Letters

...I never have understood America's love affair with the car...

...Benjamin Liptzin Longmeadow, Massachusetts In the April issue, Will Durst describes the primary contests of the two major parties as races among donkeys and elephants ("Scouting Report...

...Keep up the good work...

...But almost as shameful is how these college students express themselves...

...Lori Slater Cambria, California "Scandinavia Gets Serious on Global Warming" is tangible evidence of democracy in action, where laws are passed and efforts made to stem the tide of pollution and global warming, with willing participation of the citizens...

...The month prior to the vote, in the face of growing public skepticism of the Bush Administration's calls for an invasion of that oil-rich country, Edwards rushed to the Administration's defense in an op-ed article published in The Washington Post...

...While I would have voted against the Iraq bill, Nancy Pelosi was correct...

...I wouldn't have...

...Philip Dacey New York, New York Stop Pillorying Dems I am a grateful Progressive reader who is just as against our adventure in Iraq as anyone, with the possible exception of Howard Zinn...

...It is also about demonstrating leadership...

...Democratic leaders did the only responsible thing...

...Pelosi and Harry Reid did the right thing by writing a bill to draw down and pull troops out of Iraq...

...Sure, let those who voted for the bill hear about it, but please don't continue to pillory Democratic leaders for showing the kind of responsibility the Republicans refused to accept...

...I cannot believe that after what we've been through since January 20, 2001, that any informed progressive believes the U.S...

...Dad subscribed to The Progressive back in the forties, and all he wanted when he died of multiple myeloma was for me to read to him from The Progressive...

...I figure a city from which The Progressive comes would have to make a congenial home...

...The mere thought of instituting such measures in the United States is laughable in light of the fact that laws are routinely made in favor of corporations, which stand to lose profits if such ideas were to come to fruition...

...Indeed, in supporting this unconstitutional measure granting President Bush unconditional and unprecedented war powers, Senator Edwards explicitly claimed that "our national security requires" that "we must not tie our own hands by requiring Security Council action...

...Democrats didn't have to vote for it...

...Letters to the Editor Democracy Test Matthew Rothschild's article ("Still a Chill in the Air," July issue) and his book, You Have No Rights: Stories of America in an Age of Repression, serve as a warning against the high anxiety that still exists in the United States as a result of the terrorist threat...

...Please include your city and state...

...That's what leadership is about...

...They talk like grade school dropouts...

...Being the majority in Congress is not only about Iraq, however important that is...

...Gail Jacobson Portland, Oregon Like, Wow So now the military has embarked on a program of enticing young college students to become fodder for Bush's war ("The Army Goes on Spring Break," by Kirk Nielsen, June issue...

...But being the majority party in the House required Democrats to bring a bill forward and let the chips fall...

...By the way, I'm a Midwesterner currently living in Manhattan, and I may return to my roots some day...

...It was my pleasure...

...One of several cities on my list of possible residences is Madison, Wisconsin...

...It is also encouraging to learn that the Scandinavians are acting positively in response to the problems that will affect all of us ("Scandinavia Gets Serious on Global Warming," by Bruce E. Johansen, July issue...

...We all have the responsibility to make sure that people of different backgrounds, religions, and opinions will be guaranteed the same fundamental rights we all expect in a country that champions freedom...

...In his commentary, Edwards claimed that Iraq, which had been successfully disarmed several years earlier and had no realistic prospects of reconstituting its offensive military capabilities, was actually "a grave and growing threat" and Congress should therefore "endorse the use of all necessary means to eliminate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction...

...Larry Vigom Chicago, Illinois Guide to Scandals Lloyd Dangle's "Handy Clip-out Guide to the Bush Scandals" is priceless and serves a very real purpose: There are just too many scandals to remember them all (July issue...

...David Quintero Temple City, California Thoughts on Kucinich I am responding to the letter from Susan Hammond in the July issue supporting Dennis Kucinich...

...It will be incumbent upon all of us then to beat back attempts to turn this country into a police state...

...Stephen Zunes Professor of Politics University of San Francisco San Francisco, California The editors welcome correspondence from readers on all topics, but prefer to publish letters that comment directly on material previously published in The Progressive...

...I know, because my father went through the same thing...

...Gordon Kent Ithaca, New York The Edwards War Record Contrary to Elizabeth Edwards's claim, the Iraq War resolution supported by her husband, then-Senator John Edwards, in no way involved "forcing Bush to go to the U.N...

...Letters may be e-mailed to: editorial@progressive.org...

...All letters may be edited for clarity and conciseness, and may appear either in the magazine or on its web page...

...Joe Bahlke Red Bluff, California A Fine Poem Dennis Trudell's poem is one of the finest pieces of work I have ever read ("June, New Century," June issue...

...I am in agreement with letters from Serafino Bueti and Susan Hammond in the July issue...

...Jim Talbert Brookings, South Dakota Kudos for July Issue Thank you for interviewing edgy writer Elfriede Jelinek (by Nina Sie-gal, July issue...

...Especially heartening to me is Denmark's maturing beyond the car culture...

...Despite John Edwards's current anti-war position and populist economic agenda, his initial support for the invasion still raises serious questions regarding his fitness to be President...

...They got that bill passed and sent to Bush...

...Trudell describes the feelings of his father and himself in a very profound way...

...It takes imagination and creativity to leap out of old paradigms...

...When the House Republicans sustained the Bush veto, that effort was over...

...Since the next terrorist attack is not a question of if, but when, the real test for our democracy will come if that proves to be even more deadly than what happened on September 11...

...The interview has intrigued me enough to order her books and delve into her literature...

...Republicans over the past twelve years proved they didn't understand and didn't care...

...I'd like to read the thoughts of more artists in The Progressive...

...Rather than seeming "troubled" by the prospects of voting to authorize the invasion, as his wife claims, he was actually one of the war resolution's most enthusiastic and outspoken supporters...

...The Bush Administration was so impressed with Edwards's arguments that it posted the article on the State Department website...

...Although he intends to be funny, he is emulating the commercial media in portraying the electoral process as entertainment comparable to the Kentucky Derby...

...first...

...and the world wouldn't have been better off if 400 Nader voters in Florida had voted for Al Gore...

...See Ruth Conniff's interview with Elizabeth Edwards, August issue...

...For me it is not funny, and the trashing of candidates unlikely to win is not what The Progressive should be printing...

...Is this how people who are attending our schools of higher learning speak...

...I hope that a serious article about the program of Dennis Kucinich will appear soon...

...I must, however, defend the Democratic leaders in Congress against Matthew Rothschild's charges of abdication and capitulation ("Democratic Betrayal," Comment, July issue...

...That is, in part, why Democrats are now in charge...