Brave bigots
It is unfortunate that Richard Goldstein, author of "Celebrity Bigots" (MT, Aug. 2-8) paints the celebrities with the same brush by calling all of them bigots. The group includes John Rocker, Dr. Laura, Eminem and Don Imus. If that's not mixing apples with oranges, I don’t know what is. I don’t believe Dr. Laura indulges in hate speech when she boldly asserts that the gay lifestyle is not normal, for that's what the overwhelming majority of people all over the world believe. At the same time, Dr. Laura has never encouraged physical violence against gays. I agree with the author that while hate speech may be allowed under the First Amendment, there is no reason to encourage it or to allow people to profit from it.
Ironically, it has become politically correct to be politically incorrect. Thus, those who know what is right have no courage to speak and those who are bigoted are not afraid to speak. —Pradeep Srivastava, Detroit
More on Gore
I agree with Jack Lessenberry on Al Gore’s image problem ("Listen up, Al Gore," MT, Aug 2-8). Gore is far better suited to be president than Bush. Gore is a member of the most computer literate and savvy gang on the hill. He understands the emerging market in China and has been instrumental in opening it up. Gore also understands the economic gains in the long run and short run of continuing the research funding of federal organizations at current levels. Can Bush tell you what Linux (cq) is? Is Bush shortsighted enough to give people in the uppermost tax bracket a big break at the expense of research funding? I think the "frat boy" is that shortsighted and will probably be dependent on people who have some clue if he gets into office.
Gore is stiff — many intellectuals are. A former college buddy of Gore once said to me, "he is a smart mother-----r! ... he does his homework." —Sarah Ferguson, shfergie@earhlink.com, Detroit
Jack Lessenberry’s reply: As a college teacher, Dr J. is always in favor of doing one's homework.
Freak show
The decision to showcase a ghoulish S&M enthusiast on the front cover of your Aug. 9-15 issue establishes MT editorial credibility on a plane with Jerry Springer, the Enquirer and other purveyors of human freak shows. As a regular reader of MT, I can choose the articles I wish to read; I had no choice in looking at your cover, which I find very disturbing.
As a mental health professional, I can tell you that sexual masochism and sexual sadism appear in the most recent American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic Statistics Manual as diagnostic categories of possible emotional illness. As a person dedicated to dignifying the human spirit, I am most dismayed that MT would give such prominence to those whose eros and libido have gone through a psychic meat grinder. —Wayne Isbell, Detroit
A bad fit
The Girlee fashion show ("Girlee stuff," MT, Aug 2-8) was poorly put together. You could not see the girls unless you right in front of the stage or were very tall. The music did not do any justice to the show. The DJ did not know who she was announcing, she was verbally being told who was next.
Pink Saran-Wrapped chicken-wire busts, white slip dresses, a CD dress, some goth — this all has been done before. The only thing redeemable about this show were all the metalworks. And the little girls’ dresses were cute.
I consider this collective an insult to the pioneers of fashion past, present and future. The organizers need to go to a fashion show (and I am not talking about the Fash Bash) or hook up with someone who knows what they are doing. —Julia Rosa, j_rosa5@email.com, Detroit
Errata
"Boogie Chillun" (MT, Aug 2-8) misspelled the name of blues musician Darien James. In a letter to the Metro Times, James took issue with the article’s anecdote in which his failure to show for a gig at the Attic Bar led to the hiring of Uncle Jesse White. James says he never missed a gig and continued to work the Attic for years after White began his regular gig there.
