Letters to the Editor

by the Readers

Fighting Words

Joseph Chudzinski asks in his pro-Bush, pro-war tirade (Mailbag, March 27, 2003): "Since when did the Dixie Chicks become martyrs to free speech?"

Dude, let me explain something to you. When your CDs are smashed and radio stations (owned by right-wing conglomerates) eighty-six you from their playlists for having the stones to call a spade a spade (or to call DUMBya an embarrassment), your right to free speech is being threatened. Ever hear of McCarthyism, Joe? Well, it's back and worse than ever.

And if that isn't enough, Joe, I will leave you with these words from Theodore Roosevelt: "To announce there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

Terry M. Callen
Gloucester City, N.J.

Next time I hear or read that someone says they support the troops but not the war, I'll shoot myself. That's like saying you support firefighters, but you don't want them to fight fires.

The same can be said for those who attend pro-troop rallies, but say they don't support the war. You either do or you don't.

I see a lot of people marching on both sides who have dilemmas to reconcile, and subsequently they are having difficulty in explaining their positions. As for me, the benchmark is and will always be 9/11. That's when our world changed. If we do not fight terrorism (and make no mistake, Saddam is a terrorist), the terrorists will continue to put us all at risk, including our freedoms, our culture and our civilization. The aim of every jihad is to destroy all of us. That's why I believe we have to be consistent in how we approach this war. That's why I don't delude myself in uncertainty and doubt. That's why I believe we have no choice but to remove this evil. I'm confident future generations will thank us for it.

Dr. Jerry Komar
Collingswood, N.J.

Exact Change

(Re: It’s (Not) a Living," Meredith Broussard, Spring Book Quarterly, March 27, 2003)

The surprise of seeing the local, alternative currency program I started get mentioned in your last issue was definitely of the pleasant variety. Nonetheless, I felt I should write in to clarify two things. I'm not trying to start the system anymore. (H)OURS has been up and running for nearly two years now. And, like all local currencies around the world, (H)OURS is perfectly legal. It's not counterfeiting as we don't issue dollars. It's illegal to make your own coins, and if you peg your currency to the dollar, you can't print notes with a value of less than $1. We don't do either.

To learn more, visit our website, www.geocities.com/h_ours.

Fred Kittelmann
via e-mail