The Bush Twins Controversy; Mr. Wiggles v. Christ; Taki's London Is Falling Down; MUGGER's Right, MUGGER's Wrong
Instead, she indulged in childish temper tantrums over not being given tickets to a ballgame and the loss of secretaries and bodyguards. She should in fact take heed of Raoul Felder's advice to "get a life." Hanover should take the children and leave Gracie Mansion at once, else how can she expect any sympathy for her stupid behavior.
Jacqueline Edwards, Manhattan
That Poor Maligned Slut
Christopher Caldwell, the Bush twins have inherited the family "disease" of alcoholism ("Hill of Beans," 6/6). Both (certainly Jenna) require treatment (of course not jail). What kind of parents have the Bush juniors been? We didn't see Chelsea getting into this kind of trouble.
The proper comparison should have been between the Clintons' Chelsea and the Bushes' twins. What's that poor, maligned slut Monica have to do with the Bushes's poor parenting and their daughters' delinquency? Gimme a break.
Mary Dungan, Durham, PA
Trash-Talkin' Media
Mr. Caldwell makes some good points in his column on Margarita-gate ("Hill of Beans," 6/6). But I think he protests Ari Fleischer's performance a bit too much. Perhaps he missed the transcript of Helen Thomas castigating Fleischer for not commenting on whether the President had harsh words with his daughter, as if this information was tantamount to an announcement of a Mideast peace treaty.
While reporting of the incident is perfectly legitimate, the obsession by the press corps trying to make this a Presidential crisis story stems from the Beltway media's belief that they were too tough on Clinton and have not yet been tough enough on Bush, as well as from their inbred desire to see the "illegitimate" cretin take some lumps. They relish the opportunity to psychoanalyze because it opens the door to do some trash talking while maintaining whatever thin veil of objectivity they believe they still possess.
Dan Jacobson, Pillager, MN
Targeting Jesus
The cartoon by Neil Swaab depicting "Jesus" advising Mr. Wiggles to kick a cat raises an interesting question: Does Swaab have the guts to ridicule any other religious figure ("Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles," 6/6)? Jesus, and Christianity in general, are easy targets for spineless "artists" who obviously think of themselves as honest, cutting-edge and fearless. You can bet the farm that Swaab will never draw a cartoon insulting the prophet Mohammed and/or Islam.
J.E. Michaels, Queens
London Decaying
Re Taki's "Dirty Old Town," ("Top Drawer," 6/6): My husband and I were sent to London in 1996-1997 for his job with an American company. We returned to the U.S. in the latter part of '97. In 1999 they asked him to return in order to work on a special project, and we were thrilled at the chance to return to this great city. I can't tell you the shock that met us on our return.
The change in the city under a Blair administration was unbelievable. We lived in St. John's Wood both times and the increase in the crime rate was incredible. The horror stories from some of our American friends living in the area were so sad. Women knocked down in the street by thugs grabbing at anything they could get their hands on, in broad daylight. It seems like the dumbing down of England is second only to the dumbing down of America.
Name Withheld, via Internet
They Elected Red Ken
Taki: Thank you, thank you, and thank you again for your article on Great Britain ("Top Drawer," 6/6). A recent article by one of the New York Times dummies chortled on about how the people of Great Britain were not interested in a reduction in taxes, only an improvement in "government services". I pray to God that Hillary never becomes President. She'll have a pseudo-Marxist regime hanging 'round our necks before you can say Jackie Robinson.
Bob Montrose, Fort Lee, NJ
Only Intellectually
Taki, your ignorance of the UK is truly stunning. In your "Dirty Old Town" piece ("Top Drawer," 6/6), you even refer to Oldham as "a suburb of Manchester." And I suppose Boston is a suburb of New York? Hilarious.
Name WitHheld, via Internet
Suit Yourself
I advise that you ask your tacky and uneducated listings editor, or whoever is the responsible person, to be a bit more classy and informed. In my eyes, your publication just went from mediocre to downright insignificant. First of all, the Dominican Day Parade is not "similar to Puerto Rican Day Parade, but a different flag will be taped to the hood" ("Summer Guide Listings, 5/23). The two cultures are extremely different. Secondly, the Puerto Rican Day Parade was not a "debacle." Shame on you?what horrible editing. I think I'll have to stick to the other, more significant, free weekly paper. Clearly the only difference between the Press and the Voice is that the latter is irreverent, cutting edge, and infested with strong content and journalistic integrity. Take notes. Do your research and step up your game.
Jose M. Albino, Washington Heights
Rail On
MUGGER, congratulations on your excoriations: the best I can do is to quote an e-mail from Mike Barnicle who said only, "...seek counseling as soon as possible." Keep railing against The Firmament and all in it.
Terry Ward, Lempster, NH
He'll Take That Bet
MUGGER, how can you be such a cheerleader for such a stupid cowpoke of a president? Let's just say you are about the only conservative in New York City who will even tolerate this jerk and his arrogance.
By the way, I never understood your awful comments on Chelsea Clinton during your weekly tirades on the Clintons. You said some things about this bright, motivated young lady that were so awful I knew you were a wacko. No father I know, no matter how wrapped up in politics, would have said the slimy things you said about that young girl. The irony is that it's Bush's kids who warrant the sleazy, stupid remarks?if they must be spewed. I can't believe anyone else in this city, let alone here in Tribeca, shares the blind, arrogant faith that you put in the losers running our country. I give two to one odds Bush doesn't finish his term.
Name Withheld, Manhattan
Russ Smith replies: I challenge this coward to cite line-by-line my alleged "weekly" pokes at Chelsea Clinton. He can't, because they don't exist.
Culture Warrior
MUGGER, I haven't had time lately to read much of anything, but I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your latest column. The conservative political stuff is a treat, especially from a guy in New York City, and the family stuff is great in a time when many people "feel" traditional family values are antiquated. Keep chipping away. I am convinced every little bit helps in the culture wars.
G. Chapline, Houston
And Thanks for Your Support
MUGGER: I eagerly anticipate your column every week along with that of Edwin Zehr of Washington Weekly. While it's not much better here, it's still astonishing and comforting that opinions such as yours exist in NYC. Good luck with your publication.
Scott Osterhaus, Chicago
There'll Always Be Someone to Mug
Talk about someone who needs a sabbatical! MUGGER, you haven't had an interesting thought for so long it is getting embarrassing to read your column. Take a break. You are a one-song musician. With Clinton gone, what little fun there was in reading your predictable ideas is all gone. How appropriate that you called your column MUGGER. You are a thug. Without someone to mug, you are a bore.
Earl Speranza, Fremont, CA
Frogs and Krauts
Knipfel is right on the money with his online exclusive ("e-Slackjaw," 6/6). As the old saying went, if every Frog who claimed to fight in the Resistance really did, the country would have been so packed with freedom fighters that the Krauts wouldn't have had room to invade. I also love Bryk's columns. When are they going to be collected in a book?
Mark Amundsen, Monroe, NY
Cabal: Just Delightful
What delightful and true observations about Chelsea and Cuba Libre in Alan Cabal's recent column ( "Food," 5/30). The Rawhide used to be one of New York's most pleasant experiences. Their bartenders (like the great Warner) and doormen (Kenny) were the friendliest around and the atmosphere bright and warm and neighborly whether you were there for the first time or the thousandth.
In the last six months, though, it's become widely regarded as the most depressing and dismal gay establishment in the city. The old staff was fired, and the old crowd vanished. The current bartenders are miserable and rude, matched only by the horrendous door people and barbacks. My very shy and quiet Northern California friends and I were treated terribly there. I hope the Rawhide is on its last legs and shuts down for good. But because of our negative experience we found Cuba Libre, and I have been going back ever since. New York finally has a friendly, sunny, tropical-style refuge where one can be treated like royalty. I urge everyone to try it.
Lee Gattam, Manhattan
Nice Attitude, Paige
Thank you for your report on the Ukranian emigration ("Ukrainian East Village," 5/30). It is not too often that one reads an admission that some eastern Ukranians preferred life under the Nazis rather than the Russians. Of course I had heard that some Ukranians did not like the Russians, especially the Bolsheviks, but to prefer the Nazis...The Nazis despised all the Slavic nationalities even while they bribed them to undermine the Bolsheviks.
My questions now is: why were these Nazi collaborators permitted to come to the United States? They make me want to vomit. If the Germans had won the war, all those stupid Ukranian ass-kissers would have been wiped out, along with Jews, gays, Catholics, and everyone else the Nazis didn't like. As it was, the Nazi forces killed an estimated 20 million Russians and non-Russian allies. They killed Gypsies, and German democrats, and Greek patriots, and plenty of Poles and Czechs too. They were a blot on the human race.
Paige Riding, Brooklyn
Andrey Slivka replies: What the hell is this stupid person talking about? The East Village oral history contained no "admission that some eastern Ukrainians preferred life under the Nazis rather than the Russians"; in fact, it contained no testimony from "eastern" Ukrainians at all, since everyone interviewed for the article comes from western or south central Ukraine, a thematically as well as geopolitically significant point that Riding misses.
Yes, the Nazis hated and exterminated Slavs; and yes, they seem to have been comprehensively unpleasant people. Ukrainian refugees weren't flocking westward out of their homeland to live under Hitler, who at any rate was dead by the time the refugees underwent the defining experience of getting herded into UN-administered displaced persons camps in Allied-occupied German territory. Ukrainians were trying to get as far west as possible?as close to the western democracies as possible?before the Iron Curtain locked them in. If they could have walked all the way to Manhattan without stopping in Germany, they would have.
Below the Borscht Belt
I enjoyed the history of the Ukrainian community in the East Village ("Ukrainian East Village," 5/30). I noticed that Prof. Jaroslaw Leshko hails from Northampton, MA, which leads me to wonder about the downfall of Leshko's restaurant. While the new decor may be attractive and comfortable, the menu now features only one Ukrainian dish while the original restaurant offered a choice of several. How very disappointing.
Nina Bogin, Kew Gardens
He's Got Scooter, Thanks
A message to Amanda Cale ("First Person," 5/16): If you're into jacking off a dog, it sounds like George Tabb might be interested.
Peter Zoernig, Manhattan
Donuts Long Gone
Tama, great donut article ("Food," 2/28). You're 100 percent right: "A donut should be slightly crusty on the outside and cakelike within." This brings to mind two varieties of donut that are unfortunately no longer available. Mary Elizabeth's was on 37th St. between 5th and Madison. The best, as per your criteria and mine. Also, Chock Full O' Nuts served whole wheat donuts, with or without powdered sugar. Maybe the power of the press can resurrect these necessities.
Milt Volan, Elmhurst
Tears of Rage, Tears of Grief
MUGGER: I literally almost cried with joy when I read your column on that rodent Arafat (6/6). Once again, you are right on target. Your argument for his "kneecapping" was perfect. Western liberals often have a fascination with Third World strongmen, dreaming that they are (beneath their blood-drenched exteriors) poets and idealists who need to dominate their filthy masses like good fathers.
The Palestinians are implaccable enemies of Israel. When Ehud Barak offered them almost everything they asked for, they answered with a new intifada, allowing their own children to die in droves. Americans who say that Israel should suck up its losses ought to look at our own history: In 1916, when Pancho Villa and his gang terrorized the American West, General John Joseph "Blackjack" Pershing pursued him deep into Mexico, hanging bandidos and razing villages along the way. Marines made devastating sweeps through Haiti, Nicaragua and other countries whenever one of their number died in occupations during the 1920s and 30s. The USS New Jersey pounded Lebanon in 1983 after attacks on U.S. positions. In 1989, when a Marine was lynched in Panama, it was our justification for invading. Even the 1993 Somalia disaster was attempted retaliation for the murder of UN (Pakistani) troops. This is to say nothing of collective punishments inflicted on unfriendly civilian populations during WWII, Korea and Vietnam.
Israel will always be unpopular in certain parts of the world. It is time that they it least makes its foes fear it as they once did.
Barry Schechter, East Brunswick, NJ
They Do Drink Where You Do
Hey MUGGER, I like the fact that the Yanks and Red Sox play a lot of games head to head. I also like it that the Yanks have gone up against Pedro so much lately. If a team lays claim to being the best, that team should beat the best. How about those Twins? As far as W's kids going out drinking (6/6), I wish they would drink where I do. With all that Secret Service protection chances are slim some drunk cowboy would try to shoot the place up.
Daniel Cook, Austin
Strom und Drang
MUGGER: "The Torch" will last 'til 2002, trials being as slow as they are, but if Strom resigns (or leaves office) he'll resign quickly. Dems control the committee chairmanships but they won't control the floor.
Doug Gossard, New Hope, MN
Where Indeed?
MUGGER, where is the consistency? On the one hand you criticize, and rightly so, the equation of Bush's failure to come clean on his DUI with President Clinton's perjury (6/6). However, in an earlier paragraph you are guilty of the same device?making an unfair comparison between Palestinian actions and a hypothetical Mexican wave of terrorism.
While I am not in favor of random acts of violence that harm innocent civilians, I can see that the actions of the Palestinians are a result of a "tit-for-tat" conflict that has existed for a century. A Pancho-Villaesque terrorist strike from a Mexican border town would indeed result in a severe blow from the United States Armed Forces. But the justifications for such an action would be completely different than those needed to approve an all-out invasion/military strike against the Palestinians in the current conflict. Palestinians, while guilty of illegal and heinous terrorist strikes, are also victims of the misappropriation of their property by the state of Israel (It should not be forgotten that Europe and the US have "unclean hands" in the matter). They are treated as second-class citizens in their native homeland. I realize this is information you are probably already aware of and I apologize for the digression. I merely wanted to keep you honest. Even though I disagree with you on many positions, you are normally well-balanced. Keep up the good work.
George P. Vourvoulias, New Orleans
The Big Dis
MUGGER: Dis price caps all you want ("Update: Bush Isn't Running Against Davis," "Daily Billboard," 5/30), but you don't live in California. Bush's intransigence, not to mention the fact that he spends far too much time in the lap of Big Energy, will be his downfall. That and the fact that he seems to "misunderestimate" the impact of all his crisis pimping. If you make a problem seem bigger than it is in order to get people to agree with your solution to said problem...you'd better make sure you solve it, or the payback will send you right back to that old rocking chair in Texas.
Harley Peyton, Santa Monica
No Can Do
MUGGER: If you have hard evidence of a serious misdeed by one of the Gore children that was blacked out during the presidential campaign, you should tell everyone what it is. If this story was blacked out by the media, it would prove that said media really has a bias in favor of Democrats and liberals. Tell everyone!
Carol Rampino, Brooklyn
Russ Smith replies: That's the point. I don't believe the kids of politicians, especially those under 21, should be subjected to media harassment.
Pillow Lips Kiss-Off
I'm trying to become bulimic because I think it's sexy, but I have a problem. I can get my whole hand down my throat without gagging and while I'm really excited at the implications of that it's not the point. The point is that the review, interview, literary toe-licking, whatever you call it of J.T. LeRoy ("Books," 6/6) helped me out. I puked about three times before I finished reading it.
If one were talking to Samuel Beckett I can't imagine it being possible to be more slimily deferential than Mr. Flesh was to this pretentious little shit. Oh, J.T. LeRoy doesn't want to be defined, he doesn't like boundaries, he doesn't know if he's a boy or a girl or a potato or an ocelot, he may die, he may not, who knows, who cares?
Now I know he's 21 but does that mean we have to take this sophomoric drivel that you can find expressed more succinctly on any program on the WB?
I'm dead now, but I too was once young and pretty and had a fully functional asshole. And if I'd been lucky enough, or enough of an opportunistic whore, to find a literary pederast who wanted to fuck me so badly he'd take any inane nonsense that came out of my mouth half as seriously as Mr. Flesh takes the dopey regurgitations that spatter from the lips of J.T. LeRoy, well, I would have become a cultural icon on the level of the Olsen twins. Alas, I was truly an outsider and remained so until my voice was barely a strangled croak heard only in absurd, wildly bitter rants to the letters sections of obscure free weekly newspapers.
By the way, what about that article by Knipfel on Tito Perdue ("Feature," 6/6)? The table of contents listed the article as appearing on page 1. Of course, that's the front cover, you boneheads, and the article doesn't appear there. You have to go thumbing through the whole fucking paper to find the article which exists, I trust, somewhere. I gave up and started looking at the ads for the Asian whores, excuse me, "escorts" in the back (thank god these aren't hard to find) which is really the only reason I ever get this paper anyway. With press like this, no wonder Mr. Perdue is a "lost literary genius." It seems New York Press is committed to keeping it that way!
Johnny Anarchy, Eatontown, NJ
Wrong on All Counts, J.
Re "Sow On Seventh," ("Billboard," 5/30): "Miss Piggy," "fat ass," "beleathered bulk"?welcome to the age of enlightenment as described by New York Press, where ladies are reduced to their dress size by writers without manners, class or basic decency. Hell hath no fury like an unrecognized self-important editor. He will use the power of his free paper to anonymously lambast the poor chick?excuse me, "sow," who committed the heinous crime of failing to remember his 40-something, sour, bitter ass at a dinner, where, I would guess, he had discarded his usual jaded, seen-it-all, everyone-is-stupid-but-me facade and become soft, gentle, open-minded, non-judgmental and interesting.
Yes, we all know you're hurt at the snub, pal, and you're striking back at this woman with the ultimate insult; calling her fat. A heinous crime in your Maxim-worshipping, over-the-hill, white, pasty, married-but-gets-laid-once-a-month, all women-are-invisible-except-those-under-size-8-neanderthal network. As far as I can tell, this chick was having fun?something you could use, instead of this passive-agressive shit. By the way, I, unlike you, love the look of full-figured or fat chicks in leather, tight dresses, or the altogether. Do you have the "sow"'s number? I'll continue to read your cranky crapola as I have for lo these 10 years or so.
J. Detwiler, Brooklyn
The writer replies: Sorry to burst your bubble, bub, but I'm not 40, or married, or male, or pasty. And I prefer FHM to Maxim. I'm actually a 24-year-old, size 8 female. You're wrong about another thing too: being called fat isn't the ultimate insult. Being accused of socially aspirational cocksucking is.
Submission Rejected
I didn't know there was such a thing as an intellectually dishonest film review until I read Armond White on Moulin Rouge ("Film," 5/30). I'll pass over the factual errors, false bravado and nastiness and go right to the really appalling bit. White states a truism in paragraph two when he says that "the art of film happens only if such a [musical moment] takes imaginative hold and you participate emotionally." I couldn't agree more. Participation requires an effort on the part of the viewer and White is clearly not willing to make this effort for Moulin Rouge?as he states later, "You either accept being sold?responding to everything as if watching a two-hour commercial. Or you resist Moulin Rouge (and its shills) with all your intelligence, sensitivity, taste?a filmgoer's only armor." White doesn't like Moulin Rouge because he won't let himself like it.
My advice for White next time is not to use his intelligence, sensitivity and taste (all of which this review calls into question?Moulin Rouge is the best movie so far this year and only a clod would differ) as armor to protect himself from a film but as the means to engage with the film. Had he done so with Moulin Rouge he might have written something that began thus: Moulin Rouge is a retelling of the Orpheus myth in fin-de-siecle Paris through the use of pop iconography. Because pop lyrics come pre-saddled with meaning Baz Luhrmann is able to tell us more with less and to reach the audience emotionally more quickly. The numbers range from the evocative ("Elephant Love Medley") to the transcendent ("Le Tango de Roxanne") to the strange yet brillant ("Like a Virgin" as sung by Broadbent/Roxburgh must be seen to be appreciated). While Baz doesn't always succeed you'll have fun watching him try...
Trevor Dewey, Seattle
Democracy in Action
I was just reading Walter Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" and this paragraph reminded me of New York Press: "For centuries a small number of writers were confronted by many thousands of readers. This changed toward the end of the last century. With the increasing extension of the press, which kept placing new political, religious, scientific, professional, and local organs before the readers, an increasing number of readers became writers?at first, occasional ones. It began with the daily press opening to its readers space for 'letters to the editor.' And today there is hardly a gainfully employed European who could not, in principle, find an opportunity to publish somewhere or other comments on his work, grievances, documentary reports, or that sort of thing. Thus, the distinction between author and public is about to lose its basic character. The difference becomes merely functional; it may vary from case to case. At any moment the reader is ready to turn into a writer. As expert, which he had to become willy-nilly in an extremely specialized work process, even if only in some minor respect, the reader gains access to authorship."
In a footnote, Benjamin references Aldous Huxley as saying that, while mass media has increased at a geometric rate, the number of talented authors has increased arithmetically.
Brian R. Higgins, Manhattan
Well, Not No Ill Effects
Alan Cabal will be happy to know that I have walked the streets of Camden, New Jersey (all three words), though since I didn't get my little tushie kicked like he did, I guess I can't claim that I walked those streets like he did. I'm currently walking the streets of New Jersey's second largest city, one of its most racially diverse, with no ill effects.
As far as Cabal's buddy, the mere fact that he is alive to write for a pot rag after facing down those nasty Rastafarians demonstrates that those nasty little men have a better record than the Klan. The math is simple: individual smartasses getting beaten up is less evil than 100 years of lynchings, bombings, burnings and organized terror.
Cabal didn't even rate a free pass into the Disinformation event, but, apparently not having eight bucks to spare, bluffed his way in. He then clearly didn't understand a word that was said, as he continues to insist that Mickey Z offered "apologetics" for the Japanese. A glance at Z's work in Saving Private Power shows Cabal to be just plain wrong. In the future you might want to direct your "writers" to call ahead for press passes rather than making shit up at the door, and instruct them to actually pay attention to the event they are covering.
Nick Mamatas, Jersey City
Alan Cabal replies: Glad to hear you survived Camden and went on to find a "racially diverse" city, Nick. There sure isn't much racial diversity in Camden these days. I didn't bluff my way into the event, I simply told them what I was there to do and they let me in. I wasn't reporting on your friend's written work, I was reporting on what he said that night, and that night he was parroting the same old line I've been hearing from lockstep p.c. fascists for decades about the awful Americans and what they did to the sacred people of color from Japan. By the way, High Times is not "a pot rag," you clod: it is the pot rag.
Moussaka Feta Retsina
In response to Mr. Souvlaki "the Greek" Theodoracopulos, although I generally agree with the Prince's take on most subjects and thoroughly despise the Cuomos as much as the next guy, I am curious what deprivation in Taki's experience and education has caused him to obsessively associate names of Magna Graecian origin with either food or gangsters ("Top Drawer, 5/30). I would have thought that his cultural references spanned a broader gamut than that of the typical hot-dog peddler. I guess Taki believes that his comments will make him appear less Mediterranean in his Anglo-Saxon milieu. Aside from this small quibble, keep up the good work.
Joseph Stella, Manhattan
Taki the Commoner
Taki, because you espouse integrity and talent, it is no accident that you have a large following of readers of Italian extraction. In short, you advocate certain principles of law and decency that appeal to an Italian way of looking at things. You write the right thing.
But now you let us down and seem to be applying a dreaded double-standard: I don't think you would call Sharpton "Watermelon-Head," nor Pollard "Bagel-Boy," yet Torricelli becomes Tortellini and Cuomo becomes Lasagna-Soprano, and on and on. You wouldn't call Denise Rich "Guardian of the Lox-Box," yet Italians get stereotyped based on their culinary flavors.
I fear you may have succeeded in alienating some of your Italian followers and have given some credence to the beliefs of our liberal friends who see you as mean-spirited. There is something cowardly in what you did. Something common. That can never be rectified until you refer to Sharpton as a "chittlin-swigging hambone" and to Jackson as a "black-eyed pea-brain."
Name Withheld, Manhattan
Worst Cases
MUGGER, I have to take issue with your opinion in your June 6 column that Joe Lockhart was "by far the most disreputable spokesman of the past administration..." I rarely disagree with your views on anything Clintonian. However, I don't think that Lockhart can hold a candle to Lanny Davis, Paul Begala, and, most of all, the reptilian James Carville. If you are referring only to those officially anointed Press Secretary, then, of course Lockhart was several shades worse than Mike McCurry or Dee Dee Myers but pretty close to the short-lived George Stephanopolous.
On a side note, I thought as a teenager in the 60s that Bob Dylan was the most overrated singer/songwriter on the planet ("MUGGER," 5/23). Nothing in the last 30-plus years has changed my opinion.
Steve Hume, Canton, MI
Chiming In
MUGGER, I was just introduced to your work by my friend of so many years and adventures, Jim Klein. Thanks for cutting through to the quick on the incredible impact of that now 60-year-old Vincent Price look alike who gave us "Chimes of Freedom." Springsteen came up with memorable lyrics about an old abandoned beach house and gettin' wasted in the heat but even the Boss didn't quite make the level of "majestic bells of bolts...flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight." I am thrilled to have lived in the time of such genius. And I don't agree with anyone trying to say there has been more than a glimmer of what was from Dylan since the death rattle of John Wesley Harding. Thanks for the reminder.
Jim Kelsey, Seattle
E Uguale
Perhaps it's just his own "lefty instincts" that compel him to do it, but Charles Glass makes one fundamental mistake in his "Byline: Il Duce" ("Taki's Top Drawer," 6/6). Granted, it's not just him?leftist historians, and through infection by them the rest of the world, have this problem as well. While making it clear that he doesn't see Silvio Berlusconi as a fascist, Glass nevertheless can't help but compare him to Mussolini. Why? I can see two reasons: They're both Italian and they're both "right-wing."
The first point, of course, fails without the second supporting it. And in the second lies the main problem: There was (is) nothing "right-wing" about fascists (or Nazis, for that matter?National Socialism, get it?) State control of industry? Of lives? A little religious or traditional rhetoric (if anything Mussolini said can be described as such) does not a rightist make. The primary difference between fascism and communism, in fact, is due to Hitler and Stalin trying to make some enemies?and only after they had a pact for a while, remember. To compare fascism to the only political philosophy uncompromisingly dedicated to freedom?modern day conservatism/libertarianism?is a slander.
Nathan Lamm, Flushi