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REPUBLICAN, RANT, REACT
Noticed the repetitious “When it comes to the economy, President George W. Bush . . .” letters this week (Jan. 24). It's GOP Team Leader spam—in other words, spam from those literate enough to scrawl their names at the bottom of big checks to the Republican National Committee but not literate enough to be able to write letters to the editor on their own. The letter generator is now gone from the GOP Team Leader site, but some enterprising soul who saw this letter popping up in newspapers across the country saved it on his website. Thought you might like to see the spam spawning ground for yourself at gwbodine.tripod.com/rncspam.html.
Paul Brennan
via e-mail
The three identical letters from Republicans on your Letters page are part of a nationwide letter-writing campaign and have appeared in newspapers around the country. The following website provides more information on this campaign: failureisimpossible.com/dosomething/sod.htm. Another interesting website with some details on the campaign is: www.mediawhoresonline.com.
April Garrity
via e-mail
Read the ranting Republican letters to the editor. When they get their tax rebate back, they'll probably do exactly what I'm going to do: buy a high-tech gadget that was made in an Asian country.
Ken Pace
via e-mail
I am writing this letter on behalf of George W. Bush and his policies regarding war and the economy and—oh, hell, I can't fake it anymore. I am posing as a Republican to gain access to their covert “collateral” (i.e. free T-shirts and mousepads). I am writing this letter through their site (www.gopteamleader.com) supposedly to let you know how much I support George Bush. I thought I would use their services to let everyone know about their stupid site and how everyone should sign up and see what free crap they can earn the Republican way (lying and cheating!). I'm using it to tell people what pathetic assholes the Republicans are; that they have to BRIBE their constituents with crap MADE IN CHINA to get them to send love letters to media outlets about how their unelected official is your best friend. Oh, this is also just to let you know that any hot, steamy love letters you receive in the name of GW probably came from the same site.
Mmmmmmm Bush
via e-mail
Editor's note: And now, the rest of the story, fromSlate online magazine, posted Jan. 24: “If you hurry, you can get in on the best giveaway contest since Pepsi Points and that Harrier jet. The Republican National Committee's 'online toolbox for Republican activists,' GOPTeamLeader.com, awards 'GOPoints' to members who sign up and perform grassroots actions for the party. E-mailing a local newspaper garners you five points, for example, and getting the letter published adds two more. The points are redeemable for hats, bags, jackets and other swag, all emblazoned with the site's logo. 'There is no limit to what you can accomplish or what you can earn!' “
FULL AXIS PASS
Excellent article by James Ridgeway (Mondo Washington, Jan. 17). I call to his attention other highlights in 1942. At the outbreak of the war, Japanese, German and Italian aliens were rounded up, but by March 1942, the Tolan Committee in Congress drew a distinction between the three, ruling the latter two had become “thoroughly Americanized.” On Columbus Day 1942, restrictions on Italian aliens were lifted. Six days later, of 55 aliens arrested by the FBI for espionage activities, 39 were German and 15 were Italian. There are more than 50 pages in the New York Times index from 1933 to 1945 listing thousands of daily espionage and other seditious activities by pro-Axis groups. More than 99 percent were committed by German and Italian aliens, naturalized citizens, and, yes, native born!
Val Rodriguez
Signal Hill HIM LIKE JIM
To the anonymous writer of the “Hey, You” letter (“The 4-Year Floor Manager,” Jan. 17): the “musicians' choice” store you speak of has always been filled with dense idiots commandeered by pretentious assholes. I would highly recommend Jim's Music (14120 Culver Dr., Ste. J, Irvine, 949-552-4280). I've been going there for 14 years and have been treated with the utmost respect and dignity, even if I was just buying a couple of guitar picks.
Mike Kubat
Laguna Hills CONFIDENTIAL TO . . .
. . . the possum eaters who've inundated us with letters angry that Buddy Seigal said Stevie Ray Vaughan slept the “big dirt nap” (dead) and that he wore “Billy Jack hats” (geek) (“O, Brother, Where's Thou Art?” Nov. 9, 2001): You're obviously still dealing with grief, so we're going to put this gently: piss off, Jethro! The piece was clearly complimentary toward “SRV,” as you call him, and as for SRV being dead and dressing like Billy Jack, well, he is and he did. The main reason we're not running your letters is that the piece ran nearly a year and a half ago. A few things have happened in the meantime, one being a near-complete drop in anyone caring about SRV. So, while we're happy you've found an Internet family to send you articles about SRV, we're not going to run your letters about SRV because we're geeked-out by anyone who refers to SRV as SRV.
DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS
Chris Ziegler's Jan. 24 CD review of the Hunches' Yes No Shut It contained the line, “Supposedly, this is already getting tagged as the worst-recorded album of the year.” Ziegler wants to make clear that Yes No Shut It is, in fact, “a perfect recording” and intended to sound exactly as it does and that he shouldn't write reviews “when I'm drinking peppermint Schnapps.” He went on to blow the Hunches' recording engineer Mike McHugh, “a genius! A god,” going so far as to consider sending McHugh “hardcore Japanese jail-slut porn” before thinking better of it since McHugh has a small child. Chris was raised in Southern Arizona.
