I am a long term subscriber and have appreciated the balance of points of views. The addition of Karl Rove to Newsweek is abhorrent, not because of his political points of view, but for the impact then and now on the political landscape. He was at the center of making 9/11 politically profitable. He design the Republican plan to gain ownership of government for decades to come by subverting the electoral process, (i.e., Florida and Ohio). Now he is rewriting history. His addition to Newsweek is an insult to other contributors and lowers the standards of the magazine. This is not a balance issue, it is a values issue!
I will wati a few weeks to see what actions Newsweek management will take, but if Rove continues to be part of Newsweek I will cancel my subscription, which has a year and half to go.
Robert Winter
2801 NE 183rd Street
Aventura, Florida, 33160
When Giuliani was growing up
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When Choosing a Running Mate
George Will states that vice presidential nominees have had little influence on general elections ("How No. 1s Pick No. 2s," Dec. 3). He bypassed, however, a glaring exception to his rule: John Kennedy's choice of Lyndon Johnson as his running mate in 1960 is credited with his winning Texas in what turned out to be a real squeaker of an election.
Joel Fram
Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
So George Will has never met anyone who voted for a presidential candidate because of his running mate? Gee, at least twice in our recent memory, tens of thousands—surely more—did just that: Walter Mondale no doubt garnered a lot of women's votes because of Geraldine Ferraro (and probably lost a bunch because of her, too). And how many older Jews in Florida and New York, for example, cast their votes with pride for Al Gore—not necessarily because he was a Democrat but because he had Joe Lieberman on the ticket? True, it's not always a big deal, but to say never is to ignore history at your own peril.
Steve Fenton
New York, N.Y.
George Will asks, "seriously, now: Have you ever met anyone who voted for a presidential candidate because of his running mate?" Well, good to meet ya, George! In the 1992 Democratic campaign, I supported Al Gore. When Bill Clinton won the nomination—and tapped Gore for his ticket—he locked up my vote. And I suspect I'm not the only one.
Steve Hutchison
Placerville, Colo.
The Unbearable Loss of a Child
We lost our first child when she WAS 17 months old in an in-home accident, and have never parted company with that death ("Love, Loss—And Love," Dec. 3). We have her pictures up with those of our other four kids, and each year, during the weeks when she was born and died, we find ourselves somewhat depressed. Assuming that anyone ever gets over losing a child is a mistake. Another child cannot make up for the loss, but it helps. I cannot even guess the number of times my mind tracks back to the horrible second the accident happened. The loss of a child makes a person appreciate the importance of pregnancy, birth and life.
Dale Hill
Anadarko, Okla.
Alternatives to Holiday Shopping
Daniel Gross has it right when he says, "American consumers have clearly conditioned themselves to shop till they drop," referring to the Christmas-season buying spree ("The Sermon on the Mall," Dec. 3). But he has it wrong when he says that all the buying is compulsory at some level. Americans remain prisoners of the Great American Economic (Christmas) Engine merely by not refusing to participate in it. That's not hard: tell close friends and family you will make a donation in their name to a charity; bake cookies or make jam for other gifts; get together with the people you love, and eat, drink, listen to music, play games, be merry. Just jump off the consumer treadmill. It's simple, and it returns to the season the wonder and joy of family, friends and giving.
Kathie Aberman
Liberty, N.Y.
For the Record
In "In God They Trust" (May 7), Evan Thomas writes, "The God of Abraham is and has always been a martial God." When I challenged Thomas for the source of such a sweeping, unqualified generalization, he replied disingenuously that he did not intend the sentence to mean what it means, but rather what he wanted it to mean. Such an all-inclusive, indiscriminate assertion has no place in NEWSWEEK, a magazine renowned for its commitment to objectivity and impartiality in reporting.
Shalom Dinerstein
Jerusalem, Israel
© 2007
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