Thanks for Kaylois Henry's excellent story about Bishop T.D. Jakes ["Bishop Jakes is ready. Are you?" June 20]. Having watched his show on TBN several times recently, I wondered about his background and his apparent rising status in the TV-preacher business.
Henry's well-written piece answered my questions, and the photographs of this overdressed hulk of a man were true to what I have seen on his TV show.
When I watch him rise to preach, all decked out in resplendent garb and jewelry, I think of the old saying, "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!"
Fancy togs and all the alleged anointing notwithstanding, when the torrent of perspiration starts rolling down [Jakes'] head at about two minutes into his sermon, the expensively tailored clothes begin to droop in sweat-soaked surrender.
Literally speaking, Jakes is undoubtedly the "hottest" preacher I have ever seen. I also suspect that the Bishop is hot enough (and he knows it) to fill the Pentecostal void left behind in the Dallas area by the formerly anointed ones: Brothers Grant, Tilton, and Lea.
Charles Walpole
Dallas
Ode from Billy Jack
Just finished reading your article and I agree with you about our savior, Mayor Ron Kirk [Buzz, June 13].
When we were running for mayor of Dallas and making three, four, or more speeches a day during a three-month period, any one of the candidates could give [Kirk's] speech--made up by Carol Reed--word for word. To say he didn't know anything about the city of Dallas and its problems would be putting it mildly. He didn't have a clue.
Billy Jack Ludwig
Dallas
Judicial objection
Because she is a trial lawyer, [Cheryl] Wattley goes to the top of Bill Clinton's list of those qualified to be a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Texas ["Campaign casualty," June 6].
But her representation of some of the "shenanigans" of John Wiley Price puts her out of touch with the vast majority of the citizens of that district. The two U.S. senators from Texas know this, and will act accordingly regarding her appointment.
Leland Payne Jr.
Dallas
Rooster family values
I believe your newspaper has sunk to a new low. How could you feature, as your cover story, an illegal sport that glorifies the senseless killing of animals ["Blood and feathers," June 6]? There is no way to find any beauty in the brutality and blood of cockfights, let alone family values.
How appropriate that the "king of the cockfights," Roy Bingham, states that you never give your roosters a name, because lots of them are going to die on you. He states that there is little time to waste grieving over the loss of a prize game cock. Maybe it is because he feels that these animals do not feel pain, or their lives are so insignificant that it really does not matter what one does to them.
According to the Observer, Bingham also said "...he would like to have seen his prize fighter live out his old age among the hens." Seems to me that's the way roosters should live.
Where does your paper get off glorifying this kind of garbage? Where does Bingham get off calling the Humane Society of North Texas "scumbags?" Excuse me, but if you want to see a scumbag, why don't you look into a mirror?
This sport does not symbolize grit, perseverance, or standing your ground. Instead, it symbolizes men of weak substance with cruel hearts who are secretly breaking the laws of this state.
By the way, they may love [Bingham] in Jal, but we'd love to see him, and others like him, in jail. He is the epitome of what is wrong in our society: a boozer who loves and promotes violence as a family event.
I hope that, in the future, this publication can refrain from covering such stories as this. Why don't you give the Humane Society of North Texas equal time and space? It actually promotes family values by teaching irresponsible adults to spay and neuter their animals.
Name withheld
Southlake
Drive-by journalism
It appears Laura Miller has lost her touch. "Power houses" [June 13] has to be one of the lamest articles written by a supposed "investigative reporter." How hard was her investigative effort? It seems that all she did was make a list of people to skewer, go to the county tax office to find addesses, tax values, square-footage, and years built, then drive around to look at the actual houses.
The article only lists two television celebrities, and they are both on Channel 8 (owned by the Observer's perceived nemesis, the Belo Corporation). Why did Miller exclude television personalities from the rest of Dallas' TV stations?
By the way, how about a description of Miller's house? Is she afraid that the place she lives in is just as tacky and/or overpriced as the houses she ridicules?
Thomas Mosher
Dallas
