Letters for June 13, 2002

OK, vile large hate sheet

Re “Stripper’s Last Laugh” (SN&R Capital Bites, June 6):

It is regrettable that the Sacramento News & Review was thrown out along with Community News. As you said, “Mueller definitely has a right to publish.”

However, I am sick and tired of the false assertions that you keep making. I do not praise the Third Reich; I just bring history in accord with the facts! Thank God, we are still in America. Otherwise, I would be in prison, like 75,000 Germans in Germany, who were talking about the same subjects as I do.

No matter how one feels about “the vile little hate sheet,” allow it to be banned and yours is going to be next. As for “little,” we run thousands of copies every month and have hundreds of subscribers.

Walter F. Mueller
Sacramento

She’ll be back, you’ll see

Re “Witch Love Spells Death” by Jennifer Greenman (SN&R Arts & Culture, June 6):

I greatly appreciated your discussion of the lesbian relationship between Tara and Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wanted to let you know, however, that you may have spoken too soon about how Joss Whedon has “taken the easy way out” by killing Tara. Though she was not in the credits for the season finale, she is still expected to be a recurring member of the cast slated for next season. I do not think that the Tara/Willow story is by any means over. From your article it is apparent that you have been watching the show for years, maybe even from the beginning, and if that’s the case you know very well that death is never the end on Buffy.

Sara Cohen
via e-mail

We need to talk

Re “Witch Love Spells Death” by Jennifer Greenman (SN&R Arts & Culture, June 6):

As a Buffy fan who was very upset by the killing of Tara’s character and the destruction of Willow’s character, I’ve been searching for a media outlet that is covering this controversial issue. The destruction of Willow and Tara’s relationship is creating a big backlash from the Buffy fan community and it is about time that the media started discussing it.

Thanks for publishing this. I’ve alerted my friends to your site.

Lisa Mayo
Germantown, MD

It ain’t over till the witch really dies

Re “Witch Love Spells Death” by Jennifer Greenman (SN&R Arts & Culture, June 6):

I just linked to your article via slayage.com and although I think you raised some very valid points, I’m afraid I disagree strongly with your opinion that Whedon’s decision to kill off Tara was a “cheap plot device.” According to Jane Espenson’s interview via the Succubus Club, Whedon truly agonized over this—I’m sorry, but I’m going to take her at her word.

When Tara died I was stunned beyond words. But I don’t think her death was capricious or cheap, and I certainly don’t think the dead/evil lesbian cliché applies here. Part of the problem stems from the fact that they did transcend into icon status. Had the decision been made to make Willow straight, this controversy simply wouldn’t exist. Perhaps it’s a compliment to the writers that they did their jobs too well.

There’s a lot of righteous anger built up in the gay community. Have gays and lesbians been unfairly portrayed in the media? Sure. In the entertainment industry? Of course. But not in this particular instance.

Three years of providing positive role models made Joss Whedon a good guy who deserved kudos. One tragic death made him a liar, a homophobe, a misogynist and The Most Evil Bastard That Ever Lived. I’m hoping that the sadness and anger you’re feeling eventually ebbs and you’ll come back for a seventh season. If you don’t, well … life goes on, doesn’t it?

Even for Willow.

Alex Tucker
Chattanooga, TN

No Buddhists allowed

Re “Phil Jackson for President” by Steven T. Jones (SN&R Cover, May 30):

I read your article on Phil for Pres. I would vote for him, not only as a lifelong Lakers fan, but because he’s very intelligent and believes what I do, for the most part. However, he wouldn’t stand a chance of getting elected because he’s very intelligent, not to mention a Zen Buddhist. Both the kiss of death. Look what happened to Gore. He was intelligent but I think he was screwed by Nader, who I used to like. You can see what it (Nader) did to Gore.

Jackson even mentions the Peter Principle in the interview. Shrub is a grand example of that principle, by several levels, and the only reason he’s doing so well in the polls is that people are pissed off by 9/11 and the Middle East and he has many, many advisers telling him what to say. I hope he’s going to get himself in a shitload of trouble when folks start thinking about all he’s pulling with all this “security” BS.

Eric Shank
via e-mail

In praise of King George

Re “Phil Jackson for President” by Steven T. Jones (SN&R Cover, May 30):

Phil Jackson for president? What a laugh!

We have a president in office now who will make his mark as one of our greatest. When George W. Bush is through in 2008, nobody will want to follow his incomparably great administration.

Frank Devine
Berkeley

Green elephants

Re “Preaching Environmentalism” by Liv O’Keeffe (SN&R Environment, May 30):

Your article “Preaching Environmentalism” showing the growing involvement of the religious community and especially the group California Interfaith Power and Light in environmental protection is a hopeful sign of positive change. Another sign that may be a bit unexpected is the growth of environmentalism among Republicans. In fact there is now a group of Republican environmental activists named Republicans for Environmental Protection. Please stop laughing. I know that “Green Republican” sounds like an oxymoron, but these people sure seem to be the real thing. Check out their Web site at www.rep.org.

Mike Savino
Sacramento

What would Jesus do?

Re “Preaching Environmentalism” by Liv O’Keeffe (SN&R Environment, May 30):

It’s about time churches started getting involved with “Saving Mother Earth,” as churches did in the ’60s and ’70s. There’s more to religion than preaching guilt, control and manipulation. Jesus loved the earth and all its inhabitants; he was a mellow being with patience and understanding, not condemnation!

By the way, SN&R, why do you hide the best column in your paper, “Ask Joey,” in the back among the phone sex ads? She’s amazing and deserves better than that.

Vera Ferris
Citrus Heights

Now entering Siberia

Re “Visitation Blues” by Megan Wong (SN&R News, May 30):

This whole visitation thing is a tempest in a teapot. The best thing any relatives or friends of those in jail can do for the convict’s future is to not visit them, send them nothing and do not communicate with them in any way. This will send a message, loud and clear, that it is not a good idea to do whatever they did to get in there in the first place, and that prison is indeed a lonely place, to be avoided at all costs, in the second place.

There are ongoing misconceptions about laws; laws were not written to be used to arrest and punish persons who violate them, they are guidelines established by our various legislative bodies, and used by citizens to guide us in our everyday lives, period. In other words, laws define our culture; uncultured persons usually end up in the penal system. The overwhelming majority of citizens follow these guidelines, and simply never come into contact with our court and penal systems.

How could someone who has a family or a person who cares about them have gone and committed a crime sufficiently serious enough to land them in jail? Don’t get me wrong, I am diametrically opposed to any type of cruel or unusual punishment, but making jail time any easier for inmates is counterproductive.

James Frew
Sacramento