Cowboys suck: I gotta say, having been raised in Northeast Philly for a good deal of my life and having "bled Eagles green" for all of my 34 years, your article really hit close to home ("Good Grief," by John Gonzalez, February 10). Loved it.
Our family moved down here back in '93 from South Jersey, and we never abandoned our beloved Eagles in favor of the dreaded Dallas Cowboys. Sure, we took our beatings (remember the Kotite years?), but as you know, having been raised in Philly, two of the first words out of your mouth as an infant were probably "Cowboys suck!" Besides, if we happened to beat the Cowboys during the regular season, that was like winning the Super Bowl for us. Sad but true.
Also, like your dad, my father was the biggest Eagles fan around and sadly passed away in September. We thought if there was a chance the "old man could pull it off with the Powers That Be" and have the Eagles win the Super Bowl, this would be the year. Alas, apparently he didn't have quite that much pull--yet. But you gotta give my dad credit--we were so damned close!
Oh, hell, here I go yet again...
BUT WAIT TILL NEXT FREAKIN' YEAR! SUPER BOWL BOUND!
Fly, Ea-gles, fly...
Kevin
McKinney
God's PAC
Sobering story: I wanted to commend you on your excellent journalism re: "Right Hand of God" (by Robert Wilonsky, February 17). I am an active moderate Democrat working to rebuild grassroots organizations in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and this is an educational and sobering piece of work. I was a founder and coordinator of General Wesley Clark's campaign when he was running for president.
Your writing certainly puts into perspective the work we have cut out for us to counter this religious revolution in politics. Once again, thank you and keep up the great work.
Todd Hill
Via e-mail
Morr, Morr, Morr
I do have a heart: This homeless thing is waaay touchy.
Sandra Garratt (Letters, February 10), since your opinion seemed to be based on, er, your opinion, let's help clarify your position by gathering the following stats: How many people died of starvation in New York City last month? Get that figure first, and then take it statewide. Oh, what the heck, let's get the number nationally over the last 12 months. Surely it's in the hundreds of thousands. Either that, or zero.
And Linda Hack (Letters, February 17), time to check the reality check. If you've been waiting eight years for your SSI benefits, and this is George Bush's fault (he hates you), isn't Bill Clinton responsible for four years of your angst? Considering your stated spending habits of years past and your current post-accident position, I would say that your insurance company and investment counselor are more to blame for your financial crash. I don't know if you're attributing your homelessness more to your injury or the GOP, but a friend of mine was also involved in a car accident resulting in his paraplegia, and he leads a remarkably normal life. (It's curious to me that as an "internationally recognized person of accomplishment," a Google search of "Judge Linda Hack" returned only two results. By contrast, I searched the name of a local circuit judge I'm acquainted with, and while he would never claim any fame at all, Google came back with 270 items relating to him.)
Lest I be too harshly criticized, I'd like to point out that I am not without heart for the underprivileged. I have spent many, many holidays serving meals at homeless shelters in Dallas and Houston. I've participated in work projects at the Dallas Life center and the Ruff House in South Dallas. I send money to a homeless mission downtown. Why? Because there are people who are homeless for legitimate reasons. But nothing that I've seen domestically even comes close to the abject poverty I witnessed while on volunteer work projects in Guatemala City, where thousands of people live in the city dump. Their homes are made of garbage, as are many of their meals. They're born in the dump, they grow up in the dump, get married, have children and die in the dump. Even more abstract is the poverty in countless areas across the globe, where the prospect of having an income is a cruel impossibility and a move to a dump in Guatemala would be a vast improvement.
Really, this isn't about a woman in NYC whom I'll never meet, or a former judge whom I don't want to meet because she wishes me great harm. It's about looking beyond the borders of this country, seeing how most of the world population exists, contemplating that a person on welfare in America is in the top 4 percent of world wealth, watching millions immigrate here because work is available, and realizing that we've got it pretty awesome here in Dallas, even if you're dining at the Stewpot.
David Morr
Dallas
Anyone but Miller
Draft the dogcatcher: In Jim Schutze's February 10 column ("The Pearls") an excellent point was brought up: What if Laura Miller was not involved in Blackwood's strong-mayor issue? I'd say GREAT!!! In fact, if there were a race between Laura Miller and the city dogcatcher for mayor, I'd vote for the dogcatcher, because anyone is better than Ms. Miller.
Martin Cahill Boyd
Dallas
Lost in the Woods
Real muckraker: After reading Jim Schutze's report of his trek through the so-called Great Trinity Forest ("Fear Factor," February 3), I came to the conclusion that Jim deserved both a big raise and a good long shower. That was muckraking journalism at its best, Jim!
Don Venable
Grapevine
