Letters for May 1, 2003

Might doesn’t equal right
Winning a decisive military victory in Iraq has sent strong messages to America’s foes. The image of a successful preemptive U.S. military campaign in the Middle East quickly brought North Korea into a more diplomatic mood. Syria began its own campaign against weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East as a preemptive deterrent to U.S. aggression. Iran has become very nervous now that one of its neighbors has just been checked off the [Bush] administration’s list of “evil doers.”

So does this new military diplomacy, in place of political diplomacy, work for America? It the short term, yes. The ace is now up President George W. Bush’s sleeve and will be there for the foreseeable future. In the long term, it is hard to tell what effect this will have on the Middle East. If the Iraqi Shiite population gains enough power to create an Islamic state, the U.S. might find itself working for its containment or overthrow in a few years, echoing policies used in Iran in the late 1970s and 1980s.

It is clear that the U.S. administration needs to improve its sense of diplomacy with its allies and foes alike. The military can’t win every battle because most battles do not happen on the battlefield. At the moment, it seems that only a massive setback would slow the administration down from its current preemptive mentality.

Jeff Weiser
via e-mail

Sexual politics
Regarding Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum’s comments about consensual sex between homosexuals; I don’t think [Santorum’s] going only after the gay population but [he’s going after] everyone who has or is having sex outside of a “traditional” marriage.

If consensual sex outside of marriage is outlawed by the Supreme Court, then anyone who enters a bar looking for overnight companionship or visits a legal Nevada brothel will be breaking the law.

Republican family values do not allow for sex outside of marriage, and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft will jump on this possible ruling to enforce his religious upbringing on the rest of America. Ashcroft is a Baptist, and [Baptists] do not believe in dancing. Dancing leads to contact with the opposite sex, which leads to drinking alcohol, touching and sex.

Republicans believe in less government intrusion into our lives. This is one time they should keep their spies out of our bedroom.

Dewey Quong
Reno

Art attack
Re “Mouse speak” [RN&R, Art of the state, April 17]:

I read the article on Michael Sarich’s exhibit, and I am disturbed. How is it that the likes of Michael Sarich find themselves the subject of printed stories? His work is very bad, always has been, and yet he reappears with his contrived assemblages every few months.

Michael Sarich doesn’t like to talk much about his work. Why? There is a very common and clichéd stance of artists not wishing to talk about their work; it is pretentious. It is one thing to hope your work will describe itself through skill and timing; it is another to offer a senseless wreck and then disdain the uninitiated because they puzzle over your private language.

There is nothing wrong or shameful about talking about one’s work. In many ways, an artist is the only one holding all the keys to that work and can offer the viewers aspects they wouldn’t otherwise suspect. For a guy who doesn’t have much to say about art, it surprises me he has an artist statement. A bit of a contradiction, wouldn’t you say?

Michael Sarich is no artist. His worries over clichés, social classes and political frames indicate this. Art existed before politics and is unrelated to politics. Socio-political symbols in art are laughable. His work isn’t funny. It isn’t offensive. It isn’t thoughtful. It is a waste of supplies. Pop art hooks are consumptive.

Paul Mellender
via e-mail

Publish conflicts of interest
Re “Support business taxes” [RN&R, Guest comment, April 17]:

When placing a call for new taxes, as you did when you published the article by Bob Fulkerson of Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, any credible organization facilitating the publication of such letters must also include potential conflicts of interest by the person publishing such views.

The Progressive Leadership Alliance is a partially publicly (i.e. taxpayer) funded organization that will at the minimum see a continuation of its funding from an increase of those taxes he is promoting.

I am not surprised that your paper did not add the small postscript explaining the benefits Fulkerson derives from the agenda he is pursuing. It will be interesting how much intellectual honesty your paper can muster and publish the required disclaimer in an equally prominent space as the original article.

I am, however, not holding my breath until this happens.

Herrmann Glockler
Reno