Letters

Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to le*****@oc******.com, or send to Letters to the Editor, c/o OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Or fax to (714) 550-5908.

HAIDL

No matter how hard he tries, [Gregory] Haidl can't get jail time [R. Scott Moxley's “That Boy!” Nov. 12]. I was raised to be proud and feel privileged to be born in a country where we have human rights and anything is possible. But from reading this story and others, the real truth about our country is this: the more money a person has, the more rights they have as a human, and with enough money, anything is possible. Jurors let creeps like these get away with rape, and then have the audacity to wonder why so many victims of rape would rather keep a rape to themselves than trust our justice system. The scary thing for me is that I'm sure this could happen just as easily in Denver as it did in Orange County. So come on, Orange County, don't let this happen to another one of your daughters. Be a leader in letting our girls know they are safe and if they are violated, the violator(s) will pay the consequences!

Concerned mom

Denver

Only spoiled little monsters whose families are politically connected get the chances Greg Haidl has gotten so far. Maybe he and Darryl Gates' son can share a cell.

Erin Baum

via e-mail

[Defense attorney Joseph] Cavallo claims Haidl isn't a sociopath. By definition, a sociopath is one without normal socialization, one without a conscience. That's Greg Haidl—and his father as well: rich assholes who think they are above the law. What is really unconscionable is that law enforcement keeps looking the other way. Gutless cowards. Who has the courage to stand up to these people? You, for one, with your revelatory articles. They must hate you by now.

Barb

Newport Beach

What Greg really deserves is the same treatment he gave Jane Doe. He can see how easy it is to pretend to be unconscious while getting several items shoved into all of his orifices. That would truly be justice . . . well, at least it would be something.

DB

via e-mail

Your reporting made a real difference to people on the outside looking in who are wondering how the hell something like this could happen—or rather, keep happening. I can only believe it made a difference to Greg's multiple victims and their families. Still, I'm gonna have to live with Dr. Rosenfeld's diagnosis that Haidl “had a sad face.” Jesus H. Christ on a raft! Sigh. Okay, I'm letting it go now.

Kristin

via e-mail

WAR WOUNDS

The story on Robert Acosta was very interesting [Gustavo Arellano's “Hail the Hesitant Hero,” Nov. 12]. Sad that he lost his arm. From what I understand about Robert, he doesn't like the Army because of a “fuck him” and “fuck that” kind of attitude. Why is he a so-called “Hesitant Hero”? You got the hesitant right. You mention he joined the Army looking for a life. Then Robert mentions they're helping him with a paycheck. I agree. I have a brother also in the Army. He's getting ready to be sent to Iraq. He doesn't complain. He knows what he got into. There's nothing to complain about. If I was afraid of flying, I wouldn't apply to become a flight attendant.

Braulio Castro

Garden Grove

I hope Robert understands that many—most—of us who don't support the war do support the brave young men who have fought it. Thank you for your sacrifice and your courage to tell the truth.

Brandi Actenberg

via e-mail

DEAD ON

Hey, you know what is even more offensive and appalling than OC Weeklyprinting a cover image of George W. Bush flipping the birdie [“Mission Accomplished,” Nov. 5]? Twenty thousand dead, innocent Iraqi civilians.

Idona

Cypress

OH, BOY

Not only is characterizing the crimes of child sexual assault committed by Roman Catholic priests “boy buggering” homophobic, it is also inaccurate. Mary Grant's case cited by Gustavo Arellano proves that [“Deposition Men,” Nov. 19]. The National Lay Review Board of the Catholic Church documented that at least 20 percent of the cases involved female children and acknowledged that the number of young women victimized by priests was likely much higher. The youngest known victim of the Roman Catholic Church clergy was a nine-month-old girl digitally raped by Father Oliver O'Grady of the Los Angeles diocese.

Robin Dixon

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Gustavo Arellano responds: Robin, how is it homophobic to label the anal rapes committed by priests against innocents “boy buggering”? Would you rather we say that many of the priests identified by the Orange diocese as pederasts had anal sex with preteens until the victims bled and shat? Or is that also somehow homophobic? And while it's true that there are female victims of sex abuse, the overwhelming majority of priestly sex-abuse lawsuits pending against the Orange diocese—upward of 90 percent, according to lawyers—involve man-on-boy abuse.

WE'RE BIG IN URUGUAY

Surfing the Internet, I found Gustavo Arellano's profile on Bersuit Vergarabat [“Anal Anarchists,”April 12]. In one section, he writes about “an especially haunting vocal form called murga native to Uruguay that sounds like a bunch of Benedictine monks wielding baseball bats and ready to kick some ass.” I'm originally from Uruguay, and this is the best description of murga vocals ever written!

Enrique Lopetegui

Texas

FEEDBACK FEEDBACK

Your music issue was a sick fucking joke [“What Goes On: Winter Feedback 2004,” Nov. 19]. Most of the bands featured are mediocre at best. And, of course, you people left off the big names. Regardless, there are still noticeable omissions, especially Orange County's best band: Devil and His Friend.

Wes DeVansion

Santa Ana

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *