Guns and money
BY JAKE TAPPER
(08/11/99)

CORRECTION: In a story about former George W. Bush fund-raiser Richard Dyke, owner of Bushmaster Firearms, Salon News repeated a police reporting error that a Bushmaster rifle was used in the shootings at the North Valley Jewish Community Center. In fact, the Bushmaster rifle was found in accused killer Buford Furrow's van, but was not used in the shootings. Salon regrets the error.

Gov. Death
BY CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS
(08/07/99)

Finally, the straight story about Bush and his record of "compassionate conservatism." I have yet to understand why the mainstream press has avoided the obvious hypocrisy between Bush's religious faith and his decision to allow a born-again Christian like Karla Faye Tucker to be executed when she was clearly a good influence and a huge comfort to many women in prison. People can and do change. Individuals differ, and the state has the responsibility to examine each case individually. Gov. Bush is laboring under a dark illusion if he believes that his hands are clean.

-- Jacqueline Marcus

Christopher Hitchens appears a bit confused regarding the Texas execution rate and Gov. Bush's ability to review all of those capital cases. Hitchens may be surprised to learn that the average inmate has had about 10 years of post-conviction judicial review prior to execution and that the Texas governor's office has its own office of legal counsel and an 18-member parole board, both of which advise the governor on each individual death penalty case. So Hitchens need not be concerned regarding the governor's ability to properly review cases.

Hitchens is but one of a number of intellectual giants to question Karla Faye Tucker's execution. I feel certain that had Gov. Bush commuted Tucker's death sentence based on sexism or her "born again" status, that such would be roundly applauded by hypocrites such as Hitchens.

-- Dudley Sharp
Vice president, Justice For All
Houston

I am no fan of Gov. Bush, but I do not think that your article was fair. Texas' large number of executions is not a new phenomenon; a substantial number of executions also occurred during the governorship of the relatively liberal Ann Richards.

-- Tom Desmond
McKinney, Texas

At some time during Gov. Death's reign, a black man who had already served eight years of a life sentence for rape (of a white woman, I might add) was found conclusively innocent by DNA testing. The only reason he could be held, according to the test, is that he was human. Gov. Bush hesitated to sign the man's pardon because he didn't want to look soft on crime. Need I say more?

-- Peter D. Barry
Austin, Texas

The fact that Clinton, Gore and Bradley favour the death penalty, indicates the mood of the majority of the American people. Frustrated with the violence in American society and the gun murders of young (as well as old) people, Americans throw up their arms and favor the death penalty for criminals whatever their status.

If the death penalty were made a political issue in the prevailing climate of the United States today, it would simply favor the candidate who was in favor of it -- unfortunately, George W. Bush.

-- Allan Bernstein
Thornhill, Ontario

China good? China bad?
BY HANK HYENA
(08/07/99)

Hank Hyena seems to think that it is wrong to impose our Western values (human rights, freedom of religion) on other cultures, but that the Chinese government has somehow done Tibet a favor by introducing Marxism. Yes, the Tibetans now have their language, culture and religion suppressed now that they are liberated from their backward, feudal government, but the food is so much better! I'm glad to have been introduced to the subtler, gray areas of world politics.

-- Bill Ravdin
Oakland, Calif.

Does the author honestly believe that raping nuns, destroying monasteries, kidnapping children so they can be raised without their own language or heritage; that any of these things can be compared to the idea that he considers Tibetan culture "primitive?" When he mocks the monk who gave China the thumbs down, does it occur to him that the old man might not be a simpleton with no nuanced political beliefs -- that he might simply not speak English?

Hyena's whole tone is one of amused superiority, the classic ugly American tourist. He seems endlessly amused with himself for having taken such a "non-PC" attitude, as if being an obnoxious joker in the face of real human pain were somehow clever. The killers and torturers of this world will always have people like Hyena for their allies, I suppose -- people who will not feel outrage, people who will not protest, because the torture is not happening to them or their children; people who will joke about it, or argue that it is a necessary evil on the road to modernity as they snack on some bean curd.

-- Paul Chhabra

"Manipulating world leaders with ... religion" is a well-endowed art of Western societies and, it appears, of Eastern establishments as well. Neither modern nor ancient versions of this ever worked well absent the elimination or total submission of minorities. While the human condition is entitled to its share of moralists, institutionalizing them beyond the church door wreaks pain and havoc on society. That's the way it's always been -- and in that context, I'd prefer communism.

-- Tom DeLuca

Hyena's unsympathetic descriptions of Xiahe Tibetans, interestingly similar to the same images that many Han Chinese recount, do little to rectify the oppositely glowing images that Free Tibet activists create. A stereotype cannot be counteracted with another stereotype; a healthy gray is never achieved.

-- Adam Smith
Zigong, China

It's very easy and convenient for pro-Tibet people to forget that the Chinese occupation of Tibet is the direct result of the big game that was played by the British and Russia at the end of the last century in order to expand their influence and power. The 13th Dalai Lama tried to use the Western influence to gain more power and limit the power of the Qing Dynasty. It was reasonable from Dalai Lama's perspective, since the Qing Dynasty was too busy defending itself from the Western invasion to defend Tibet after the British army slaughtered the Tibetans and marched into Lhasa.

It was history at its darkest moment for both Tibetans and Chinese. But maybe there is hope for Tibetan culture considering that Tibet and China have existed side by side for many centuries. If Chinese really wants to get rid of the Tibetan culture, they could have done it centuries ago.

-- Liyang Zhou
Milpitas, Calif.

Don't be sore
BY SUSIE BRIGHT
(08/07/99)

Susie Bright is one of the first to tell the honest truth. Sex education's sole purpose in the United States is to try and scare kids into not having sex. The question I've always had with this idiotic policy is this: If it is so dangerous for teens to have sex because of "unreliable condoms" and "unstoppable" STDs, how does being 25 change those dangers exactly? The answer is simple: It doesn't.

For American teens, sex ed is all about controlling the sex instinct. And by controlling people's sex instinct, you control them. (This not only is evidenced by the 1,500-plus years of influence that the Catholic Church enjoyed, but also is explored in the George Orwell masterpiece "1984.") Sex ed is simply another symptom of the oppression of teenagers. The reason that this oppression has increased in recent generations is simple: The oppression of minorities and women has been stopped, so we are the last group that can still be oppressed legally.

-- Lorenzo (Last name withheld at writer's request)

Susie Bright's article reflects the ignorance and recklessness that has led to the spread of so many cases of herpes and human papilloma virus (aka genital warts). Both can be spread even when wearing condoms, and neither is "curable." As a physician who has worked in both private practice and at an STD clinic, I have treated patients who have practiced "safe sex" using condoms, and still contracted both diseases. Herpes infects one out of five sexually active Caucasian women, and nearly 50 percent of sexually active African-American women. I'm glad Susie's infection is only a mild problem for her, but others are not so fortunate. It is costly to the individual, in missed work and medications, and to society as a whole.

To minimize the disease is also irresponsible. True, neither is fatal, and a male might only need a few warts frozen on his most sensitive area, or have to take an antiviral agent intermittently for the rest of his life -- but for the young female the results are not as benign. Strains of human papilloma virus have been linked to cervical cancer, and warts in the vagina or on the cervix are not as simple or easy to detect as on the penis. If a woman has an outbreak of herpes at the end of her pregnancy, then a C-section must be performed to prevent infecting the newborn (which can be fatal).

For our children's sake, they need to be given the facts regarding STDs. Monogamy is the only way to truly prevent the spread of STDs, and minimizing the disease will only make things worse.

-- J. Okamoto, M.D.

Real Life Rock Top 10
BY GREIL MARCUS
(08/07/99)

High 10 to Salon for enlisting Greil Marcus. The man has his ear to the ground and detects big rumbles long before they reach the surface. I'll be forever in his debt for the column he wrote in New West magazine defining why "Rocket to Russia" was (then) the one album he would take with him to a desert island. I promptly sought it out and was instantly transported back to a younger, more innocent place by the frenzied goofball youthful lunacy of the Ramones. I haven't followed all of his pointing fingers since then, but when I have, I haven't been sorry.

-- Stu Watson
Portland, Ore.

Fanatics of the far right
BY JAKE TAPPER
(08/04/99)

This article states that "The Southern Poverty Law Center -- the nation's leading organization monitoring the activities of extremist and hate groups -- has the USTP on its radar and considers it a conduit for the activities of a radical band of racists, anti-Semites, violent pro-lifers and other nefarious characters."

The claim that the USTP is "a conduit for the activities of a radical band of racists, anti-Semites, violent pro-lifers and other nefarious characters" reflects either reckless negligence with respect to the facts or intentional malice in your effort to misrepresent and discredit the U.S. Taxpayers Party and its members all over the United States.

This is to advise you of our demand for an immediate and complete retraction.

-- Howard Phillips
Executive committee, U.S. Taxpayers Party

EDITOR JOAN WALSH RESPONDS: Salon News stands by the story.