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QUDRAT APPALLED!
I am an Afghan-American woman and am appalled at your article, which seeks to defame Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R. Scott Moxley's “Rogue Statesman,” Sept. 6). I am a Ph.D. student at USC, and as an author, I am deeply perturbed by your negligence. You write of Afghanistan and its government as though it is not worthy of any U.S. official conducting open and free dialogue. In fact, it was the lack of dialogue after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan that allowed al-Qaida and the Taliban to take root in the country. I am fortunate enough to know the truth and am not convinced by your shallow tactics.
Maryam Qudrat
via e-mail QUDRAT BESIDE HERSELF!
I am an Afghan woman and am beside myself after reading your article, which is littered with inaccuracies, speculation and flat-out lies. Congressman Rohrabacher has championed dialogue and fostered what we have so severely lacked between the two nations—communication!
Haseena Qudrat
via e-mail QUDRAT UNNERVED!
I am an Afghan-American pre-law student at UCLA and am unnerved at your article about Congressman Dana Rohrabacher. Had the initiative Congressman Rohrabacher took in bridging the relationship between the U.S. and Afghanistan been embraced, we could have quite possibly prevented the attacks on Sept. 11, and we would all be thanking him now for having not only the intellect but also the nerve to make this critical move. U.S. intelligence would have likely monitored this regime had there been some level of communication.
Omar Qudrat
via e-mail
R. Scott Moxley replies: I'll defer to Maryam's obviously superior knowledge of foreign affairs but point out the serious lapses in logic. I criticized the congressman precisely because his, ahem, “diplomacy” was not “open and free dialogue”; indeed, Rohrabacher has still refused to make public a copy of his talking points with the Taliban. Second, as a student of foreign affairs, Maryam must know something of the Logan Act, which forbids such private diplomatic efforts as Rohrabacher's. Third, I was interested in an inconsistency that doesn't seem to bother any of the letter writers: Why would Dana Rohrabacher viciously attack the State Department for talking with the Taliban at the moment he was privately doing the same?
Q-WORDS OF ANOTHER KIND
Although Lori Hutson of the Center was peeved at Matt Coker's report that only 100 or so dykes were present for the OC Dyke March, I agree with Coker (A Clockwork Orange, Aug. 23). I counted about 100 dykes while stuck at an intersection during the march. But I also counted 30-plus lesbians and a host of bone-smoking, rump-riding-queers in attendance. Isn't it wonderful that as a parent, you can accept that your daughter is a carpet-muncher or that your straight-A-student son is a tailgater? No thanks! I'll remain a narrow-minded, conservative, tax-paying, registered voter that understands that the penis does not go into the other guy's mouth. It's unfortunate that people like me have to put the truth in perspective: call it what you will, but say what it is.
Lyle Martin Scott
via e-mail CUTE!
Regarding the Taiwanese scientists who have devised a process to use sewage sludge to bulk up ordinary house bricks (Matt Coker's A Clockwork Orange, Sept. 6): the expression “He shit a brick” returns.
Dean Reinemann
Costa Mesa KOOKY!
If I saw a UFO, I'd ignore it, simply have no contact with it, because I know what it is. UFOs, ghosts, crop circles, Geller's bent spoons, toothbrushes thrown across a room when no one's around—all just a bunch of fooling around, a smokescreen for what's really going on. Big Brother exists. He's not George W. Bush. He rules this earth with an iron hand. He's not divided, otherwise his kingdom would not stand (Matthew 12:24-26). But it does stand. He offered it to Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago (Luke 4:5,6). His demons run the Catholic church, Lutheran church, Baptist church, the mosque, the synagogue. They run the U.S., Britain, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, Russia, Japan, Germany. They run the courts. They run the schools. They run the businesses. They run the press. They do not run God, and they do not run me. They don't like God's days; they have their own—Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Ramadan. They cringe on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. They know Big Brother will be locked up for 1,000 years on that day. They know he's the azazel goat of Leviticus 16. He has even influenced the translators of the Bible to translate “scapegoat” instead of the Hebrew “Azazel.” He's no scapegoat. He deserves what he's getting. Big Brother's days are numbered.
Harold Reimann
Lucerne Valley C*UTE
Not sure if your music staff ever lived in OC or if you're all under the age of 15, but if your diaper-wearing writers ever listened to old Guttermouth, you would have saved yourselves from looking like such idiots (Anthony Pignataro's Guttermouth CD review, Aug. 30). Guttermouth has been around since 1989. They have been on Epitaph, not Nitro, for some time—check your facts! Mark sings about the normal Joe's life (be it Joe from the Vandals or whomever). His lyrics have actually become less outrageous, and he is stillfunny! Their live show consistently kicks ass over a lot of other bands (like on the Warped Tour, for example). Gusto is a very different album for them—different because of experimenting musically, not lyrically, you ignorant f*ucks! Get your heads out of your asses, go to a show or two, get a sense of humor, and pick up some early Guttermouth. That is, if you're old enough to drive.
Dee Holloway
Huntington Beach
