A piece by Launce Rake in last week's As We See It section, describing a local appearance by actor and lefty activist Ed Asner (above), prompted this not-entirely unpredictable response:
I take serious issue with the drivel spewed by Lefty Lou and the article's author.
First off, "Roosevelt knew how to pick ... and slowly move leftwards." Frankie baby did more harm to this country and moved it a long ways towards communism than any other prez. Social Security, New Deal, rounding up Americans and putting them in concentration camps [the Japanese-Americans in case you lefties forgot], murdering our soldiers at Pearl Harbor [we knew! the code was broken!].
Like his good friends Hitler and Stalin and Mao. A real great prez, for sure!!
As to "freedom of democracy more important"? Democracy is mob rule! Worked well in Germany, Russia, Italy, China, S.E. Asia, didnt it??
There are no "democracies" ANYWHERE in this world, outside of the Sudan and Liberia at the moment. This country—United States of America—is a REPUBLIC and don't forget it! Maybe that's why you lefties always say "democracy," because that's what you want, isnt it, mob rule? Mob rule—chaos, concentration camps, mass murder for those who protest your communism!
And "there's less fear than usual by the rightwingers to voice their opinions"? What? We shout loud, always have! It's just that you lefties tend to ignore in your press the remarks made by so-called "right-wingers" or just shut your ears to not hear the truth or let it be known.
You are all like the cockroaches that swarm when lights are off, but run and hide when the truth be known [lights on]. Well I'd say F--K ALL YOU COMMIES, but then there would be more of you leftist bastards running around, and who wants that??
So I wish for you and your progeny—or bastards; after all, you don't believe in marriage!!—a very long life, filled with immense pain and suffering each and every minute! Pain that immobilizes your body, pain that wracks your brain into a frenzy! Like you have caused for millions of others in this world! And that should give you a foretaste of hell, where you will be spending eternity!
Kate Silver's contribution to last week's As We See It was a report on the local chapter of Billionaires for Bush, a group of anti-Bush pranksters who attend GOP rallies dressed as rick folk and advocate for policies that favor the upper class.
I think you missed to boat on this article ... The part in your head is so far left it distorts your view. You certainly aren't fair and balanced ... I believe you are sincere, but truly a MISS-GUIDED-MISSILE! You won't get the point until one of them lands in your back yard!
Editor's note: Yeah, right. If we had a nickel for every time someone's tried to scare us with the prospect of a backyard ballistic missile strike ...
The following was left on the voicemail of A&E Editor Martin Stein:
Hey Martin, I, uh, read your articles regarding Sting and Annie Lennox performance [September 30], uh, in all honesty, um, Annie Lennox is great. What I, uh, think is that you are one sour son of a bitch, and you ignorant on top of that, when it comes to your comments on Sting or whatever opinion or, uh, whichever you want to put it. Smarten up, pants, or go do something else.
Editor's note: Smarten up, pants, indeed! With a rallying cry like that, it's only a matter of time until Sting and Annie Lennox fans return them to the top of the charts.
With a clear majority expressing dissatisfaction with the direction of our country, the unspoken truth is that neither John Kerry nor George Bush nor Ralph Nader represents the visionary leadership that America ultimately needs.
While it is true that Nader can be far more frank with the American people on many issues than either of the two major candidates, he is also being extremely self-deceptive with regard to his immediate impact on America's direction. We absolutely need a crusader telling the unvarnished truths, but we cannot afford to let the ideal become the enemy of the possible. Ralph Nader needs to continue exposing both parties and the system that protects them, and he needs to do it on the largest possible stage, but when the bullhorn for truth threatens to become the barricade to recovery, it is time to reexamine priorities. Before we can take the first step in the right direction, we must end our sprint in the wrong direction.
We have seen where George Bush has led us, and if you have been paying attention, you can imagine where he and Cheney and Ashcroft and Rumsfeld would lead us in the future, given four more years without having to worry about getting re-elected.
John Kerry is an imperfect candidate in an imperfect party in an imperfect political system. But the existent alternatives to each must be considered before deciding to cast or withhold your vote. In order to assure better options are available in the future, we must choose the best available option now.
The choice is not between Kerry and Nader. It is between Kerry and Bush.
Vote on November 2, and make sure your vote counts towards steering America in a new and sensible direction. Then, after the election, help Nader or McCain or Dean or whomever you want, to shape and advocate for the real changes that are necessary for a secure, peaceful and sustainable future.
Editor's note: Hold on just a damn minute! Carefully reasoned ideas, calmly expressed without unnecessary name-calling and rampant paranoia. An American presidential election is no time for such behavior! Who let you onto this page, anyway?
Our January 22 edition featured a "Whatever Happened To ..." package. A few issues later, a letter-writer suggested a few more candidates for a whatever-happened-to treatment, including notorious letter-to-the-editor writer Clyde "Lenny" Dinkins. Through the magic of the Internet, Dinkins has finally caught up to the situation and has this to say:
First, congratulations to one of my icons, Scott Dickensheets, as Las Vegas Weekly editor. I've always said, since he was with the Sun, he's one of the best journalist and top wits in the country.
Now, to "Whatever Happened To ..."
"Clyde Dinkins: The ever imfamous (sic) right-wing letter-writer to every free local magazine, which always had a neoconservative, liberal-bashing letter from this guy in just about every week's letter section, but who seems to have gone missing in action after George W. Bush was sworn in. [Signed, Steven Millan]."
I'm shocked! I can read between the lines. Reader Millan refers to me as a neoconservative-paranoid, conspiracy-theorizing, right-wing, extremist wacko from Montana. This is a vile, vicious, blatant lie! I'm not from Montana!
Well, let me tell you left-wing liberals something. I'm happy to say I've been living in one of the best, idyllic, upscale slums in New York City, overlooking the beautiful, polluted, garbage-strewn Hudson River. But do liberals and Steve Millan care? Hell no! It wasn't their greedy, insider trading, corrupt Enron and Tyco fathers who were being hauled off to jail. They were ours—me and my Republican buddies.
I remember it vividly as though it was yesterday (it was yesterday!). The night before my father was to turn himself in to the Manhattan federal court. He sat me down and said, "Son, we're bankrupt, we're losing the house, I had to sell your Mercedes and I have to go away for a few years. But I want you to promise me three things. One, never, ever trust or vote for a liberal. Two, always buy any stock Warren Buffett or Steve Wynn recommend. Three, in black jack never hit 17 no matter what the dealer is showing."
I can truthfully say I've religiously adhered to all three. Further, er ... pardon me a minute while I go to my window ... I hear a commotion outside my apartment ... Hey! you liberals down there with the Kerry-Edwards signs! Conservatives and Republicans live here. Now, will you get the hell away from our building, or do I have to call the police SWAT team on you!? ...