Letters to the Editor

I really enjoyed Curt Guyette’s article, "Bombs Away" (News Hits, Oct. 10-16). I laughed out loud when he kept dropping football references throughout the story. It seems ridiculous that Americans would rather watch a football game than watch a constant stream of "missile-cam." But this isn’t as silly as it seems. No new info, plus no visual stimulation, plus no interesting people to watch and you get a show that’s due for a run of four or five episodes before it gets shipped to UPN. Americans love football, and some of us are looking for some sort of escape from the sticky situation that the world is in today. I can’t wait for Sunday so that I can get together with my friends and family and watch the Lions take an ass-kicking. It’s one of the simple pleasures that I allow myself. We’re afraid to turn off that reporter in Kabul because a Tomahawk could take out that roof at any second. I’d rather watch to see if Detmer breaks the interception record. My advice to you, buddy, is to have a Michelob and watch the game with your family and friends while you are still able to do so. —Ty Stone, tystone@2daysstraight.com, Lincoln Park

Needs at home

Thank you so much, Jack Lessenberry, for your recent columns in the Metro Times. As we ponder the events of the last month, I have wondered over and over again how an appointed president and his right-wing buddies have all of a sudden become heroes. It is amazing to me that there was no money for the hungry children and the elderly who need help with medicine, but there seems to be plenty of money to drop food packages on a country that is full of land mines, so that no one will retrieve the packages, plus our bombing has scared off the international food-relief people.

How can everything turn to war when there are so many in need here?

Once again I would like to thank you for letting me know that are others out there that are thinking and not just waving flags. —Linda Kate Gholston, Bloomfield Hills

A leader’s priorities

It's really too bad to read that Lessenberry feels that his liberal agenda has been put on the back burner for more pressing issues like our nation’s existence ("Hail the loyal opposition," Metro Times, Oct. 10-16). It's called prioritizing. His and his cronies belief that George W. was widely hailed as an intellectual lightweight is now coming back to bite guys like Lessenberry right were they do most of their thinking and talking. While they were spreading their left-wing propaganda to lessen our commander-in-chief's reputation, he was doing what great leaders do: surrounding himself with the right people. The only belief that is now widely held is that, thank God, his man — Al Gore — isn't running the show. —Kevin Konczal, kevin@konczal.com, Royal Oak

The right response

Concerning Jack Lessenberry’s column ("The liberal dilemma," Metro Times, Sept. 26-Oct. 2), he mentions that we can’t just sit around and do nothing in response to what happened Sept. 11. I am a second-year student at Wayne State University and unfortunately I was not on campus at the time of the demonstration that Mr. Lessenberry spoke of. If there were any opposition to this demonstration I would have supported this opposition. I agree with Mr. Lessenberry that we must strike back in a very cautious manner. I think the U.S. government agencies underestimated the power that has been growing over the years in the Middle East. These terrorist groups have taken a tight hold of the innocent people of Afghanistan and the neighboring countries. I’m not so sure that if the United States and their allies were able to capture any terrorist leaders, that we would also be able to stop their followers because of their brainwashed beliefs. We will constantly need to be on our toes for any future retaliation. —Theresa Corbett, kozzie1@ameritech.net, Clinton Township

Second feature

I enjoyed George Tysh’s article about teen films ("Rebel, rebel," Metro Times, Oct. 3-9) very much, but it mystifies me that every examination of films dealing with alienated and rebellious youth overlooks a small masterpiece of the genre. I’m referring to John Frankenheimer’s The Young Stranger, which starred James MacArthur and James Daly. It was made in 1957. —Robert del Valle, Royal Oak