Stephen Colbert, Guest Editor (Seriously)

Too bad Stephen Colbert wasn't around for Vietnam. He might have made some sense of why we were there.
Jack Dubose (Chief Master Sgt., USAF, Ret.), Conway, Ariz.

The Colbert issue arrived on the one-year anniversary of my son's deployment to Iraq. Thank you for remembering. Others like me—parents, friends, relatives—have not forgotten. We worry, feel helpless, wait for phone calls or any kind of contact, but we do not forget.
Cookie Nokes, Huntington Beach, Calif.

I don't enjoy your guest editor's humor, nor do I watch his TV programs. It serves him well that he goes to Iraq, but I still don't find him funny.
Gilda Taylor, Portland, Ore.

I'm a 40-year-old woman headed to medical school, and to save money I decided to cancel my cable television. I knew the only part I'd miss is having Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to keep me sane each night. Thanks to NEWSWEEK for giving me my fix! It was a great issue—fun, interesting and for a great cause.
Julie Coyle, South Bend, Ind.

Thank you for putting politics at the forefront of serious humor. I want and need more humor in my day-to-day. Life is very hard. I recently lost my job of 11 years, and my wife lost hers of 15 years. Keeping a sense of humor has worked for me so many times.
Thomas Hovland, Portland, Ore.

Cable news and newsmagazines have continued to become a joke as the jokers have become pretty much the only source for critically minded coverage of important world events.
Antonio Paez, Ontario, Canada

I like Stephen Colbert and the new format, but this little stunt adds no value to my reading experience. Please stop trying to entertain me. I go to your magazine because I want news.
Gary Ruschke, Los Altos, Calif.

The Stephen Colbert thing was an interesting experiment, but I hope that -NEWSWEEK won't be tempted to repeat it. The need to shift back and forth between humor and serious commentary was distracting. Colbert's little jab at Sharon Begley at the bottom of her essay cued me to expect a similar tone in her text. Only after a few sentences did I realize that this was trenchant reporting about a major impediment to health-care reform.
Robert D. Gillette, M.D., Poland, Ohio

Who the hell is Stephen Colbert? And who cares?
Donald H. Crosby, Springfield, Va.

'Like Father, Like Son'
Your June 8 profile of Chris Dodd described me as "an old drinking buddy," a onetime "rival" and now a friend of the senator. I'm proud to say the last is true. But I've never had a drinking buddy, and Senator Dodd and I have never been rivals. In my interview, I made two points: First, that the most striking parallel between Chris Dodd and his father, the late Tom Dodd, is that neither has ever been shown to violate any statute, regulation or ethical canon. The second is that, in each case, a single journalist whipped the public into a frenzy. Connecticut feels a little like Salem now. Chris Dodd's hope is that the fever breaks, as it usually does, and people then return to their senses, as they sometimes do.
Bill Curry, Farmington, Conn.

© 2009