people who listen to them (or hire them). I am happy that they are playing, doing something they love, however they feel they are best suited to do that.

-- Jeff Brown, Charlotte

It's Money, All The Way

In response to "Sex, Drivel and Marketing" (by Sam Boykin, April 23): I support the position that the creators and sellers of pop culture manufacture desires in an effort to capture the lucrative market teens represent. I can tell you from experience -- even I used to be into the whole craze over these "punk" bands, the supposed anti-pop people -- that it isn't so great as the media makes it out to be. Sure, I liked it for a while, but I soon got tired of all the whining in this so-called rebel music; it sounded more like they were just spoiled children whining over every little thing. I doubt that we, as teenagers, really want to hear about some stranger's problems, especially when this stranger most likely has the money to fix them all. The ones in charge of media think we are a hopeless generation, so they give us some tunes to enforce the hopeless oblivion while they know that this music is what drives us to feel so horrid. Wake up already, your favorite band doesn't care about you, they care about money. Every song they make is just another crock to gain more of it. And for those who don't like the "punk scene" anyway, take a look at whatever social stereotype you happen to be in. I'm sure you'll find that DMX and J-Lo don't care about you, nor do Avril Lavigne, or those people who own Limited Too or Hot Topic. It's money, all the way.

Why don't we tell the media what we really want? Why don't we show them that we aren't out to slit our wrists, or bust a cap in every bloody person who crosses us? Throw away the plastic facade -- get into the true flavor of things. Learn how to live, instead of how to die and make die. It's not impossible, but I don't know if we've all been pounded too hard with the supposed teen images to even realize it anymore. As for me, I think that if we cut down on actually buying this audible garbage, we might start to see a decline in it. But only if we substitute some more positive (but still enjoyable) music in its place. Then, just maybe, we can break the cycle and make a graceful exit. We can then slowly improve society, instead of degrading it as we do.

-- Brett Sopher, Charlotte

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