Quotes of the Day

Italy's Hero?
Michael Schuman has to be praised for his portrait of Italy's new Prime Minister Mario Monti ["The Most Important Man in Europe," Feb. 20]. But he fails to describe the sense of relief that the vast majority of my fellow citizens felt when the discredited and inefficient government of Silvio Berlusconi was replaced by the much more competent one of Monti. He has displayed greater decisionmaking power than one would expect from an academic, and polls show that his approval rating is still high despite a number of unpopular measures. We can only hope that his government's commitment to basic reforms continues.
Antonio Moretti,
Milan

Monti should head to Washington after he's finished in Rome in 2013. Schuman's description of the partisan politics and corruption that have distressed Italy sounds all too familiar and should be required reading for every member of Congress. We need the full Monti too.
Jeff Davis,
West Chester, Pa., U.S.

As a middle-class entrepreneur, I believe I deserve to be on your cover far more than Monti does. So far, the rescue of our country has come out of my pocket, not from Monti's ability to cut costs of our corrupt and incompetent institutions. Until he proves himself by changing the system, I feel justified in thinking that it's people like me who are saving this broken country and the shaky European Union. Let me know if you need my photo.
Franco Angiolini,
Milan

Reading the cover line "Can this man save Europe?" I had a feeling of déjà vu. TIME's recent covers have wondered whether Germany can save the world, whether Chinese shoppers can save the global economy and whether Turkey's example can save the Arab Spring. Where does this obsession with a person or a nation saving a large part of the world come from? Is it the predominance of Christian values in the U.S. that leads to the expectation of a messiah? We can try to cope with the problems around us without a savior.
Christiane de Bary,
Frankfurt

Catholics and Contraception
Conservatives are up in arms that Catholics might be required to pay for birth control ["Obama vs. the Church," Feb. 20]. But Catholics in the U.S. have often paid, via taxes, for things that run counter to Catholicism: the death penalty, wars condemned by the Pope, detainment of immigrant families who crossed the border to seek a better life. The right stands up for "free exercise of religion" only when it suits its agenda.
Brian Range,
Austin

Obama's reform doesn't force Christians to go against their faith and practice contraception or sterilization, it merely ensures that people have the right to do so. This right is far more inalienable to humanity than the right of church-affiliated organizations to avoid covering employees.
Samuel Smith,
Townsville, Australia

Rich Lowry declares in his column that "Thomas Jefferson didn't write a letter to the Danbury Baptists about how best to help people avoid pregnancy." Yet what Lowry calls the "encroachment of secular government" is what has given women the right to vote, the right not to be poisoned by toxic air or dirty water, the right to go to multiracial schools and, yes, even the right not to have a dozen children. I'm pretty sure Jefferson didn't think to write the Danbury Baptists about those ideas either.
Phyllis L. Ballata,
White Bear Lake, Minn., U.S.

Something Jefferson did write: "Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear." He'd never have wanted illogical convictions to replace sound, humane and affordable policies.
René Dijkgraaf,
Harderwijk, The Netherlands

The U.S. wants universal health care coverage, but it doesn't want the state to provide it directly. Hence the complex mix of regulations, subsidies, mandates and penalties dubbed Obamacare that has culminated in unnecessary meddling with the church's antiquated views. Pick a side, America. Either basic health care is important enough to be provided by the state, as it is in "socialist" Western Europe, or it is the individual's responsibility and the government should stay out.
Aaron Soans,
Melbourne

Wrinkles in Time
The photographs of this year's Oscar nominees were stunning ["Great Performances," Feb. 20]. But what a shame the airbrush tool broke down before the photographer could touch up the men.
Annette DiGiacomo,
Lakewood, Colo., U.S.

I was amazed that so much of this issue was devoted to full-page photo of actors. Although the Oscars are a news item, this degree of coverage is hugely disproportionate at a time when so many other vital topics are vying for our attention.
Paddy O'Keeffe,
Brighton, England