Quotes of the Day

21st Century First Lady
A spot-on insight into Michelle Obama, with one exception: you forgot to mention our First Lady's sorely needed attention to the families of our armed services [June 1]. Our returning soldiers, especially the wounded, need to know we care about them, and she is reminding us of that.
David Jensen,
Stamford, Conn., U.S.

To see Michelle Obama, the great-great-granddaughter of slaves, up close is to finally see America up close. Until her arrival, most Americans did not know the White House and Capitol were built by slaves. For those who contributed so much to our nation, the time has arrived for their progeny to receive their just due.
Helen H. Gentry,
Detroit

In your cover story, you name Michelle Obama "one of the most professionally accomplished First Ladies ever." Yet by failing to detail her vocational accomplishments (lawyer, associate dean at the University of Chicago, senior executive at the University of Chicago Medical Center), you neglect to define her as something other than "Mom in Chief." That is a sacrifice of identity indeed.
Courtney Sender,
Montvale, N.J., U.S.

Your article about Michelle Obama was delightful. There is no doubt that she is truly special in many ways. However, I can't escape my negative feelings regarding the angry person first presented to us many months ago. How on earth can the woman represented in your article be the same person who worshipped in a church under the auspices of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright? It still pains me that she could bring her children into such a negative, anti-American environment.
Bette Hirsh Levy,
Tarzana, Calif., U.S.

I'm a card-carrying democrat who voted for Barack Obama and would do it again. But you have got to stop treating the First Family as if they were Brad and Angelina and children. Michelle Obama is a beautiful, poised and educated woman, not a Hollywood-celebrity wannabe.
Jeanni Green,
Dayton, Ohio, U.S.

I recently renewed my subscription to a newsmagazine called TIME. Recently, however, I have been receiving weekly editions of the journal of the Obama Adoration Society. When will deliveries of my newsmagazine resume?
George Orban,
Sydney

Pakistan's Media
Re Aryn Baker's essay "Casualty of War" [June 1]: My newspaper, the News International, published by the Jang Group of Newspapers, has been accused of publishing rumors reported as facts, which Baker says is an epidemic in Pakistan. I take strong exception to her observation. She herself has misreported facts while referring to the News. She reports that we published an unbylined story. The fact is that we reproduced a bylined story from Fox News written by Rowan Scarborough, who is also a writer of two books. Our 1,090-word story had 657 words of Rowan's story and 433 words taken from e-mailed comments on the Fox News website. So her calculation that much of our report was based on e-mailed comments is also wrong. It is the duty of the Pakistani press to keep its readers informed of all conspiracy theories cooked up or published in the Western media, just to keep them alert and to counter such propaganda. If our story unleashed "hysterical discussions" on TV chat shows, as alleged by Baker, that was the main purpose in publishing it. What is wrong with it? We are only trying to safeguard our own interests.
Shaheen Sehbai,
Karachi

The author derides what she calls conspiracy theories. She should just scratch the surface and see they are not so far-fetched: almost all nations, especially big powers, carry out clandestine activities to promote their strategic interests. Assassinating political leaders, engineering insurgencies and instigating conflict between target states are common — and the U.S. is not innocent in this matter.
Tariq Majeed,
Lahore

Though there are some very good publications in Pakistan, those are few and far between. The average Pakistani sees the ghost of India or the West in any tragedy that befalls the country. The average newspaper, by reinforcing those beliefs, provides an escape from dealing with the real problems and issues confronting Pakistan today. This is the real tragedy.
Reggie Albuquerque,
Willeton, Australia