Friends In Russian Places: Your Letters

Not Quite Equal

Re: Sir Elton Gets Equality by E.J. Graff

E.J Graff says that Elton finally achieves equality. Not quite! As she also notes his union with David Furnish isn't gay marriage, but civil partnership. Civil partnerships are a new institution (for same-sex couples only) while marriage remains reserved for different sex couples. Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson are a British lesbian couple who legally married in Canada in 2003 and whose marriage is not recognized as such under British law.  We are bringing a case to the High Court to demand a declaration of the validity of our marriage, arguing that a failure to recognize it violates our human rights. The U.K. government has intervened to oppose our marriage being recognized. This is not equality. Any different-sex couple who went to Canada and got married would have that marriage recognized as such in the U.K. We are asking for equal treatment. Separate is still not equal.

Celia Kitzinger
Editors' Note: The editors of TomPaine.com titled E.J. Graff's article. Graff would never have never call civil partnerships, civil unions, etc. "equal."

To Catch A Spy?

Re: The Freewheeling Executive by Aziz Huq

We can make a very good guess why Bush has ignored FISA—he wants to spy on his enemies here, such as those against the Iraq war. Even though the secret court has approved most requests for warrants, it has turned down a few, and Bush and his cronies do not want to risk it. They do not want anyone overseeing their black deeds against Americans. If these actions do not result in impeachment, I don't know what would.

Helen Bart

Thoughts On The Game

Re: Iraq: Game Over by Robert Dreyfuss

After the mess in the Middle East escalates to what looks like a bloody disaster, Bush will be zapped up in the Rapture with his Christian buddies. So he doesn't have to worry about the country...the Social Security going broke and the environment being ruined...how scary is that?

Jan Riske

Robert Dreyfuss’ article , "Iraq : Game Over," makes huge stereotypical comments and lacks proper research.  He calls the Najaf imam, Al Sistani, "His Malevolence," which I found offensive.  Moreover, he lumps "fundamental Shi'ites," Iran, the Badr Brigade and Al Sistani all in one or two sentences as of the same ilk. Al Sistani is a moderate Shi'i cleric, not a fundamentalist. Like most of the Najaf clerics, he disapproves of Khomeini's teachings in Iran. He hasn't been part of the Badr Brigade, either. In fact, Al Sistani has urged the Iraqis to vote and has urged cooperation with American soldiers. So Dreyfuss has no credibility left with me—he should gain a better understanding of the situations he's writing about.

Sumbul Ali

Measuring Domestic Prosperity

Re: Our Worrisome MDP by Robert Reich

Thank you for always clarifying the economic situation with clear and reasonable analysis.  What concerns me, however, is that at least half of the great U.S. middle class supported Bush, as did small business people.  Over the holidays I met a very nice middle-aged, middle-class couple who told me that although "most of their friends were "liberals" they remained "Bushies." I kept asking why. When we got around to education, the male partner extolled his Catholic academic schooling from elementary to university. After my long harangue about public education and Head Start, he responded that the numbers on Head Start value were low, and (chuckling smugly) the answer to education for the poor was vouchers.

I had to end the conversation, when I realized that their position stemmed from their economic point of view. He might be middle class, but he wanted all benefits due to the rich which included not "throwing money" at programs that "don't work."  Sadly, they too preferred to close the deficit gap with tax cuts for themselves and destroying "social" programs which benefited "those people." I think MDP might impress even them. I believe that it should be a campaign issue for 2006.

Ricki Franklin

Isn't it also interesting that the Labor Dept. tracks average wages instead of median wages?  There's a BIG difference and only the median wage represents how the vast majority of Americans are doing.  

Connie Mellein

Robert Reich is wrong.  My husband and I are in our 50s, and our incomes only keep growing, through hard work, savings and planning for the future. The tax relief we got from the Bush Tax Cut has spurred more small businesses to get started, and has reduced unemployment to record low levels (even lower than during the Clinton years).  So Reich is selective about what he wants to tell you. Maybe median incomes have dipped some, but we now have record numbers of people getting those median incomes, more people are working and more people own their own homes.  America is clearly becoming more prosperous, not as Reich would have you believe. Those who are lazy, refuse to get educated or retrained for the jobs of tomorrow are hurting themselves.  This is NOT the responsibility of taxpayers. Everyone is responsible for their own lives, their families, their education and their retirement.

Mary Bettinson

Robert Reich's proposal to measure prosperity by measuring changes in middle class prosperity is very appropriate. I had long believed in the trickle-down theory and therefore supported programs and practices that benefited business generally. It is clear the trickle is no longer making it down to the middle class. It is clear we're not all in this together. The middle class is not better off today than it was four or six years ago. It is difficult to see—given the offshoring of jobs, oceans of debt held by other nations, the growing competitiveness of other nations, and our decimated intern ational reputation—how this decline can be stopped. The consequences of this trend will be dire. Our government is doing little if anything to respond to this challenge and instead tells us that things are actually better than they were. We cannot afford the Bush administration.

John Lyn

Friends In Russian Places

Re: To Russia, Love Tom DeLay by Russ Baker

Russ Baker's article was astounding.  I consider myself well-read and try to keep up with all the latest, but this was the first I had heard of this segment of The Hammer's lucrative career.  Man, how I'd love to live long enough to see this hypocritical, lying, warmongering bunch of thieves brought down.  I have a dream!

Bobbie Buchanan

I've been blasting Abramoff and DeLay on my blog for months. Their style of corruption is arrogant and smarmy. A goody-two-shoes criminal? Did God order them to steal money and smear their opponents? The hypocrisy of it all is out of this world. Will Rush, Ann Coulter, Hannity ad nauseum express their outrage? Will they be tried by a jury of true believers? Remember, the Republicans have the power and the support of millions, regardless off their acts. Can you say "jury nullification?"

Gary Kennedy

The Immigration Imbroglio

Re: Beyond Guest Workers by Amy Traub

If the press allows Mexican immigration to be turned into a wedge issue, the Dems will again lose the elections. Period. End of discussion. Don't do it.

A. Hansen

Amy's piece isn't quite as bleeding heart as most so-called "progressive" critiques of the illegal alien mess, but it still fails to note that we already have an immigration mechanism, and that we already do allow a quarter of a million people to legally settle in this country every year. The problem has developed because of the foie gras forced-feeding approach, which creates a rate of immigration that can't be smoothly economically accommodated, and that has long-term and serious negative consequences for the environment. She failed to mention www.numbersusa.com's founder, Roy Beck, who became a committed immigration reductionist after studying the problem as an environmental journalist. Hardly a protégé of George Lincoln Rockwell, his organization numbered approximately 3,000 or 4,000 members two years ago, 40,000 this past March, and more than 130,000 now. These people aren't racist xenophobes. They're people whose livelihoods are threatened by the wage thieves flooding in from abroad. Amy may have a good heart; she should try expanding it to include native-born Americans.

Bart Balmer

Amy Traub misses the mark. We do have a means to assimilate foreigners into our nation. It is called legal immigration. Illegal aliens have chosen of free will to enter the country in violation of our laws. They should depart and apply for legal entry like everyone else.

Is that too progressive for some of you?  For the effects of illegal immigration on an overpopulated labor environment, look at Puerto Rico. Their illegals are from the Dominican Republic, but the high unemployment and high supply of laborers work to keep wages low in a locale with very high cost of living. We're (the blue collar and middle class) headed that way here.

Carlos M.  Rodriguez