Quotes of the Day

The Dalai Lama's Greatest Trial
I was deeply moved by Pico Iyer's "A Monk's Struggle" [March 31]. Despite the Dalai Lama's half-century of exile and the erosion of Tibetan culture due to the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the Buddhist leader maintains his lucid and compassionate vision. In the face of Chinese oppression, the fact that he sees the advantages of China's modernizing influence and envisions an autonomous Tibet within Chinese borders is a testament to his infinite wisdom. If our next President and other world leaders could emulate the Dalai Lama's compassionate politics, the war on terror and the endless struggle for hegemony could be replaced by a more evolved multilateralism.
John Joseph,
Boulder, Colorado

Although I don't support the Chinese government's suppression of the Tibetan people's way of life, there is an amazing irony in the situation. If the Dalai Lama had been able to stay in Tibet and the Tibetans had been allowed to continue with their quiet ways, most of the world might never have heard of Tibetan Buddhism or been exposed to the teachings and leadership of this remarkable man and the philosophy he espouses. In a way, the Chinese government has been the most important marketing tool for Tibet and its leader. Because of the highly publicized clash, millions throughout the world know of and practice a Buddhist way of life.
Nancy Matela,
Portland, Oregon

It is apt that you ran a cover story on Tibet when the world is preparing to participate in the most prestigious international athletic event in China. The world community should pressure China to end its occupation of Tibet. As an Indian American, I'd like India to stop treating China as a brother and the U.S. to stop the hypocrisy of doing business with China while maintaining its embargo against Cuba.
Vishwanath Ayengar,
Wappingers Falls, New York

The Dalai Lama is not a monk struggling alone. He is instead an ambitious politician crowned as a religious idol who's long been backed by the West, which is either blinded or charmed by him. Does Iyer really believe that the former Tibet, a fiefdom ruled by the lamas, was better or more advanced than the Tibet of today?
Victor He,
Shanghai

When Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviets and Kuwait was invaded by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the world cried out in protest. Yet no country is prepared to demand that China leave Tibet. No matter what China does, the leaders of the democratic world stay quiet. Meanwhile, the innocent Tibetan people pay the price. The U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics over Afghanistan. Why is it not boycotting the Beijing Olympics over Tibet? Or is trade more important than the blood spilled in the nearly 50 years since the invasion?
Vick Kandiah,
Cairns, Queensland

Obama's Achilles' Heel
Senator Barack Obama has previously told us that words matter, and the venomous, vitriolic and racially divisive words of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright are fraught with meaning of the most disturbing kind [March 31]. As your story observed, Obama failed to answer the central question that troubled American voters are asking: Why would Obama choose Wright to be his spiritual guide and personal mentor? And if Obama's candidacy is about the future, why would he expose his young daughters to such poisonous rhetoric of the past? Although he delivered his speech with his usual grace and eloquence, it's precisely what he didn't say that may speak volumes about his character and judgment.
David M. Petrou,
washington

Obama's speech was not unequivocal and certainly not healing for many Americans. As I talk to many of my friends and neighbors, I find people even more in doubt of his ability to lead us out of the national crises we are in. Joe Klein stated that he doubted whether many Americans could get past their "third" impression of Obama. For this voter, he is correct, but it is not because of my lack of "experience" with Obama. It is because of something very important that my parents taught me when I was a child: your character or lack of it will be judged by the company you keep. The fact that Obama held someone as racist as the Rev. Wright so close to himself for more than 20 years speaks not to lack of experience but to the truth of the man.
Ellen DeMaiolo,
Salem, Ohio

It is pastors like Wright who keep blacks down spiritually and economically and keep them grousing over their lot with a sense of entitlement that will never set them free to be everything they can be. The poor folks who belong to churches like Wright's have no idea that the hate and the damnation are dooming them to a hell of their own making. Trinity is a Christian church? Jesus never taught that stuff.
Susan Abernethy,
San Diego

Obama addressed the Wright problem before it assumed crisis proportions. In doing so, he displayed a clarity and depth of vision that I have not witnessed in any other politician. His speech was courageous and honest. Above all it showed remarkable faith in our nation's ability to see in shades of gray, rather than black and white. If this is an indication of how he would handle the presidency, I say hallelujah and amen.
Farhat Biviji,
Cherry Hill, New Jersey

In failing to ask Wright to apologize for and renounce his bigotry, Obama is complicit in Wright's divisiveness. In failing to apologize for his bigotry, Wright enslaves his congregation to his hate. The fact that other African-American ministers have come forward to state that they have made similarly bigoted remarks suggests that there is much healing to be done. Racism is racism, no matter who practices it.
David H. Herman,
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania

The Bear's Mighty Fall
I read with dismay Justin Fox's "The Bear Trap," about the collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns [March 31]. The market crisis is especially unsettling because it is self-inflicted. Over the past two decades, through the crippling process of outsourcing, we have relinquished our leads in manufacturing, engineering and technology. If we lose our status as the world's financial beacon, we will surely inch closer to becoming a nation of two dimensions: a bloated military power that consumes voraciously and produces little.
Robert Winkelmann,
Amityville, New York

Your wheel of blame was missing a crucial player: Ayn Rand. She was former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's free-market guru. Like President George W. Bush, Greenspan's belief in free markets blinded him to the dangers inherent in the subprime-mortgage market. How else can one explain his failure to respond to early and repeated warnings from the late Edward Gramlich, a member of the Fed board who recognized the dangers and addressed the matter (perhaps in frustration) last year in his book Subprime Mortgages: America's Latest Boom and Bust?
Kim Gardey, President, Gardey Financial Advisors,
Saginaw, Michigan

Why did you assign more blame to President Bush and Greenspan than you did to home buyers? Home buyers made a conscious decision to extend themselves beyond their means; they are the ones who need to be held most accountable. Mortgage lenders were certainly greedy, but it was also greed that motivated buyers. We always blame someone else for our stupid decisions. Only with true personal accountability will lessons be learned.
Dave Meyer,
Sauk Rapids, Minnesota

Drying Out
"Postcard: Lake Mead" told the story of how that reservoir is shrinking while thirsty Las Vegas continues to grow [March 31]. It is the same in my water-short state: developers build new homes, and new home owners buy in water-short areas. Is this optimism or folly?
David Abraham,
Albuquerque, New Mexico