Quotes of the Day

The Palin Effect
I must confess I'd been struggling to understand the recent surge in the popularity of Sarah Palin until Joe Klein put it all into sepia-toned perspective [Sept. 22]. I realized that her appeal reflects a wistful desire for an American abstraction, a wholesome place in our memory that is no more — and perhaps never was. We want to be reminded of who and what we think we were, not who we are. But yearning for our past, real or imagined, will not bring it back. And I fear that after the tribulations of the past eight years, we may not survive waking up on the wrong side of the bed for four more. I can only pray that by November we will stir from our sentimental slumber long enough to elect a President who has the vision and intelligence to lead us in the world in which we actually live.
Kevin Thompson,
Maplewood, N.J., U.S.

Why do voters need to relate to the presidential candidates as if they were one of us? I don't want the President to be my friend, share a carpool or be a drinking buddy. I want my President to be qualified to lead the greatest nation on the planet. I want my President to bring all Americans back to playing on the same team, because I'm tired of the divisive anger and blame. We have a President now who seemed like one of us. Where has it gotten us?
L. Bonomi,
Palo Alto, Calif., U.S.

No one in the media would be calling it "touching and credible" if a teen pregnancy had occurred in the Obama family. Everyone would be writing about the tragedy of teen pregnancy in the African-American community, the high school dropout rate of teen mothers and so on. Obama's career would be under fire, and no one would be spinning myths to stop it.
Catherine D. Nardi,
Chicago

Palin's myth, as described, seems to appeal to racist and homophobic people. McCain is certainly not the honorable man he claims to be if that is how he intends to win this election. If ignoring people who suffer at the hands of injustice is part of the American Dream the Republicans want to bring back, then they need to wake up, because America is about freedom. It's not about everybody packing heat and being just like you.
Lisa Toms,
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.

The Coen Brothers Burn It Up
Richard Corliss apparently does not have the same sense of humor my friends and I have [Sept. 22]. In the theater where I saw Burn After Reading, everyone laughed throughout the film. Comments made by these characters are comments I have heard throughout my life — exaggerated, certainly, but true. The Coen brothers are very smart about people who do stupid things. I especially loved the scene in which the detective tries to speed away but has parked between two cars and cannot get out — right out of a Road Runner cartoon. Wile E. Coyote is alive and well.
Judith Canaan,
Kalamazoo, Mich., U.S.

The Sins of Our Fathers
In response to the Sept. 22 article "Bailout Nation," wouldn't it be helpful to just call a pig a pig? In the article, no mention is made of the fundamental reason for this huge bailout of the mortgage industry: The failed mission of the Republican Party from Reagan through McCain to deregulate America and to let the "market" prevail. It is now very clear that when the "markets" are allowed to operate willy-nilly, the self-interest of politicians indebted to lobbyists will prevail. It also does nothing to reassure the middle-class taxpayers that at least five of McCain's closest campaign advisers were lobbyists for these institutions until very recently.
Jack Lee,
Interlochen, Mich., U.S.