Quotes of the Day

Anointing Obama
I suggest TIME give up the charade and change the name of the magazine to Obama Weekly. The timing and tone of your cover story on Obama's mother made your issue [Apr. 21] look more like a campaign p.r. piece than legitimate news story. Something tells me I shouldn't hold my breath waiting for soft-focus, warm-and-fuzzy cover stories about the mothers of Hillary Clinton and John McCain.
Katherine Whan,
Decatur, Ga., U.S.

TIME's pro-Obama slant is so transparent that it seriously calls into question your objectivity in reporting the news. The icing on the cake is your recent cover story "A Mother's Story," which serves as a convenient valentine to the Obama campaign just weeks before the Pennsylvania primary.
Craig Garshelis,
San Francisco

Your April 21 cover story should have been titled "Raising Obama: A Grandmother's Story." It would have resonated more had there been more focus on Obama's life with the grandparents who raised him and less delicate tiptoeing around his mother's often unfortunate choices and impetuous decisions.
Linda Dahlheimer,
St. Louis, Mo., U.S.

The article on Obama's mother — one of the best I have read — drags you into the complex worlds of poverty, biracial living, racism and the pursuit of knowledge. Obama knows the visceral reality of these issues better than many or all of his contenders — these born-with-a-golden-spoon candidates.
Prabhduev Konana,
Austin, Texas, U.S.

Sure, you'll receive criticism for doing a feature article on Obama's mother. But we have all heard in detail about the lives of Clinton and McCain, including McCain's having been a POW. Thank you for giving us Obama's fascinating history.
Guy C. Taylor,
Waipahu, Hawaii, U.S.

Mission Impossible
General David Petraeus' testimony before Congress reiterated what many military and political experts have been saying for several years: a military victory in Iraq is not possible, and because the political environment is so fractured by sectarian differences, a political victory remains questionable [April 21]. The Bush Administration never understood the culture and did not study the history of the Middle East. An occupation led by what is basically a Christian army often ends in disaster. It is time for the U.S. to withdraw and let the Iraqis settle their sectarian differences without outside interference.
Joseph Rizzuto,
Los Gatos, Calif., U.S.

Farewell to a Hollywood Legend
My thanks to Richard Corliss for his essay on Charlton Heston [April 21]. If anyone under 40 wants to know why their older friends and family have such low regard for current Hollywood actors, Heston is one reason. He was a symbol of how America thought of itself: energetic, courageous, practical, resilient. No one in Hollywood can take his place.
R.W. Harrington,
De Pere, Wis., U.S.

Bush's Crocodile Tears
Like every caring American, my heart goes out to the family of Navy SEAL Michael Monsoor [April 21]. It sickens me, however, to see a photograph of George W. Bush with a tear in his eye over an Iraq war casualty. If it weren't for him, Monsoor's death and those of tens of thousands more did not have to happen.
Steven T. Callan,
Palo Cedro, Calif., U.S.

I cry every time I look at President Bush, knowing what his actions have cost this nation.
Jinny Lee,
Melrose, Fla., U.S.