Patriot Games
Re: “Police State” by Steve Fennessy, Scott Harrell and Kelly Benjamin (Nov. 26-Dec. 3)
So, you left-wing, anti-globalist enviro-wackos got your butts beat. Good.
Your make-believe 1960s crowd doesn’t give a rat’s ass about “dissent.” You’re into making trouble, trashing property, etc. You hate America and loathe free market capitalism. Oh, how silly you look and oh, how irrelevant you are. The overwhelming majority of the American people have no cause or bond with you whatsoever.
Next time you take to the streets, I hope they bash your fucking head in.
—Charles Jackson
Atlanta
In the Soviet Union, the government had an active and “pre-emptive” set of agencies that monitored and stifled dissent and fulfilled the functions of homeland security. It was called the KGB. Nazi Germany had a similar police state organization that utilized both intrusive (sneak and peek searches) and extrusive (arrest on trumped up charges) means of intimidation for this purpose. It was called the Gestapo. Both entities were created out of a state need to impose order upon an otherwise unwilling populace, using the pretexts of homeland security and protecting the country from foreign inspired danger. Their application, however, was tilted towards the elimination of domestic political opposition. That’s why they are considered textbook totalitarian regimes.
The old adage that those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it is a sick joke on the American people, who have been diverted against historical perspectives by our dumbed-down public education system and our dawdling, sycophantic media who are generally more interested in currying corporate and government favors than upholding their duties as our fourth estate. It is only a stone’s throw from a public allowing government thuggery as exhibited during the repression of constitutionally protected dissent in Miami to a situation not unlike the West Bank, where the American people will play the part of the Palestinians and the government plays the part of the Israeli Defense Forces.
Retired general Tommy Franks recently stated that in the event of another “terrorist” attack on these shores, the Constitution would go out the window. Judging from Miami’s dress rehearsal for martial law, the Constitution is already a moot document. Expect more of the same, especially when the draft bills circulating in the House and Senate get passed to provide more government cannon fodder for foreign misadventures like our plans to “deal” with Iran and North Korea.
George Washington was right when he said that if freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
—Ali Sugerman
St. Petersburg
Peter Envy
Re: “A Tale of Two Cities” by Susan F. Edwards (Nov. 19-25)
Susan Edwards is right. Tampa will never be San Francisco. It will always be Oakland to St. Pete’s City By The Bay.
While Tampa hides its riverfront with low-income projects, office buildings and parking lots, St. Petersburg reveres its shoreline with parks and piers. The last chance Tampa had at becoming a world-class city was the opportunity to turn Seddon Island into a city park, rather than Harbor Island, a gated retreat for the wealthy.
Regardless of all the pink and teal decorations, Tampa remains wild at heart, personified by Gasparilla and Ybor City. If city planners truly want to put Tampa on the map, they will legalize prostitution and gambling and turn Tampa into the Vegas of the South. St. Pete, on the other hand, could become America’s “Most Bicycle Friendly City,” continuing to attract those who support arts, parks and community.
—Kerry Glamsch
Tampa
Days Gone Buy
Re: “Fleeced Navidad” by Susan F. Edwards (Nov. 26-Dec. 2)
Thank you for your article on this major issue. Many believe that the Western world, exemplified by the U.S.A., has gone very overboard on “shop till you drop.” The juncture from a things-oriented society to a people-oriented society has begun. Your article is another nudge in this valid and valuable direction.
Help the world: Skip the mall — assist a friend.
—Francis Scheuer
Sarasota
I noted with great interest your article on the “over-commercialization” of Christmas. I wish to make two observations.
First, that issue of the newspaper has so many advertisements it could actually qualify as a double edition. A number of them are in response to the season and there’s an announcement that on December 3 and December 10 there will be a Christmas pullout for shoppers.
Second, do you think your comments are in any way new or that holiday commercialization is new? I am 56 years old and have heard this since I was a kid. “The old days were always better.” Well, commercialization has not been new for probably hundreds of years. Look at any picture/painting, movie and newspaper as far back as you might wish to go, and you will see advertisements for Christmas shopping (even in Norman Rockwell paintings). The only thing that has changed is the medium. We are bombarded with sounds all the time — radio, TV, advertisements in movies. So we think there is more commercialization when, in fact, it is louder commercialization.
Businesses are in the business of staying in business, and consumer purchases are what keep them there (and all of us employed). So the next time you feel commercialization has gone too far and we are missing the point of any holiday, think of the happiness of all those workers with paychecks dancing in their heads on Christmas Eve.
—Mel Stricker
Valrico
This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2003.
