Tucson Weekly: Mailbag (December 10

Bum's Rush

To the Editor,
Regarding Hector Acuña's "Homeless For The Holidays" (November 26): As one of the permanent outdoor residents of "Disneyland of the Southwest" I truly enjoyed your fair and sane article about "us." My perception of this fair city is that it's a members-only club, particularly if you happen to be a UA grad. No problem here, really. If you all want to keep business between yourselves, fine with me, but leave some room for the rest of us, we really don't need a whole lot.
Mailbag One story I know of involves the homeless women here. Did you know that they barricade themselves inside the porta-potties at night because it's the only safe place they can find? Imagine, in a city like this with this kind of wealth, people having to live like that. In biblical times the story would end with a city like that swept clean off the face of the earth, but since we live in more rational times I'm sure the City Council will come up with a sane and reasonable solution to the problem well before anything as drastic as that happens.
--Name Withheld
To the Editor,
Regarding "Homeless for the Holidays" (November 26): What's wrong with this picture? You say we should be "thankful" ("well pleased: glad" in the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary) that human beings are homeless? Sounds like "continue rolling over, or next, it could be you." Are we insane?
While I heartily agree about the futility of endless debate, I disagree that figuring out what the right thing to do is difficult. Nothing will change until we discard our death-dealing economic system for one that values life.
Talk about normalizing the abnormal. Unreal.
--Name Withheld

Crashing Bore

To the Editor,
Regarding Tom Danehy's "Grateful Deadbeat" (November 26): Danehy is absolutely correct when he reminds us to be thankful, especially during the holiday season. The following is a list of things I am thankful for:

Real newspapers, that feature real columnists, addressing real issues, as opposed to Danehy, who seems fixated on the trivialities of pop culture, diet Pepsi, tortilla chips and the skimpiness of Mariah Carey's attire.

My grandfather, who at 82, is not nearly as much of a dour, humorless, old crankwad as Danehy is. Don't hurt yourself getting down off that high horse of yours.

All the "crackheads" in the world like Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who make me laugh because they lampoon all the self-righteous, puritanical nitwits that populate this country.

Canada. What exactly is your problem with our neighbors to the North, Tom? What have the Canadians ever done to you?

That at least there are five other people in this town, besides myself, who don't give a damn about UA football or if Dick Tomey keeps his job for another year.

I could probably list about 10 other things that I am grateful for, but unlike Danehy, I know how to keep things short and to the point. He is a crashing bore.
--Suzanne E. Skinner

Incremental Fascism

To the Editor,
Michael John Greene's disparate attempt to chastise me for elitism and extremism ("Not Enlightening," Mailbag, December 3) is a textbook example of the glorification of style over substance--unable to refute what I say, he instead criticizes the way I say it.
Well, Mike--tough shit. I'm no more obligated to remain objective or lay my political and cultural paradigms at the door than The Weekly's editorialists, yet you obviously still read the paper. Permit me, then to answer your charges my way and not according to Emily Post.
First off, it is not my belief that agents of the U.S. government murdered the Davidians, it is an established fact. Insisting otherwise is akin to someone marching to the edge of a mine shaft and proclaiming that it doesn't exist before proceeding and falling in. Such a person is indeed, in my view, either stupid or delude. As for insults supposedly being ineffective at persuasion, I suggest you read some Voltaire or H.L. Mencken before attempting to float that argument again.
Don't write about both Waco and corporate video companies' policies toward carrying documentaries on it, you say? Hey, Mike, your inability to grasp more than one concept per letter simply isn't my problem.
Elitist and extremist? You bet--people who take the time to explore the actual world they live in rather than swallowing the illusion fed to them are a pretty elite group these days, and I'm proud to claim membership. And while you might not have joined the club yet, gassing and burning people over what amounts to a tax matter is pretty goddamn extreme, wouldn't you say? Oh, that's right...you wouldn't.
Strangely enough, nor would any major film studio or distribution company (or newspaper or television network, etc.). Adam Smith's invisible hand at work, perhaps? No, Uncle Sam's! When your company can potentially be raided, audited and shut down by the government for disseminating information that puts the lie to their official version of reality (an occurrence not without precedent), you will most likely be disinclined to do so. Even Infraspection Institute, the company hired by 60 Minutes to evaluate the Waco FLIR tape, refused the job, citing "...the potentially sensitive nature of this material and the resulting negative repercussions..." If we don't live in a police state, then why would this or any company have to fear retaliation?
Still not convinced? Try applying the Bill of Rights the next time you encounter one of those handy "safety checkpoints" the cops have scattered like tacks across our so-called freeways and see where you get. And if we don't yet live in a police state, then how is it that those same police can routinely and flagrantly break the law and not get so much as a letter of reprimand in their file, let alone see the inside of a courtroom for it? Anybody?
If fascism can be said to manifest in increments, it seems evident that we're well on our way there, my access to dissentive materials notwithstanding.
Finally, Mike, rather than condemn my sarcastic anger, ask yourself what engendered it and then go watch Waco: Rules of Engagement to find out. My challenge (which, to date, no one has taken me up on) still stands, and I'm in the book if You're still hungry after taking it. Merry Christmas!
--Chuck Aubrey
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