Letters

Sunday, Aug. 31, 2003
    • Schwarzenegger Muscles In

    "The recall election is not a Hollywood movie premiere. It is a costly process in which the citizens of California have much to lose."
    LINDA J. ROBERTSON
    Oakland, Calif.

    The real travesty in the California recall circus is not that Arnold Schwarzenegger, an underqualified actor with an overinflated ego, may be the state's next Governor but that the recall election is happening at all [NATION, Aug. 18]. Both political parties have abdicated their responsibility to come up with tough solutions to the state's budget deficit, opting instead for the political cop-out of recalling Gray Davis. A recall is supposed to be an emergency measure to allow voters to remove corrupt officials. In California it is being subverted to remove an unpopular Governor. I fear this precedent may cause recalls in other states and have a paralyzing effect on the ability of elected officials to govern. To borrow titles from two of Arnold's movies, California's "total recall" may soon turn into the nation's "raw deal."
    ANDREW J. BINGHAM
    Kirkwood, Mo.


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    CNN.com: Latest News

    What ever happened to choosing the candidate best qualified to manage a state or a nation? With more than 130 candidates running, who does TIME put on its cover but the most famous California gubernatorial wannabe? Shame on you for helping to feed the misguided culture of celebrity.
    JAMES PLATH
    Bloomington, Ill.

    Now the country is laughing at us Californians just as we laughed at the Texans over their protest at redistricting. But the underlying cause of both circuses is the same. This is about Republicans trying to seize power in a state by going outside the normal electoral process. Go ahead and laugh at us. We deserve it. But what's happening in this country really isn't very funny.
    MELANIE NICKEL
    San Diego

    After the 2000 Florida recount, I was worried that California's distinction as America's paragon of peculiarity was in danger of being lost to another state. Happily the Golden State is once again playing the role as the country's flagship theater of the absurd.
    ROY KOMOTO
    South Pasadena, Calif.

    The media frenzy around Schwarzenegger saddens me. I am sorry to see the low expectations we have established for a political candidate. The citizens of California deserve a Governor who is educated and politically savvy and can represent everyone. The recall election is not a Hollywood movie premiere. It is a costly process in which the citizens of California have much to lose.
    LINDA J. ROBERTSON
    Oakland,Calif.

    For Californians to elect Schwarzenegger Governor would be the equivalent of New Yorkers' electing Sylvester Stallone Governor after 9/11. Running a state the size of California is not a job one just walks into. Californians must realize what they need is not an actor but someone with the experience necessary to get the state back on track.
    BEN MILANO
    Lindenhurst, N.Y.

    The battle between Schwarzenegger and Davis could be called the Terminator vs. the Nauseator. Gentlemen, come out fighting!
    HERB STARK
    Massapequa, N.Y.

    Sex and the Clergy

    Some Anglican leaders in the U.S. think the confirmation of gay bishop V. Gene Robinson will cause a "shattering of the Episcopal Church" [SOCIETY, Aug. 18]. Perhaps this display of intolerance and bigotry will sever the church into two parts: the side of love, tolerance and peace vs. the side of hatred, prejudice and condemnation. The latter group may not realize how fortunate they are to be able to practice their religion freely, as they selfishly quest to make others conform to their own narrow standards.
    ROBERT GENNET
    Los Angeles

    It's wrong to label the current dissidents in the Episcopal Church as "conservatives." The dissidents have compromised or accepted such issues as the revised liturgy, women in the priesthood and heretical clergymen. They are, in fact, the church's moderates. True conservatives left the church years ago.
    RICHARD S. SHAWKEY
    Arnold, Calif.

    The controversy surrounding the ratification of Bishop Robinson is just one symptom of a much deeper divide: between those Christians who consider the Bible to be literally the unchanging, inerrant word of God and those who reject this view. From the Fundamentalist perspective, the elevation of Robinson is equivalent to acknowledging that Scripture is not inerrant, that its prohibitions against homosexuality are neither the word nor the will of God. There is more than homosexuality at stake here; gays have been caught in the cross fire.
    GRANT GRISSOM
    Media, Pa.

    Lethal Border Crossings

    In "People Smugglers Inc.," you described how the traffickers who smuggle migrants over the border into the U.S. have become violent and are using automatic weapons to fire on American and Mexican authorities [WORLD, Aug. 18]. The Bush Administration has stationed 139,000 troops in Iraq but none on the Mexican border. Bush's priorities are upside down. He refuses to deal with this ongoing scandal. When will he put 20,000 troops on the Mexican border to defend the U.S.?
    LAWRENCE BRISKIN
    Centerville, Ohio

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