Another Convert

A reader writes:

As a Brit who’s just moved to Vancouver I’ve always slightly favored the Clintons and never quite understood the antipathy towards Hillary that exists in  America. But last night’s speech was the most depressing I have ever seen. Filled with pandering to the fear of the outsider, and no sign of vision, charity or even humanity. She now seems so morally crippled by the desire for power that it’s actually uncomfortable to watch.

If the Clintons somehow manage to win the nomination this way, it will be one of the most depressing political moments in recent history. Even taking into account Bush-Kerry.

A View From Abroad

A reader writes:

My wife and I arrived home from a two week vacation in Germany. While there I read Lester Brown’s latest, and witnessed much of what he discussed in his book, to wit, $8 per gallon gasoline, enormous dedication to wind power and mass transit, and so on.  My 25 year old son, an early and enthusiastic supporter of Obama, picked us up at the airport.  Hardly asked us about the trip before launching into a ten minute diatribe about Hillary Clinton, the expurgated edition being he hates her guts and will not vote for her should she win the nomination.  (Won’t vote at all he says).  He mentioned the gas tax issue somewhere in that explosion.

The political discourse in this country is just plain stupid.  Obama gets my support in part because he says far less stupid things than the others.  Its not that he’s addressing the key issues of the day (what the hell are we going to do to move from a petroleum based economy to something else without wreaking our economy) in any particularly astute way, but at least he is not on record as supporting completely idiotic positions.  We need leadership in this country desperately.  Why is the press attacking Obama about what his pastor thinks instead of addressing the utter absurdities of McCain and Clinton?   The United States has become a scared, self-centered, and ignorant country.

When you read quotes like this, you have to wonder.

The Growing Gay Diaspora, Ctd

A reader writes:

I’m 30 years old, from rural Ohio, and met my German boyfriend in Boston 8 years ago.

We moved to Berlin together when his visa expired, where we lived for 5 years and eventually got married (okay, "entered into a civil union" is more accurate, if not as eloquent).  We work online, which affords us a lot of freedom, and have lived in Ireland and now Spain. Thanks to the "Freedom of Movement" policy, I can legally reside anywhere in the EU, because Juergen and I are married.  But, I can’t move home.

An American and a German can legally reside in Ireland, Spain and Slovenia, but not America.  When I think about it like that, I want to punch a wall.

Trying to explain our situation to my American friends inevitably results in confusion and disbelief.  People are truly unaware of the situation gay, bi-national pairs have to deal with.  "You could get married in Massachusetts!"  Um, no. "You could get Juergen a work visa!"  Not likely. "He could marry a woman, and then you guys just, like, live together anyway!" Seriously, a suggestion I’ve heard more than once.

It’s not that people don’t understand our situation — but that they don’t even know it. And, honestly, the chances that we ever move back to the States are getting more and more remote with each year.

Thanks for continuing to expose this problem…

Fact-Checking Hagee

A reader writes:

Instead of dismissing comments such as Hagee’s re Katrina as simply cruel or loopy, why don’t pundits analyze their content and rebut? After all, by Katrina’s arrival, the planned Southern Decadence event was in its 33rd year. Even though organizers canceled the 2005 event due for the following weekend, the hurricane and flood largely spared its particular streets. And in 2006, it returned larger than ever, with 120,000 revelers by 2007.