PSEUDO-JOURNALISM
Re: "Emerson Drops His Lawsuit" by Jim Harper (May 21-27)
Congratulations to John Sugg for beating back a fraudulent lawsuit from Steve Emerson, a so-called "terrorism expert." What a joke. I wonder how many media picked up on this story. Or, are many of them afraid to admit they gave this fraud airtime and now that might make them look bad?
It's amazing this suit didn't get more coverage, that journalists didn't cover the story more, that Emerson continues to purloin credibility in numerous news media interviews. … I'd compare Emerson to Jayson Blair.
It's rare that such a fraudulent journalism sideshow freak like Steve Emerson is exposed for what he really is.
—Ray Hanania
Chicago
Editor's note: Hanania is a columnist on Middle East Affairs for Creators Syndicate, who says he "has managed to understand terrorism and the conflict without ever having to quote Stephen Emerson."
TOE PLAY
Re: "The Long Walk: A Personal Journey Across the Bay Area" by Rhonda Kitchens (May 21-27)
Oh, Miss Rhonda, you've gone and done it again!
Who'd have thought of Foreplay for the toes? I bet foot fetishists all over the Bay area are buying it by the caseload. Perhaps Miss R owns Foreplay stock???
Being an aficionado of the '50s Fourth Street motels in St. Pete myself, I would have chosen the Rand Motel, even though it wasn't halfway to her goal. It would have been the perfect setting for some serious "toe play" had her then boyfriend not been too pooped to "pop" her blisters!
—Diana Browning
Poet at Large
Tampa
THREE WAY
Re: "News of the Weird" by Chuck Shepherd (May 7-13)
One of the items made light of a Wisconsin woman who was given five years' probation for having sexually assaulted her estranged husband. I wonder whether it would have been as amusing had the victim been female and the perpetrator been male. Male victims of sexual abuse are finally finding the courage to come forward. Society does not need to make light of their situation. As a woman, feminist and volunteer at a shelter for victims of domestic violence, I am outraged! I hope that Wisconsin has laws pertaining to sexual assault that are as liberal as those of Florida. What is not good "for the goose," is not good "for the gander!"
—Elka Zwick
St. Petersburg
Editor's note: For what it's worth, the punch line of the item was that the estranged husband's girlfriend was asleep in the same bed at the time of the assault, until the man's protests woke her up.
STILL FIGHTING
Re: "Don't Panic" by Andisheh Nouraee (May 14-20)
Andisheh Nouraee writes, "For readers who missed that war, the Confederates were the pro-slavery ones who broke the country in two and caused the deadliest war in American history."
It's rare to find so many errors in a single sentence. In fact, the error-to-word ratio is so high that this probably sets some sort of record.
Quite aside from the erroneous implication that the Civil (sic) War was fought over the issue of slavery is the fact that the war was precipitated entirely by the protective tariff, which enriched the Northern industrial states at the expense of the Southern agricultural states. The Confederates passed peaceful resolutions of secession; they didn't invade the North. The 'Union' sent the first troops south. So, tell me again who started the war?
That slavery was not the issue is hard to dispute. For one thing, The Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to Union states where slavery remained legal, nor did it apply in "recaptured" Confederate territory. You could look it up (www.nps.gov/ncro/ anti/emancipation.html).
For another thing, after the war ended in April 1865 the dome of the U.S. Capitol was completed using (are you ready?) slave labor. Human chattel slavery came to an end (officially) in December 1865. Further, to call that war a "civil war" is clearly incorrect since that term is used when two factions are fighting for control of the whole. The South did not want to control the North; they simply wanted to be left in peace.
—Frank Clarke
Oldsmar
FANS OF JOSH
Re: The Weekly Planet comic controversy (ongoing)
Josh Sullivan is an amazing little human being. He is a prophet, a healer, a comic juggernaut. How many people have you ever met in your life like Josh? Admit it, there aren't many. If you haven't met him, you should — it's good stuff. He's real, and the girls all love him. He also pours a damn fine cup o' joe over at The Globe. How many great comic artists can you say that about? "Red Meat" has had a good run — change up! Let's show Josh Sullivan we care! Support and nurture this wonderful, diminutive, comic madboy — it's good karma.
—E. S. McNeil
St. Petersburg
MAN'S BEST FRIEND
No, no, no. You're not actually hawking dog abuse (I mean racing), are you?
I am by no means an animal freak. I eat meat, use products that were probably tested on animals and wear leather. (The last offense being the only one I could even BEGIN to defend). But guys, even little kids in this country are saddened by the way these poor canines are mistreated. And all for public folly.
I know that in recent years you all have stooped to accepting ads selling sex (and pseudo-sex), but I don't complain about them as they're victimless crimes AND my bread and butter. (I'm the writer of a lap-dancing cover story you published a while back.) But these dog-racing ads are uncharacteristic of the weekly publication I've grown to know and love through the years. In the name of thousands of greyhounds who spend 22 hours a day in tiny cages, who, after their brief racing careers are over, often find themselves unwanted, still living in cages, sometimes starved to death, or if they're lucky, euthanized — in the name of these helpless animals I ask that you do the right thing and tell the dog track promoters to take a walk.
—Rebecca Reed
Tampa
This article appears in Jun 5-11, 2003.
