LETTERS 2001

current letters | 2002 | 2001 | 2000

Civic Life and Death in the Gay Apple
I just do not understand why this article thinks that a special gay task force should have been present to help gay people after the crisis. I am gay and I saw friends and family and dealt with it. Being gay had nothing to do with this tragedy and how it may have affected someone.

What? We can only be consoled by gay people now? This article is ridiculous. Perhaps gays were silent, but I guarantee you that plenty of us were working hard afterwards and that if we were not going out a lot, it was because for awhile the priorities shifted. Sexual persuasion was at the bottom of the list. Wipe yourself out of the nation's consciousness. Hell, even Condit got a reprieve!

Jose de Quesada
New York, NY
November 7, 2001

Gays Shouldn't Be Silent Or Invisible
As the attacks of September 11 force Americans to think about our nation's history and what we as a people stand for, such as equal rights for all people, religions, races, etc., we must work to preserve what previous generations have given us, and not let religious and political fanatics destroy our efforts.

Lesbian, gay, bi, and transgender citizens should also look back to the beginning of our civil rights movement in the 50's, and learn how a few people started the work, first sharing experiences among themselves, then reaching out to the public, dreaming that someday later generations would be able to march proudly down main streets across the nation, and have full acceptance in jobs, homes, churches, colleges, government and society.

The dream is close to reality, but it seems that many of us have no interest in knowing our history, or carrying the fight forward [Why Queers Were Silent and Civic Life and Death in the Gay Apple].

During this month when we "celebrate" gay and lesbian history month, just as Hispanics are celebrating their history, we should take the time to visit a gay/lesbian library, archive, or community center, and see what has been done and what needs to be done.

We must remember what it was like when a few individuals began the journey, starting publications, picketing for justice, appearing as homosexuals for the first time on radio and television and in the general press, not knowing what would happen to them. Then, we should appreciate our lives today, not just as Americans, but as homosexual/gay/lesbian/dyke/faggot/queer/trans/bi Americans.

Billy Glover
Bossier City, LA
November 2, 2001

Why Should Queers Call Attention to Themselves?
Why should the LGBT community single themselves out or call attention to themselves in reacting to this huge tragedy [Civic Life and Death in the Gay Apple]? Aren't we marginalizing ourselves by bringing everything back to matters of sexuality?

Was the WTC targeted because there were queers working there? No. Did they rescue straight people before they rescued queers? No. Is every decent person in NYC and around the country and world saddened by this senseless loss of life, and by the equally senseless civilian casualties in Afghanistan? Of course.

What does being queer have to do with it? Except, I imagine queers would be dead for being just that in the Taliban regime, where in this country that is not necessarily the case.

Helen Lang
New York, NY
November 1, 2001

United Front
As a progressive queer Latino who desperately wants our community to come together and not be torn apart, I was disheartened by coverage of internal community politics in "Candidate Ferrer, Bronx Pride, and Mega-Bigotry" that offers criticism but few suggestions for active improvement. I think using the press to stir up anger and reopen wounds does not deserve to be called journalism.

Bronx Pride made a mistake. Of this there is no doubt. I am certain that much of the community recognizes this, including those of us who were involved in planning the Pride march and festival. Of course, knowing the history and background of a problem is the way to avoid it.

I don't know all of that history, but I do know that the community was invited to be involved in the planning. Not just the Bronx community, and not just the Queer Latino/a communities, but all of New York. Most people chose not to support Bronx Pride with time. Some gave money. Others came to the march. A sincere thank you should be sent their way. But for the most part, the lgbt community in New York City was not interested in helping plan Bronx Pride.

It would be simple to claim that the lack of involvement, as well as the resulting controversy over the Vacilón marshals, were due to one person's indifferent attitude or one political appointee's desires (which was insinuated in Cogswell's article), but that would be a gross oversimplification of a much larger dilemma. This is akin to the white middle class attributing African-American and Latino poverty to laziness.

The truth is, when the leadership of our community is splintered and fractured into "boroughism," for lack of a better term, communication breaks down. Racism, homophobia, sexism, and other forms of oppression are systemic, and thus require a systemic measure for relief. But developing a long term plan for eradicating bigotry through community education requires a united front, not a divided one.

I was, unfortunately, out of town for the ten days leading up to Bronx Pride. I was not here to hear about the very valid and accurate concerns. Had I been, I can assure you, I would have done everything in my power to resolve this matter in a way that demonstrated Bronx Pride's commitment to, and history of, celebrating people who build up the queer community, not tear it down.

While I would not have consented to honoring people who, even under the auspices of humor, made light of lgbt needs and rights, I do want to add though, that there are sensibilities within communities of color about various issues that take forms that are variant from those in the mainstream community.

Nevertheless, please accept my public apology for this misstep, and join me in asking all of us in the world of progressive queer politics to have constructive dialogue and honest continued communication to avoid this sort of obstacle to a united front in the future.

Yours in the Quest for Equality,

Tony O'Rourke-Quintana
New York, NY
August 1, 2001

Snuff Show Falls Short
I just got around to reading "The All-American Snuff Show" about McVeigh. I have to admit I was interested for awhile, but found it wanting. You were critical of the obviousness of the standard fourth column bill of fare in reporting the event, but you really didn't go out on any limbs to formulate any cogent alternatives other than the simplistic "I have seen the enemy and he is me."

Well... no. That is too formulaic as well and all too safe. And the John Brown comparison while quoting the thoughts of Henry David Thoreau shows how badly you missed the boat here. McVeigh and Brown do have something in common, but neither is the tragic anti-hero. And it ain't Emerson's poetic interpretation either.

But I will agree on two points. We created McVeigh and the collective media should be taken to the woodshed on its coverage of him. All that was missing was Brittany Spears advertising Pepsi at the event. May I also add he will not be the last.

Geoff Blankenmeyer
Mukwonago, WI
July 27, 2001

Investing in Peace
I couldn't agree more with J. Wilbank's May 24 letter about "Bush and The Middle East" in which he writes, "It's their land, let them decide who rules it."

The trouble is, with over $2.3 billion dollars being sent by the US Congress to Israel each year, we can hardly be non-partisan.

E. Logreco
Los Angeles, CA
July 25, 2001

Redefining Democracy
I was very surprised to see your article, "Violence Stops Yugoslavia Gay Pride" criticizing the Yugoslav government's indirect complicity in allowing the parade to be broken up. With democracy, the majority rules, so perhaps before prematurely deciding on whether the breakup of the parade was right or wrong, a poll of Yugoslav citizens would be in order.

I do not support violence in any form, but I do insist that we reevaluate what the true spirit of democracy is. It is impossible to please all groups in all areas. Deciding what is acceptable in a given society should therefore be dictated by majority consent.

I believe strongly that the overwhelming majority of the Serb populace does not support such displays of "democracy." What takes place in these parades is what gives you people a bad name. I've seen many of them, and believe me these are more than parades. So please do not judge a society that has long held religious and family traditions. You can't please everyone.

Nikola Perencevic
Hamilton, Ontario
July 25, 2001

Talking Trash
I'm writing to you because I just came across this article, "Keeping Company with the Devils" about gay Cubans, CANF, and the Elian saga.

I myself am Cuban born, gay and liberal and I find that article full of lies and stupidity. The majority of us Cubans, whether gay or not, wanted the kid to remain in the U.S. for a simple reason — freedom — something no American will ever understand without living under a communist dictatorship. It had nothing to do with whether the kid belonged with the father or not. The mother gave up her life so the kid could grow up in freedom, nothing more, nothing less.

Regarding Cubans discriminating and not being tolerant towards gays — I don't know whether someone tried to kick the hell out of you for being queer and this person was Cuban, but that has never happened to me. People around me accept me the way I am, and no one has ever been thrown a rock or a brick at me.

Last, but not least, learn about the work and principles of the Cuban American National Foundation before you just go along with the U.S. liberal media propaganda which most of the time praises Castro, but hardly ever exposes his atrocities and human rights violation.

Luis Castillo
Miami Beach, FL
July 23, 2001

"Why Gays Got Attacked in Belgrade"
If countries like Serbia and Egypt hate gays so much, we should boycott them. Not only refuse to travel there, but also to buy their products.

Just say no to giving them our dollars.

Allan Murdock
Rancho Mirage, CA
July 6, 2001

Letter From Belgrade
It is with the utmost pleasure that we acknowledge the news that the man who brought us so much evil is finally in The Hague. The fact that Slobodan Milosevic will have to answer for wars which he started and lead, and for ethnic cleansing which he ordered, will not be much consolation to the victims of his crime and madness. But for those who have survived, we are awarded a certain satisfaction and all that remains is for us to congratulate the government of the Republic of Serbia for its responsible and courageous move in extraditing Milosevic to The Hague.

Our pleasure is mitigated by the fact that there are still individuals who should be in The Hague with him, like Milosevic's main companion, Franjo Tudjman. Also troubling is the fact that the spirit which inspired Milosevic and his followers is still alive and active in our immediate surroundings.

The situation in Macedonia continues to confirm how a low-intensity war is transformed into a full-scale one. This is a war in which people who think like Milosevic are on both the Albanian and Macedonian sides. Cooperation and dialogue have been all but destroyed.

As usual, the international community is showing its proverbial inertia. When will the world hear the voices of Macedonians and Macedonian Albanians who speak of peace and dialogue but whose voices are muffled by the terror of homogenized militants of their ethnic communities?

Will the leaders of the crime and ethnic cleansing in Macedonia one day answer to the Tribunal in The Hague? It won't make a difference to their victims.

Women in Black — Belgrade
Belgrade, Yugoslavia
July 4, 2001

Bush Minus
On this "Independence Day" I can't help but think that the stolen presidential election has made a mockery of our supposed Democracy. I feel anything but independent, and mainstream media is clearly anything but.

But one recent chilling episode spotlights a possible reason why they may not be willing to take on the powerful and corrupt Bush Cartel: fear of retaliation.

Greg Palast, one of the few real journalists with the gonads to report on the stolen election and corporate ties of the Chief Thief, is under attack by the Cartel. Mr. Palast has written reports such as "Theft of the Presidency," aired on BBC Television's "Newsnight," and "Best Democracy Money Can Buy," published in The Observer. Mr. Palast recently posted this alert of the attack at gregpalast.com:

"In retaliation for the investigative story about the finances of the George W. Bush campaign, Barrick Gold Mining of Canada has sued my paper, The Observer of London, for libel. The company, which hired the elder Bush after his leaving the White House, is charging the newspaper with libel for quoting an Amnesty International report, which alleged that 50 miners might have been buried alive in Tanzania by a company now owned by Barrick...

My Observer story, "Best Democracy Money Can Buy," looked into the activities of several corporations linked to the Bushes. It was in that article I first disclosed that over 50,000 Florida voters, most of them Black, were wrongly tagged as 'felons,' and targeted for removal from the voter roll.

My entire continuing investigation is in jeopardy."

This kind of blatant retaliation puts our entire country in jeopardy. The Bush Cartel has already denied us our right to vote, denied us our right to choose our President, packed the US Supreme Court with partisans willing to corrupt the law to deny these rights, and reduced most of the media to merely reciting press releases for the bogus administration. Now the Cartel is going after the few genuine investigative reporters left to oppose them.

If the few remaining real journalists are successfully silenced by the Bush Cartel, then next "Independence Day" will be even more hollow than this one. And this one's none too great.

Myra Bronstein
Bellevue, WA
July 4, 2001

Bush and The Middle East
I would think that if the Middle East problem were as easy to solve as Chuck 45 implies, it would have been done in the eight years Clinton was in office. Whoops, it wasn't. And regarding his crack about Bush's oil connections, at least we have a president considering the oil problem and planning for the future as opposed to trying to 'Band-Aid' the present.

Seems to me, after eight years, all we have to show for the Clinton administration is a lot of legal fees. Let's call apples-apples and oranges-oranges. Bush didn't create the Middle East problem, and he won't solve it. That's why people outside of the U.S. have such a problem with Americans, because we think we can do it all. We can't. It's their land, let them decide who rules it.

J. Wilbanks
Dallas,TX
May 24, 2001

Sympathy from Brazil
I just read Bill Weintraub's article Gay-Bashing in the Anti-Bush Movement. Not only was it well-written, but the views he expressed really made me think. It's still very easy for people to use homophobic slurs without even thinking about what they're doing.

Unfortunately, that seems to be universal, since it is done here in Brazil as well. As a bisexual woman, it bothers me a lot that the word 'gay' is used as an insult. I never allow it to be done in my presence, but when I say something the response I usually get is "Lighten up."

There is still a long way to go until gay people will truly be an accepted part of society. Until then, we must keep on fighting. So congratulations on the article, and good luck with the anti-Bush movement. Down here in Brazil we feel sorry for you guys—you deserved a better president.

Juliana Viana
Brasilia, Brazil
April 17, 2001

Telling It Like It Is
Gay-Bashing in the Anti-Bush Movement is the most honest account I've ever read of the fact that imperfections, in admittedly varying degrees, exist on 'the gay issue' in both political parties. As a gay Republican, I walk the tightrope from utter and often hypocritical disdain from my brothers and sisters in the gay community, to uncertainty and outright antipathy from the farthest fringes of my own political party.

Maybe your article will have the unintended effect of helping the gay community understand what gay Republicans face on a daily basis, as well as showing that courage and patriotism is required to take a proud gay stand at either end of the political spectrum.

While I'm sure we'd disagree on many key political/social issues, I really appreciate the courage Weintraub shows in 'telling it like it is.'

Parley Stock
New York, NY
April 17, 2001

Gay-Bashing in the Anti-Bush Movement
I've always considered myself to be a pretty conservative guy—I've even voted Republican more times than any other party (up to now, that is—after the last election I will probably never vote Republican again).

Since the Election 2000 debacle, I've become involved with a number of people from NOW, NAACP, Alliance for Democracy and other groups which are definitely not conservative. New to this movement, I can see a lot of their activities with untainted eyes. And Weintraub's commentary really hit the nail on the head.

It really surprised me to find that some people within the more enlightened community (that is, the non-Radical Right community) still harbor views of gays which are demeaning at best. Many of them also hold the same views about African Americans, and people from different cultures. I met one fellow who absolutely prided himself on his open-mindedness, espousing the equality of all people and the importance of supporting the needy. Yet he refused to get into an elevator filled with African Americans!

Coming from the side of politics where the gay and the dark-skinned are only allowed in as tokens, I was expecting something different on the other side of the fence. Well, it is better, but not nearly what it should be.

The last time I was in D.C., I met with a person from the Justice Action Movement and someone from the DC Black Panthers. I commented to the JAM person after the meeting, "You guys have got a problem with people with dark skin," with regards to their interaction with the Black Panthers. She apologized profusely and then said something very interesting: that they actually are aware that they are not treating African Americans completely as their equals in JAM. But, that they intend to fix it.

That is the difference between the Radical Right and the rest of the world. The Radical Right sees heterosexual white males as the dominant species on the planet: anyone else is inferior and to be used solely for the purpose of fattening their bank accounts and enlarging their power base.

The rest of us realize where we are wrong, and are reaching out to fix it.

Ron Fussell
St. Paul, MN
April 11, 2001

Open Letter To Mr. Bush
The U.S. has the highest per capita CO² emissions in the world. People around the world are already faced with the first signs of climate change, suffering from floods and hurricanes.

With about 5% of the world's population, the United States produces about 25% of global warming gases. Sabotaging the Kyoto Protocol puts the USA into a position of environmental isolationism and makes it responsible for climate catastrophe.

We ought to be the leaders in tackling climate change. A great majority of Americans recognize that alternative and renewable energy, and energy efficiency, offer enormous potential for creativity, innovation, and profit (which even oil companies like the forward-looking BP recognize). This will be the new economy for the world. We do not want to be left behind and left out.

The voters of the United States, including Florida, rejected you and your agenda. You have no mandate at all, and absolutely no right whatsoever to hijack this country in directions contrary to the desires of the majority of its citizens.

If you fail to reverse your decision to kill the Kyoto Protocol, future generations will not forgive you; you will be the poster boy for environmental and human disaster, and for the decline of the United States as an economic and principled world power.

Mr. Bush, the science is as 'proven' as science ever is, and the international political will is there to tackle climate change. The U.S. must join the world in fighting climate change.

Merlin Montgomery, MD
Olympia, WA
April 5, 2001

P.S. There is no prize for guessing that I will be campaigning against Republicans (and your enabling Democrats) for the foreseeable future.

Send your own letter directly to Bush via Friends of the Earth.

Labor's Queer Irish Troubles
I agree that the discriminatory policies of the St. Patrick's Day Parade should be exposed, as well as the support that New York City gives to those who discriminate. Besides gays and others, Irish Protestants are also excluded from the parade. The City and all those who fight discrimination should rally together to say that an exclusionary Catholic parade should not be allowed on the streets of New York, especially when everyone's tax dollars are spent providing parade services like police protection and cleaning up afterwards.

I am very disappointed and saddened that unions support this criminal act of discrimination, and that the head of an "equal employment union" would proudly march down the street condoning and promoting hatred of others. I read between the lines.... it's okay to discriminate, provided you have the City's blessings. Maybe that is why so many City workers are treated so badly in terms of pay raises and fairness in the workplace. The City rules, not the people.

Gene Walsh
New York, NY
March 21, 2001

The writer is the first openly gay firefighter in New York City Fire Department history, and the founder of the national group FireFLAG/EMS (Fire Fighters Lesbian And Gay/EMS) http://www.fireflag.org.

ILGO and the Behemoth
Terrific coverage of the St. Patrick's Day Parade [Queerly Mellow St. Paddy's Day]! As one of the ILGO protesters standing out in the cold for hours (and having been arrested in several prior protests), I was heartened to see the issues around the parade and labor's involvement in it get a thorough and clear-eyed discussion.

The issue of press coverage has been tough for ILGO for the past few years. Last St. Pat's, the 10th anniversary of ILGO's exclusion, dozens of people were arrested in civil disobedience, including many of the more than 50 Irish queers who flew to New York to support the protest.

Ironically, that action seemed to receive less television coverage than this year's much more low-key effort. Why? Perhaps because this year's protest was located just three blocks north of St. Patrick's cathedral, and television crews were trawling the area for news. Perhaps because, whatever the moral high ground civil disobedience achieved, it gave us damn little visibility—most years, ILGO protesters were hustled off the street and into police vans well before the actual parade was scheduled to start.

The parade itself is a behemoth (mind-numbingly boring, but a behemoth nonetheless), and it's hard to work out how fewer than 100 feisty queers can make a dent, let alone disrupt it without having to wind up in jail for more than 24 hours. But by standing on Fifth Avenue, we were seen and heard by every parade participant, and made it onto most television news programs.

ILGO energy is low for a lot of reasons, one of which might be that the Irish immigrant community in NY has shrunk considerably since the early 1990's, with many Irish returning home to a booming local economy, particularly in the cities. Another, I think, is that the organization, which had started off as a social group, became focused around the parade.

The politicization of ILGO had a lot of positive effects on its members and on the group as a whole, but the immense energy it took to put bodies on the streets every March 17th could not help but take its toll. Perhaps ILGO should rethink its St. Pat's strategy, but the group's choices seem to be either maintain some presence or back off.

The latter choice is too bitter—it amounts to letting the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the cops, the Catholic Church, and Rudy Giuliani win. Isn't this the struggle of all grassroots organizations: how to maintain focus and energy without being either bought off or worn out? I don't know what the answer to this problem is, but I am proud to have been part of one of the longest-running protests New York City has seen. As ILGO itself says: "We're Irish, we're queer, we'll be here every year."

Sarah Chinn
Brooklyn, NY
March 21, 2001

The Greatest Country in The World
Bravo for Bush: Civility, Suckers, and American Saviors, an outstanding piece of criticism on Bush and the wrongs in this country.

I was born and raised overseas, in a country where no person goes without medical insurance and care, where all people share in the prosperity, and the differences of income are not as pronounced, where the spirit of sharing through government programs is accepted in the true spirit of compassion and Christianity, without the zealous religious fanaticism that exists here.

Please keep up the good work, until the self-effacing cry of the average American that "this is the greatest country in the world" will no longer make a lie of the words, but will be expressed in deeds.

Lydia Bell
Gilbert, AZ
February 9, 2001

Get Into The Gully
I just stumbled into The Gully. The piece on Civility and Suckers was especially good, particularly the James Baldwin quote. I look forward to a more conscious exploration of your gullies.

Patrick D.Hazard
Weimar, Germany
February 8, 2001

Internet Hate
I just saw this website www.anti-gay.com and I thought Gully readers should know what is being said about gays and feminists and other minorities. Let's start a coalition to get this website offline.

Raymond Kubecheski
Milford, NJ
February 7, 2001

Third Party Imperative
The Dems and GOPs are not quite identical in outlook, but the preference for money over human values during the last eight years probably advanced just as fast as it would have under the GOPs. Corporate rights trumped human rights. International capital beat local control. Commercialism defeated aesthetics. The Clinton administration provided no effective counterpoint. The President spoke not a single time as the moral leader, shaping a more human vision. All he did was set up a task force to examine racism.

The Justice Department, meanwhile, failed to file in support of defendants rights in numerous court cases while Clinton celebrated increasing the number of police. What about the tripling of the prison population, Bill? Got a plan? Nope, it's punishment over treatment, revenge over empathy. And how about those judge appointments? When we hear Dems arguing that their judge nominee is good to go because he executes prisoners just as effectively as other judges, then we have hardly a nickel's worth of difference between the parties.

You'd think Democrats would learn a lesson one of these days, but now it's Rightward, ho! for the Congressional Democrats, chasing votes that just aren't going to be theirs (fearful white males) while running away from the votes they could have if they wanted! Which is why the New Democrat standard-bearer for 2000 lost! It isn't Nader's fault.

Why does the Left demand more from, and criticize and cut down, people who support their issues most of the time [Ralph Nader's Vanishing Act], but forgive the frequent pain inflicted by the people who mostly sell them out? It's pathological. The trick for a Third Way is to find a spokesperson who transcends an issue focus, because to the Left, nobody is good enough.

That message—that Ralph Nader was not good enough to represent progressives—was shrewdly developed and promoted by the Gore campaign, and supplemented by advertising to convince those who liked Nader that they would be helping elect Bush. It exploited the unconscious lefty belief that Virtue will always be humiliated in a confrontation with Politics.

Sometimes I think the Hard Left functions as emotional ballast to the Nut-Wing Right, both with about a 5% voting bloc. The emotionally crippled (don't trust your friends!) balancing the angry paranoids (only trust your friends!) A crucial difference is that the GOPs grant occasional victories to their bloc to keep them loyal. The Dems say "maybe later," but that's exactly what works to keep the loyalty of those who live to be perpetually spurned.

Tim Culver
Bloomington, MN
January 23, 2001

Open Letter To Senator Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire):
I write to recommend an amendment to the platform of the Republican Party regarding its position on the political status of Puerto Rico, and to urge you to reevaluate your position regarding the issue of Vieques, Puerto Rico.

First and foremost, the support of the Republican Party to my nation becoming a state of the Union is an oxymoron we must fight together. Puerto Rico is a country with a distinct nationality and culture that has resisted over one hundred years of American subjugation. We are, and will continue to be, citizens of the Puerto Rican nation...state or not. Besides, statehood will give many independence supporters yet another legitimate reason to take on armed struggle as the only viable means to attain independence. This will be a recurring headache to your government with over two million Puerto Ricans in the United States and almost four million in Puerto Rico, all U.S. citizens since 1917.

For the welfare and the integrity of both nations, your Party should favor independence for Puerto Rico, albeit upsetting some loyal millionaire supporters that the GOP has on the island. I urge you to take action to correct this terrible mistake.

Furthermore, due to the traditional military values that the Republican Party upholds, President Bush is better positioned to order the permanent cease and desist of all military activities in Vieques than was the draft-dodger Bill Clinton. Although I understand the need of your troops to be trained with live-fire ammunition in realistic conditions before being deployed, understand that those exercises should be conducted in the continental United States, since that is the country those soldiers have sworn to honorably defend.

Hector Rosario
West Lebanon, NH
January 19, 2001

Up with Bush! Down with Gay Dictatorship!
Bush won and decency too! But it doesn't matter if our next president is a Democrat or a Green or an Independent. He or she will always be a decent man or woman: nobody like you. It seems that many among your staff and writers:

—Hate cops and American establishment [Confessions of a Cop-Hater].
—Are against death penalty (I am, too) and against punishing criminals if they happen to be black, gay or lesbian [Why You Should Oppose the Death Penalty].
—Love dictators like Fidel Castro and wannabe dictators like Chávez [Venezuela and the Oil Crisis: The Colonial Script].
—Hate the Cuban-American community [Bush and the 900-pound Gorilla].
—Hate the American electoral system [The Curse of the Electoral College].
—Would like to establish the Gay-Lesbian dictatorship in the U.S., jailing the straight population and brain-washing straight kids into becoming gays [About The Gully].

That is why President Bush won.

Raúl Díaz
Miami, Florida
January 15, 2001

Gore Did All He Could
I take strong exception to Kelly Cogswell's article, Sold Down the River—Again. Vice President Al Gore is the rightful winner of the 2000 Presidential election, and he did all he could to prove it.

Yes, a democratic Senator should have come forward to support the challenge to the Florida electors, so that there could have been a congressional vote on record. The sad reality is, no one did. There also wasn't one Republican in the House that would've voted to throw out the fraudulent Florida electors.

I think we need to follow the fine example being shown us by Rev. Jesse Jackson who is urging the progressive community to work together.

Nancy Kuhn
Scottsdale, AZ
January 9, 2001

What is Gore Supposed to Do?
What is Gore supposed to do when no one is taking to the streets, and that includes blacks [Sold Down the River—Again]? His acquiescence is a reflection of the American public. People are still fat and happy. "No pain, no gain" is the expression that might apply here. But maybe the January 20 inaugural demonstrations will prove some of us are not brain dead.

Without democracy, there is no rule of law, only the rule of tyrants.

Karen Boerboom
Platteville, WI
January 9, 2001

Democrats Betrayed Us
Kelly Cogswell's article, "Sold down the river—Again" was a lucid and passionate article. Since election night I have been participating in a liberal discussion forum on Salon.com's TableTalk. At first we had thousands following—all unified in outrage over the theft of the election and the outrageous lies being told by Republicans and repeated by the media. We were behind Gore much more than prior to the election.

When he resigned, many disappeared, leaving us with only a few hundred doing media campaigns and congress letters, phone calls, telegrams, and faxes, not to mention online petitions and friend-organizing in an attempt to overturn the certification through electoral defection, or an electoral challenge. We worked pretty hard. And it came to nothing.

There was a real sense of betrayal on this mostly white bulletin board when the Senate unanimously failed to challenge, and the Democrats failed to even support the walkout, except for the one brave soul from California. There was a real sense of identification with, and respect for the Black Caucus. None of us will soon forget who was there when democracy needed them.

Now there are just a few dozen of us still together, working hard to create a grassroots organization holding to principles first, and building on truth. Many of us have no idea if we will support Greens, Democrats, or others in the next elections—but we are for campaign reform, human counted paper ballot reform, media reform, environmental sanity, and a severe housecleaning in Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court.

Jim Flynn
Sunnyvale CA
January 8, 2001

Token Blacks
I don't understand why anyone would think that Colin Powell or that Rice woman would satisfy black people [Bittersweet Pageantry of Race]. I am not black, but that is an insult to black people. They know better. Powell got up there by affirmative action, and then turns around to be a traitor to black people. He is no hero. Being in the military does not make anyone a hero, especially now, when they have never had it so good. Believe me, I know.

I am part of the World War II generation, and have seen enough of those military personnel. Powell is just a hand-me-down from Bush's Daddy, a token black and worthless. Many of us, not just black folks, will never, ever consider Georgie anything but a thief.

Connie Zehner
Washington State
January 8, 2001

Gore Insults Supporters
Are Americans going to take this lying down as a Silent Nation—staring blankly into flickering tubes? Or will there be some sort of effective resistance? Americans have become so complacent.

When I saw a report yesterday that Gore had told black leaders to get behind Bush, I realized that I had reached my parting of the ways with him. My passionate support of him during the election was deflated. I always bristled when I heard the post-election struggle portrayed in personal terms, as if Gore's fight was just about his personal ambition, not all the people who supported him because he was all that stood between the right-wing and the White House.

But telling black leaders to support Bush condones, in effect, the unsavory character of what Bush and his mob pulled off. Why did Gore have to endorse them now, after they cynically stole the election? It's an insult to the people who supported him. Ugh.

David Cogswell
January 5, 2001