Straight talk
BY JAKE TAPPER
(02/17/00)

Enough already with the p.c. indignation. So McCain called guys who bashed his head in, broke his arms, starved him and held him prisoner for several years "gooks." I'm surprised he didn't call them "f---ing gooks."

So why doesn't John McCain "move on?" Why doesn't he put it behind him and forgive his captors? Why doesn't he want to hug and make nice with them? Hey, that's a good idea. I'll remember to use that advice the next time a group asks for reparations for past unjust treatment, or wants some special dispensation because of historical wrongs. I'll remember that when we screech about hate crimes against gays or women or minorities ... "Hey guys, that was the past. Move on."

-- Diana Johnston

Jake Tapper is apparently upset by John McCain referring to the men who tortured and imprisoned him for five-and-a-half years as "gooks." Oh please. I think there should be a rule: You can call the people who imprison and torture you whatever the hell you want! What should the guards at Auschwitz be called? Crowd-control officers?

-- J.B. Miller

John McCain went to Vietnam to kill Vietnamese people, destroy their property and ruin their land. Together with others who went, he is responsible for killing between 1 and 3 million people.

It is difficult to understand why he should feel he has the right to criticize his captors considering what he was trying to do to their country and their families. He should apologize for his actions, rather than denounce the Vietnamese.

At the very least, since the people of Vietnam seem to have forgiven Americans for the killings and destruction they caused, McCain should be able to forgive the considerably lesser sins committed by his captors.

-- Ketil Bjugan

The term "gooks" is an epithet as disgustingly offensive as the "N" word. The fact that the sadists that tortured McCain were Asian does not make them "gooks," it makes them sadists and criminals.

McCain insists on using the word "gooks," even after reflecting and considering his usage over a period of years. This is more than ample evidence of McCain's racist attitudes.

Criminal acts by individuals are not caused by their ethnic origins, but by individual criminal motives. Even though McCain insists he is applying "gooks" to individuals, it is a group description, and an awful one at that, one that should not be used, particularly by someone who wants to be president.

-- Daniel White

Torn to pieces
BY NELL BERNSTEIN
(02/16/00)

I am a child welfare worker and the reality of splitting siblings is a very common and difficult problem that I face on a daily basis. I agree that children should not be separated. However, there is a desperate shortage of available foster homes and adoptive homes willing to take "troubled" children or children over a certain age. The case of a mother that had three or four drug-exposed children is typical. These children all have medical problems. The actual work and time these children require prohibits some of these siblings being put together.

Yes, the situation is desperate, but let me tell you what is truly terrifying. Here in Oklahoma, our governor claimed that he is going to cut child abuse in half in one year. It appears that the way he is going to do it is by redefining child abuse away. Attempted murder will get your kids picked up, but little else will in the near future. So to reduce the overload that workers like me face (between 30 and 40 children on my case load), to alleviate the shortage of beds, they are going to just leave the kids in the home. At least till they start dying.

I personally am sick of people dismissing the efforts or motives of social workers. Most of us work tons of unpaid overtime. We won't get rich doing it. We are still blamed when parents kill children, as if it were our own hands around a child's throat. Responsibility must rest with the parent, the perpetrator. In my mind, social workers in general and child welfare workers in particular should be carried on the shoulders of society. And yet we have thugs who can play schoolyard games well, pro athletes, as our role models. The real problem is that people don't care about children, not the poor ones. We will hear about JonBenet, but not the dirty little minority kid. Moralizing and pointing fingers at the woefully underfunded system will not save lives, but it may make the authors feel better.

-- Scott Raybern

The heartache of being separated from siblings is compounded by the adoption laws in this country. Contrary to the popular opinion, most states are so restrictive, financially and legally, adoptees have no access to their original birth certificates and adoption records. With such restrictions, there is little to no way an adoptee can discover the adoptive names of their siblings. This greatly narrows the possibility of finding siblings and family once the adoptee is grown and can search. The knowledge of siblings, medical information, traits, and simply who you favor is a black hole for most adoptees.

-- Beverly Buchanan

Love strands
BY SUSAN STRAIGHT
(02/17/00)

I read dumbstruck Straight's article about how she's willing to be "patient, because that's what we do" with regards to combing her daughters' hair. She makes it sounds like she's in the throes of some cosmic sacrifice because she has to comb black hair everyday. Gimme a break already with the martyr act. I guess black women who've had to make their children's (boys and girls) heads look good to present to a white world deserve sainthood! And by the way, the word for your kids' hair is not "curly" or "wavy" it's nappy, plain and simple.

-- Robyn Richardson

Sims in the hands of an angry God
BY JANELLE BROWN
(02/17/00)

Rather than torturing my Sims, I enjoy imposing my world view on them. I am especially thrilled that the inter-Sim romances are not limited to opposite sex partners, or to one love object at a time. My favorite Sim family right now is an interracial female couple who share a double bed at night, and in their thought-bubbles, they dream of each other. A daughter from one's first "marriage" lives with her father and comes over to watch cartoons. Of course, if I wanted to, all of the houses in my neighborhood could have a husband and wife with two kids and a swimming pool in the backyard, but the game is more fun, and much more realistic, when it gets a bit messy. Bravissimo, Will Wright.

-- Mishel Dyas

Only the lonely
BY DAVID CORN
(02/17/00)

No wonder Bradley refuses to tell his favorite books. For every book he mentions, some shallow reporter determines that he has bared his soul. I'd hate to be identified with the heroes of my favorite books. If it's "Mrs. Dalloway," does that mean I flirt with suicide? If "Charming Billy," does that mean I'm a closet drunk? If "Anna Karenina," does that mean I'm an adultress? Come on now: Bradley is a good and smart man who reads and thinks. Was Lincoln a back-slapper? Would we prefer an illiterate to be our president? Better a man who reads Conrad than one who reads Clancy.

-- Phyllis Mindell

It's how they take you anywhere
BY BETH KEPHART
(02/16/00)

I wanted to thank you for printing Beth Kephart's wonderful article about reading to children. My grandmother would read Kipling's "Just So" stories to me as a child, and "The Elephant's Child" was probably my favorite. I had not thought about the "great grey-green greasy Limpopo river all set about with fever trees" in years, and it brought back a wonderful flood of memories.

It is because of her delight in those and other books she read to me, and my parents' delight in reading aloud almost anything, that I continue to read so voraciously, especially "children's" books. Why? Because, as the boy says, they take you places. So a big thank you to my grandmother and my parents for taking me so many places, and thank you Beth Kephart for reminding me and ensuring that other children (no matter the age) continue to go there also.

-- Margaret Lawrence

Dark Hotel
BY BOB CALLAHAN, SPAIN RODRIGUEZ, HAL ROBINS AND PAUL MAVRIDES
(02/18/00)

Just a quick note to let you know how much I adore The Dark Hotel. I'm an underground comics fan from way back and I've always loved Spain Rodriguez. The new story line about Drago running for president is especially good. So, lovely stuff, really. Keep it up.

-- Bill Wagstafff