The American Consternation
Interesting piece, though.
Jeff Tidrick, Evanston, IL
My guess is that the approach to Talk is no different.
To quote from Animal House, Hearst is keeping Talk on "double-secret probation." You just happened to notice.
Richard Thau, Manhattan
Russ Smith replies: I haven't been frustrated by Hearst's apparently slip-shod approach to Talk's circulation, just observant. Obviously, Hearst has a number of options in its contract with Disney/Miramax to sever its relationship with Talk; my bet is that one of those will be exercised soon.
You say the treaty is dishonest because the U.S. can run simulations and those constitute tests. Well, you're just wrong. They don't; they're just meant to replace tests. Anyone is free to run simulations. This certainly is not "yet another instance of international law that applies to everyone but the United States."
You know, George, I'll tell you something. Countries push for things that are in their own interest. That's not hypocrisy; it's reality. U.S. foreign policy does not look out for India and Pakistan as a primary goal; they're big boys and they can take care of themselves. Occasionally weaker nations get squashed and that is regrettable, but that's the way the world works.
Only an hysteric like yourself would assert that "if more than two bombs had been available in August 1945, other Japanese cities would have been hit." Evidence, please? The two bombs accomplished their purpose; there is no reason to think that more would have been dropped had they been available. Your propensity for making wild statements like this makes it difficult for me to take you seriously.
You seem to think that since the U.S. has already used nuclear weapons, it is hypocritical for them to oppose their use by other nations. That is a very foolish and dishonest view. In 1945 nobody understood A-bombs. Truman doubtless thought of them as essentially very powerful conventional bombs. It took some time before it began to sink in to people that they were fundamentally different and should be taken off the table. Truman had ample reason for using them given his understanding at the time and I don't think he can be criticized for that.
Your arguments always seem to be coming from the "four legs good, two legs bad" level of thinking, with no appreciation for shades of gray, and your mindless anti-Americanism is really tiresome. Can't you give it a rest for a week or two and write about flowers or bunnies or something?
Joe Rodrigue, New Haven
2) Yes, rock began as and is still primarily "a distillate of youthful energies, youthful innocence..." etc. It is also, after more than 40 years of existence, just another subdivision of mainstream popular music. Isn't it to be expected that musicians well past their teenage years would utilize it as one of many familiar styles?
3) As for the definition of rock that you and Joe Carducci espouse?music made by people who get together because "they just gotta rock"?what the fuck is that? Please, all but the most extreme variations of bass-drums-guitar adhere to the pop convention of verse-chorus-verse anyway, so it's pretty useless to start separating most of the music you cite into two distinct categories.
4) As to your claim that being rich and successful isn't most rockers' "original and primary reason" behind doing what they do, please just stop. If it weren't, they'd be perfectly content performing at taverns and block parties, with absolutely no need for a record contract or exposure beyond their circle of friends.
5) Labeling "anything that comes out of the UK recording system" as "by definition pop music that is often mistaken in America as real rock" (emphasis added): please, please stop. Now. This bald-faced, jingoistic stupidity is made no less silly by support from Will Self, an actual Brit. Would you seriously contend that because the roots of rock are American, the English didn't time and again create stuff that was far better than our own? (And if the Sex Pistols weren't a punk group, than neither were any of the New York bands they supposedly bit from.)
6) If you're threatening to make this topic a major theme of your next book, here's a word of heartfelt advice: don't. It barely made for a coherent column, and expanding it to book length would hardly make it any more sensible or convincing.
7) Calling Susan Sarandon an embarrassment: I don't know why the hell she was making stupid jokes with Gavin Rossdale at the MTV Video Awards either, but at what point in time was she ever considered a "sex idol"? Personally, I think her appearance and demeanor have usually been pretty tasteful and attractive, but "sex idol"? Even she'd have a problem with that one.
Are you sure this isn't because she's a heavy-handed liberal? Just curious.
Steve Egan, Manhattan
Richard de Thuin, Manhattan
Matt Zoller Seitz responds: I don't know how to respond to the first complaint, about Saint's use of the word "nearly," except to say that when a legendary screen actress is fondly recalling great leading men who are no longer with us, my inclination is to cut her some slack when it comes to adverb choice.
As for Saint's age, the letter writer is incorrect. Every source I consulted while writing the article, including the Internet Movie Database, David Thomson's Biographical Dictionary of Film and the 12th edition of Halliwell's Filmgoer's Companion, lists her birth year as 1924.
Karen Finley is to art what Christiane Amanpour is to journalism: a propagandist who, whenever the opportunity presents itself, seeks to cash in with her shock-value statements. I wish more people realized?as John Strausbaugh has ("Publishing," 10/6)?the damage done by Finley's antics during her anti-censorship crusade. As he notes: "It says a lot more about the political imbecility of late 20th century American artists than about the moral bankruptcy of the repressive powers that be that such an incredible nitwit and dipshit became such a well-known standard-bearer for free expression." Finley won't have to worry anymore about her struggle in the search for a epitaph: Strausbaugh has done her a great service and she should be thankful for his support.
Amaury Rodriguez, Bronx
Martin G. Cohen, Frankenmuth, MI