NBA and Corporate Welfare
To The Editors:
The “NBA Needs Attitude Adjustment” column by Tara Servatius (CL, February 20), pointing out the fading of the NBA, brings up a point that conservatives often miss: corporate welfare weakens its recipients. Taxpayer aid has shielded professional basketball from the marketplace consequences of such inefficiencies as bloated player salaries. In a free market, there are consequences to poor business decisions. For example, any company that pays salaries beyond their market will be bankrupted. So far, municipal subsidies have kept the NBA staggering along. Unfortunately for them, the longer they go without market consequences, the greater their fall will be. Has no one learned the lesson of Enron?
Rev. Christopher Cole
Charlotte
World, Take Notice
To The Editors:
Regarding David Walters’ column “Friends and Enemies” (CL, February 13), I am even more pleased now than I was on September 11 that George W. Bush is our president. The Europeans who criticize American foreign policy as war mongering are the same Europeans who desperately needed American strength to stop World War Three just a few years ago in the Balkans. These are the same Europeans who need our open markets to keep their economy moving. These are the same Europeans who push to ease sanctions on Saddam Hussein, normalize relations with the terrorist government of Iran, and support the dictatorship of Yasser Arafat.
In the past 20-plus years (before September 11), Americans have watched in horror as our hostages were taken in Iran for over a year, our Marines were blown up in Beirut, a car bomb attacked the World Trade Center, two of our embassies were attacked in Africa, two military bases in Saudi Arabia came under siege, and a bomb blew a hole the size of a football field into the USS Cole. Essentially we had no response to any of these attacks. We had become a paper tiger and the Islamic fundamentalists who were behind all of these attacks knew there would be no response, so they became bolder and bolder.
After September 11, the President made the world take notice that we will not back down. If the Europeans are with us, it would make our job easier, but the unilateral decision to attack countries that are a clear and present danger to our interests and our allies is well within the right of the United States.
As far as Israel goes, Europeans will use that as an excuse but in reality it is their own financial interests they are concerned with. They are investing billions in Iran and Iraq and do not want to see a war which could make business deals tough, to say the least. These countries, which condemn Al Queda yet support Hamas, are not our friends. There is no excuse or justification for terrorism, ever! Walters is correct that peace is the only solution in Israel, but Arafat had a deal for peace and said no! Where were the Europeans or the Gulf States to put pressure on him then? America will lead and win this war against tyranny whether the Europeans or the “moderate Arab states” are with us or not.
Yaron Goldman
Charlotte
Tired of Being American
To The Editors:
The past few weeks, even before David Walters’ recent column, I had been having discussions with friends about how each year I grow more weary of being an American, how I long for the day I can retire and move to a more sensible country. I love the United States. I have roots in this land that go back to 1654. Perhaps I love America too much to watch it slowly go insane.
Al Christensen
Charlotte
Enron Money Is “Input”
To The Editors:
In response to Michael Moore’s article (“Enron and the Bush Administration,” February 20), it is easy to take shots at all of Enron’s associations. How deep do they go? How much did he give to Clinton? Many Democrats lined up to give away money donated to them from Enron as a form of damage control. The fact remains that any President sets his own policies after input from many folks wiser than they are. Soliciting input from many offers a complete picture. To say that Enron had undue sway in policy is ridiculous. George Dubya is famous for using this technique. Maybe he should rent out White House stays for donations. . .surely the folks who paid to stay in the White House Inn under Clinton lobbied for certain favors in return for their donations!
T.J.Kalmanir
Mt. Holly
Impeach Dubya — Well, Maybe Not
To The Editors:
I thoroughly enjoyed your articles about Enron in the February 20 issue. I like to think I follow politics closely, but I was shocked to see how many office holders in the Bush White House are former Enron people, or have had far-reaching financial dealings with Enron. My history books tell me this is the same kind of situation we had back in the Harding administration, which is regarded by historians as the most corrupt and incompetent administration in American history. After reading your articles, my first thought was that it would be a good idea to begin impeachment proceedings against Bush. But then I remembered that Dick Cheney is Vice President. It looks like Bush Jr. has played the same trick as his dad, having a vice president no one would want as president — what a great way to stay in office (or alive)!
T.G. Gaddins
Charlotte
Like Old Times
To The Editors:
Seeing the results of this year’s Perry Awards (“The CL Theater Awards,” February 13), especially that Anne Lambert and John Hartness shared the Theatreperson of the Year, prompted me to take this trip down memory lane.
Not many people saw, and probably even fewer remember, The Seat of Our Pants Players’ two summers of theatre behind Fat City Deli. I mention this because some of the artists who worked with me have gone on to accomplish so much in Charlotte theatre. As part of our second summer, Anne directed three Sam Shepard one-acts (as I recall, it may have been her first Charlotte gig), and in year one, John donated lights so we didn’t have to act in the dark. In addition, Josh Gaffga, a former Actor of the Year, earned his first acting paycheck with us. And the actors who constituted the core of the group that first summer, well, they are simply three of Charlotte’s best: April Jones, Sidney Horton and Mark Sutton. Without them there was no Seat of Our Pants Players. Heartfelt thanks and continued success to all of you!
Michael Licwinko
London, England
Unaccustomed To Satire
To The Editors:
I don’t think it’s right for Creative Loafing to say that the gold medal controversy at the Olympics is the most important issue of our time (“Another Week Already” by John Grooms, February 20). I know the press made a really big deal about it (and I agree that the Canadian pair were better than the Russians, but I’m not an expert on ice skating so I don’t know for sure). But there are a lot more important issues going on these days than that — how about the Middle East? Or terrorism? Or the war on drugs? You shouldn’t say that a sport is more important than those issues.
Raymond Birnbaum
Charlotte
This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 6, 2002.
