Re: Strausbaugh: How Could You?; That Your Best Shot, Cockburn?; Crabbin' on Tabb; More Goading; More...
I was appalled to learn in the New York Post of the firing of John Strausbaugh from New York Press. As a longtime reader of New York Press, I watched it grow to become a paper so formidable that the Village Voice was forced to adopt not only its free distribution policies, but its publication schedule, bumping its appearance on the newsstand from Wednesday to Tuesday. As a friend of John, I witnessed over the last 12 years his thorough and tireless dedication to making Russ Smith's New York Press into a successful paper with a stimulating, fresh, honest editorial content that many readers found so refreshing, they abandoned the Voice entirely.
In the New York Post article, Chuck Coletti and Doug Meadow, the new owners of New York Press, have gone on record to say that editorially they want the paper to remain "basically business as usual." If that's true, there's a blatant lack of logic in firing the very editor who made the paper what it is. If they intend to take up Russ Smith's mission to dethrone the Voice, there would be no better editor to resume that battle than John Strausbaugh. The manner in which Strausbaugh has been fired and the manner in which his firing has been reported is unconscionable.
Laura Lindgren, Manhattan
You'll Have to Do Better than That
MUGGER: Well, thanks for a nice run. I have no idea how the paper will stay the same without John Strausbaugh. I suspect it will become more and more just another alt weekly. I still think DC is starved for an alternative to The Washington Post and City Paper and you could do it. Although I've always been a big Lisa Kearns fan. Now will you start running my stuff again?
Mark Gauvreau Judge, Potomac, MD
We're Fonda You Too
MUGGER: So long and good luck. New York Press is a helluva paper.
Michael Fonda, Astoria, NY
Over and Out
I am saddened to learn of the dismissal of John Strausbaugh from the editor's post of New York Press. I'm not the first to say it?and surely it won't make any difference to the new owners?but I won't be reading the Press under your new regime. This is partly out of sympathy for Strausbaugh, who undeniably changed the journalistic landscape of New York City in a dynamic, iconoclastic way, and partly because any incarnation of the Press without Strausbaugh's editorial command will be an inferior publication. Having read (and written for) the Press in its prime, I have no desire to bear witness to a once-great metropolitan weekly descending into mediocrity, or worse.
Irwin Chusid, Hoboken
Only in the Third Trimester
I read Alexander Cockburn's rant today about Sen. Bill Frist and the animals he operated on ("Wild Justice," 1/1). Wow! I'm curious, though: Does Cockburn love little unborn babies as much as he apparently loves stray cats and dogs?
Jonathan Tross, Frederick, MD
Tip of the Iceberg
Alexander Cockburn has got to be fucking kidding. Is this really all he has on Bill Frist? He did something wrong when he was very young, and has since declared it stupid, heinous and immoral. Moral monsters always admit their mistakes, right Cockburn? But get this, someone who worked for Bill Frist thought he was a real asshole. That makes just about every employer in America a moral monster, right Cockburn? But worst of all, Bill Frist has rich friends and has made lots of money. And there lies the gist of the Frist smear: Bill Frist is a goddamned capitalist. And that alone is enough to make an aging commie crackpot cry wolf.
Michael Modes, Seattle
Ever Read Al Gore: A User's Manual?
Alexander Cockburn: Too bad you never see fit to mangle the reputation and vent your venom at low-life Democrats. This article is nothing but venom, and I would like to know what your purpose is besides destroying the reputation and life of another Republican. Clean up your own political house first, then maybe you will be believed. All Democrats do is destroy, lie and cover up.
Dorris McKinney, Albuquerque
Ewww
Mike Signorile: You forgot to mention that copulation, when not intended for procreation, is a sin ("The Gist," 1/1). I doubt that a tub of lard like Bill Bennett could even find his little "thang" to perform missionary on his "wife" anyway.
Alfred Michael Roach, ManhatTan
Yes We Did
MUGGER: Yours is the best commentary on the Lott stupidity that has been printed. Yes, Lott's statements were an assault on every decent American, and a snoot at our fervent desire to preserve and protect the liberties, security and opportunities for each and every one of us. I was appalled at Republican leadership responses to Lott, except the President's. Bush said it clearly: this man's statements do not represent what this country is all about. We sure got an eyeful and an earful of how disconnected most everyone in Washington is from what matters to us?millions of whom they consider their personal milk cows, didn't we?
Margaret Whitcomb, Salem, OR
Makin' Bacon
MUGGER: Thanks for treating us to two great articles by William Bryk, the only writer who can be counted on to make New York Press worth its price ("Old Smoke" & "New York City," 12/25). My only comment is that the Liberal Party lost any claim to be a "political" party years ago, when it became the Harding Family piggybank.
It's almost two years since Bill Clinton left the White House. If you must continue attacking him, could it be printed on one piece of paper so the only editorial content lining my birdcage will be your column? In dealing with the paper's new owners, you ensured your continued ability to provide for the MUGGER clan by turning swill into bacon. Who else besides John Strausbaugh did you sell out in this transaction?
Stuart Gittleman, Forest Hills, NY
The Knowledge and Magic of The Source
Once again, George Tabb shows that he knows or cares nothing about the music scene in New York. This latest interview with Dean Dean and the Sex Machines ("Music," 1/1) comes across as nothing more than a "we want bitches and ho's" page from The Source. I don't want to read about cliche rock-star fantasies. I want to read about good bands that actually care about music for a change!
Don Cheska, Montclair, NJ
Shooting Blanks
It figures that the asshole mentality of the Blanks 77 would rear its head again in a new "project" (Dean Dean and the Sex Machines). I notice that they don't talk about the music at all in the interview. That's because it's probably as bland and generic as they are. If hitting on kids half your age gets you things like buses and planes, then they're well on their way. If it's music and talent that get you those things, then I'm sure we won't be hearing from them much longer. Maybe George Tabb should start paying attention to some real bands in New York, and not just his loser drinking buddies.
James Tavaras, Flushing, NY
Billy's a Hero
William Repsher's use of broad generalizations in the name of making humorous points often pisses me off, except when I agree with him ("Daily Billboard," 12/23). Pat Tillman, Person of the Year? Bravo. While against a war with Iraq, I am also against today's hollow antiwar activists. They do have cool clothes, but they act like they're the brave ones who are at war?with our government. Yeah, real brave. And they don't give a desert rat's ass about our troops.
Mark Duffy, Manhattan
Uh, Jim, Your Date's Here...
Jim Goad: In response to your article ("Biting the Whore that Fed Me," 12/25), I guess there's no chance you'll go on a date with me now, since I am a former stripper who is now a stand-up comedian. And since you don't think comedians are funny, you probably won't be laughing at any of my jokes either, huh? It's so sad, Jim, you would have made such a strong case for johns as the true victims of pornography/prostitution if you hadn't stooped to such woman-hating words as "twat" and "cunt" (let alone your constant peppering of the word "whore" throughout your diatribe). You completely discounted yourself as anything but a run-of-the-mill ex-con misogynist, especially when you admitted that you went to prison for abusing a woman! That was hilarious. Poor Jimmy! Did the big bad evil stripper hit you really hard, too? And you expect me to believe you never bought a porno or went to a strip club in your life. How did you meet that "violent" stripper anyway? A coffee shop? You claim to have never paid for sex? You've paid for it. Your anger is that of a man who pays for it all the time. I bet all those guys who fucked you in the poke (that word, "poke," came up on my computer's thesaurus as a simile for prison?cute, isn't it?) enjoyed discussing with you the cultural and societal unfairness of the sex industry in regard to men. Especially with a cigarette, right after they had crammed their dicks up your ass. I'll pick you up at 8, honey.
Karla Kaiser, Manhattan
Nothing's Free
Great article, but it annoyed me as much as it entertained me. First, Jim Goad should leave off slapping himself on the back so much for his "never having paid a dollar" for sex or a porno magazine. Think again, pal. Never took a female to some restaurant you would just as soon never go to because the gesture would function as that all-important "social emollient"? Never bought useless but impressive items for your lady knowing it "warmed her heart"? You need to get honest about the big picture of sexual relations to do more than take cheap shots and answer the easy questions. The sex industry is the social analog to the flop house and soup kitchen as a sexual "last resort," as with the former institutions a marked increase in use indicates something wrong elsewhere in our society, and some word count spent in that direction would be more enlightening than running down "johns" and "ho's." If you think "mutual contempt" only exists in cash-and-carry sexual relations, you are kidding yourself. This scene is just the most out-and-out honest facet of the ugly and dysfunctional side of man/woman relations. Worthy reading overall and I will be forwarding it to some other middle-aged men!
George Mikal, Manhattan
That's a Tall Order, Jack
Thanks very much as always for your attention and consideration. Keep up that good work that you do in New York Press. May God bless. Maybe this will be the year that MUGGER puts his unquestionable passion for political writing more into the service of political independence. Neoconservative, anti-poor, pro-foreign war, pro-abortion Republicanism is nothing but a sinful hodgepodge that has no moral center and no moral future. It is no more palatable than the Democratic Party, and is not worthy of MUGGER's dedication. Maybe this will also be the year that Armond White allows his unquestionable love of film to flow naturally through written references that are reasonably accessible. Referrals to obscure underground or foreign films are fine and are the kind of education American readers need. But referrals to obscure music videos and pop songs can't be appreciated by many readers, especially not during discussions of cinema, which should have little to do with either of those two lesser media. And who knows, maybe this year Jim Knipfel?now a science-fiction novelist, from what I hear?will realize that abstinence from alcohol would allow for even greater creativity on his already impressive resume. And may God through Jesus Christ work via this paper of yours wherever He sees fit during the coming year. He may not do so in your "Adult Classifieds" and such, but who knows what He may accomplish through your more serious features.
Jack Seney, Queens
Just the Facts
It seems that every week Christopher Caldwell manages to insert some false facts in his column. I'll be reading and agreeing with him up to a point, then, like clockwork, midway in he dumps in some false facts (which he may believe to be true some, most or all of the time). For example, in attacking the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday ("Hill of Beans," 12/25), he complains that King is "the only American individual honored with a holiday." Guess Caldwell never heard of Washington and Lincoln. I've skipped the previous two months or so of his columns because of what he said about North Korea earlier (10/23/02), that the U.S. built two nuclear reactors for them (no, the U.S. agreed to build them?they haven't been built), and that the U.S. gives North Korea money. (Wrong again?it's fuel oil, not money, which was the deal for North Korea to forgo building a nuclear reactor that the U.S. feared could provide material for atomic bombs.) It's so irritating to think of all the people being misinformed, and I don't have the time or inclination to work as a free error-corrector every week (assuming optimistically that every single letter I send would be published, which would be unrealistic), so in frustration I try to ignore him. Opinions are fine, but facts should be accurate. Or does Caldwell follow the epistemology of the Saint of the Conservatives, Ronald Reagan, to wit: "Facts are stupid things." (Yes, Reagan said that.)
Jason Zenith, Manhattan
Christopher Caldwell replies: Lincoln's birthday is not a federal holiday. Washington's is?only officially?but it has fallen into desuetude as a holiday. I know of no community in the U.S. where Washington's birthday is celebrated as such. Instead we have Presidents' Day?and I hate to break this to Mr. Zenith, but "Presidents" is not an individual. It's a collective noun.
Without suggesting for a moment that Mr. Zenith should trust The New York Times more than me, I urge him to note the editorial "A Prudent Turnabout," which appeared in the Times on Dec. 17, 1994. (Section 1, p. 22): "Under the agreement, Japan and South Korea will bear almost all the costs. The U.S., however, is obliged to supply the North with heavy oil for its electrical generators, securely store the North's spent nuclear fuel, which contains five bombs' worth of plutonium, and ready it for eventual removal. The Clinton Administration intends to take $5.5 million from Pentagon funds to pay for the oil, but it will have to ask Congress for up to $10 million for storing and eventually removing the fuel rods." I think it's fair to say we're paying them to keep the reactors off. Whether we use the hard currency to buy oil to ship to the North Koreans, or whether we send them the hard currency to buy their own oil is a distinction that hardly seems worth all Mr. Zenith's huffing and puffing.
Mr. Zenith is right that the plants were not "built." He's got me there. Much of the material was sent, but as the Times (again) noted on Nov. 24, 2002, Kim "never allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency to begin the wide-ranging inspections required before the critical parts of the plants could be delivered."
What does Ronald Reagan have to do with this?
White Christmas. Period.
MUGGER: I was thrilled to see your boy Dubya cast his compassionate conservative net further to now include Kwanzaa as a legitimate "festive season" observance. Clearly his critics are mistaken. He is not a moron. He is a dangerous fool!
Randal A. Bear, East York, PA
Bring Back Bubba
MUGGER: Hey, asshole! A national embarrassment is a moron stealing his way into power after losing the election (12/25). Clinton is bored and bitter? Are you a friend of Jeff Jacoby? And just because you can't understand the most intelligent president we ever had doesn't mean his speeches are incoherent?they probably are to small-minded ditto-monkeys. Clinton can speak extemporaneously (look it up, putz) on any subject, whereas President Jackass can barely read his lines and has no idea what the words in his speeches mean. Clinton gave us eight years of blissful peace and we'd-give-anything-to-have-it-back prosperity. The only way you can claim war and recession are preferable to peace and prosperity is to fabricate lies about the best president we ever had. Then you whine about "celebrities"? You're just jealous because the biggest "celebrities" Bush can hang with are the Oak Ridge Boys and Lee Greenwood. And that "several years tradition" you speak of is one year, which Clinton honored, even though Bush reversed the Clinton miracle and crashed the stock market and drove the economy into the ground.
David Martin, Nashville
Better than a Whack Sicko
Alexander Cockburn: You're a sick whacko ("Wild Justice," 1/1).
Roy Cantwell, Fort Worth
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
Here's my submission for the next "provocative" Jim Goad cover story ("Biting the Whore that Fed Me," 12/25): "Paper Tigers Shocker: They Aren't Real Tigers, They're Only Made of Paper!"
R. McNeill, Manhattan
Goad Lover
Jim Goad's story was a great read and a great piece of social criticism ("Biting the Whore that Fed Me," 12/25). Further, you couldn't tell from this riveting piece of journalism what his political viewpoint is, which might indicate the irrelevance of mainstream political subdivisions. I hope he is a Libertarian and I hope to see his byline again.
T.J. Favor, Seattle
Towering Disappointment
MUGGER: I hardly agree with you on anything?let's say never. However, you got it right with The Two Towers (1/1). What the fuck was that? At least you saw it in English. Me? I sat down at a theater in Spain watching and listening to this presumptuous bullshit with the dialogue dubbed into an annoyingly pompous Castilian. Mike Signorile: I just read your article on Bill Bennett ("The Gist," 1/1). Baby, just keep pouring it on these hypocrites. Have a great new year.
César Díaz, Denia, Spain
How the Hell Do You Know?
I can only conclude that Mike Signorile is so full of hate, he can no longer see facts. To him, CNN/Airport Network's practices are "a tad Ashcroftian" ("The Gist," 12/25.) In fact, the Attorney General is nowhere near a "tad CNNian." To set the record straight, John Ashcroft has never censored any news organization, attempted to do so or suggested that they do so themselves. The Bush administration has never gone so far as, say, the Clinton administration, which was actively approving scripts for popular tv shows. What we are dealing with here is a private news body (one not known to be a big fan of Bush or Ashcroft) choosing, all on its own, to be "sensitive." As abhorrent as that practice may be, it is just plain wrong to imply that any practices of the Bush administration (Republicans, by the way, the real friends of freedom?don't scoff, Signorile) resemble it at all.
Nathan Lamm, Flushing, NY
Hooray for Censorship
Mike Signorile: I have to comment on your report on CNN news in the airport ("The Gist," 12/25). As a mom of two children ages four and seven, I do not let my children watch the news, or any tv for that matter. So, I actually appreciate the fact that the airport news is sanitized because I don't have any control over whether my children watch it when we are waiting for a flight. Actually, I wish they would just get rid of the tv sets in the airport altogether but that is asking too much of tv-addicted America. Airports have people of all ages in them and that should be taken into account. Maybe in the bars where the kids can't go anyway would be the place for the regular news. Almost all network news is already censored and sanitized anyway. I did appreciate your perspective, though, and I generally enjoy your column.
Susan James, Seattle
Sacks' Appeal
Mike Signorile: I just read your article on CNN Airport News and I would like to slightly contradict your findings ("The Gist," 12/25). I was in the Atlanta airport terminal on the afternoon of Oct. 25, 2002, the day of the airplane crash killing Paul Wellstone. While sitting in the gate area waiting for my flight at 2:30 p.m., the breaking news banner on the tv scrolled by that Sen. Wellstone's plane had crashed. As far as I know, no footage of the crash was immediately available because it occurred in a relatively rural area.
In fact, I called my father at work to see if he had seen it, and he said that he hadn't heard about it yet, despite the fact he was on the Internet looking at various news outlets.
Also, why not express outrage at the airlines that regularly edit out scenes from movies shown on the flights for any number of reasons, including violence, language, sexuality and, yes, even plane crashes? Is this not censorship as well? I think your frustration at Ashcroft is misplaced and perhaps CNN and the airlines are a more appropriate target to effect change.
Jon Sacks, Atlanta
Phew
Alexander Cockburn: Whether Strom Thurmond used "Negro" or "nigger" in his 1948 speech ("Wild Justice," 12/18/02) may be a loaded question. Southerners at the time said "Nigra" in public if they wanted to signify politeness. Old-timers may remember Sen. James Eastland of Mississippi using that word to address a racial problem on national tv in the 50s; much of his audience outside the South was aghast because they thought he said "nigger"?always a derogatory term. Unless the audio Tom Gorman listened to was crystal clear, it's possible Thurmond was also saying "nigra."
Sid Georgiou, Manhattan
He Belongs to All of Us
Mike Signorile: I am so glad that Michael Moore is one of yours!
Paul B. Garrison, Greybull, WY
Twat Did You Say?
I was very disappointed to learn that Jim Goad's writings in Exotic magazine were not tongue-in-cheek ("Biting the Whore that Fed Me," 12/25). He obviously has some serious sex issues to resolve. I lived in Portland for four years and photographed many strippers, photographs I showed at the Image Transfer Gallery, sometimes known as the "Portlandthorpe Gallery." I encountered all kinds of girls who stripped for money, some were in fact addicted to some substance or another and very confused, no different from some of the nation's leaders.
But I found that most of them enjoyed the freedom that hard-earned money brought them. Strippers can afford more than your average cashier, secretary or fast-food worker. Some were paying their college tuition or their home mortgage. One stripper was supplementing her meager teacher's income, which wasn't enough to pay for a decent lifestyle. A couple of girls I photographed became lawyers thanks to the money they made stripping. What they all had in common was that they were doing licit work that afforded them the dignity of not having to work for a slave wage at a major fast-food franchise or Wal-Mart. They weren't a burden on the taxpayer by receiving public assistance.
Which brings me to the issue Goad misses. Goad, as a convict, lived off the taxpayers' money and as a writer he lived off the charity of his friend who felt obliged to help him. He should look at himself in the mirror before he puts labels on other people that apply to himself. There is nothing wrong with having your own opinions, but there is everything wrong with insulting people who, unlike Goad, are making a living by the sweat of their brows or, in this case and to paraphrase Goad, the sweat of their twats.
Marc Adrian Villas, Manhattan
Dull Goad
If a cranky moralist like Jim Goad can sort out the whores from the chaff, certainly we can also agree on what a worker is. I think of a worker as someone who trades a service for money. That would mean that the women Goad describes are workers. Whether they are whores as well doesn't particularly interest me.
I worked in the "industry" for 10 years, primarily as a stripper. I recall an industry that was as complex as any other: sometimes funny, often banal, occasionally brutal and never without contradictions. My customers were diverse. My coworkers included illegal immigrants; single mothers; graduate students; certified public school teachers; drug addicts; thieves; murderers; and one Baptist choir singer. I do not recall a single one describing herself as a "goddess." Personally, I would be much more interested to discover a goddess in Wal-Mart than in New York Dolls. But I would also like to understand what's new or valuable about an article like Goad's. We've been called whores before, many times, by sharper minds. Next, please.
Juliana Francis, Manhattan
Love Thyself
Jim Goad: Given your obvious talent for publicly sucking your own dick, I'm puzzled by your animosity toward sex workers. All the points (good and bad) made in your article are buried under a nearly impenetrable layer of self-congratulation. I can only imagine that your cellmate was as happy to see you leave prison as you were to go. Oh, and if you were half as funny as The Onion, you'd be about a 100 times funnier than you actually are.
Dave Pascetta, Manhattan
Scary ANALysis
Mike Signorile: The Soviets had all this techno-control well thought-out 40?yes?40 years ago! Sanitized, subsidized and scrutinized news from the USSR, all the horror of the USA three to four decades ago, but now our daily fare ("The Gist," 12/25).
I suspect it is not only the Airport Network news (why don't they call it Airport News in Abbreviated Language, in short, ANAL?) that is scrupulously predigesting what we get across those marvelous tv screens.
Nikita Khrushchev once remarked, "The Soviets will never have to overtake the United States. They will strangle themselves to death on their First Amendment rights!" Interesting sidebar: Have you heard how the Boston Archdiocese is using the First Amendment to bale out of their multimillion dollar lawsuits?
If anyone wants to really understand how the "dumbing down" of America is taking place?subliminally?simply look at the canned fodder being shown to us 24/7 that is posited as "news." The White House uses the word "war" every hour on the hour, picking some new target to keep the "war" mantra fresh in our minds. The media would have us believe all mothers drive their children into lakes to let them drown, that all black men are rapists and criminals, and the Ken Lays of our world are really good guys at heart who just took a nasty turn in life. (Tell that one to the poor black guy who has just been profiled!)
As for Ashcroft, I suspect he has taken his lessons from famous and good works, not the least of which are the passages on stoning in Leviticus and pro formas set forth in Mein Kampf as preparation for the "errant" masses who fail to goose step down the street like "good little soldiers," hailing the Chief Bush.
There was a time when I pooh-poohed all this conspiracy theory as bullshit. But you know what? I am really beginning to wonder if all the bullshit is nothing less than virtual reality?virtually real!
Vincent Turner, Boston
It's All About Money
Republicratism or Demopublicanism, take your pick. It's the same poison. The merging of our two major political parties into a single entity is no idle presumption. While the signs on their respective doors vary, the message in their music is exactly the same: American politics is about making money and multiplying it. If you have no source of substantial campaign funds, don't bother to enter the competition.
Of course, the hard-working staffs and voters still cling to a trace of the political philosophies offered by the two parties. Republicans relentlessly believe success belongs to the select few and Democrats believe success should be facilitated for the many. The fact remains that the rampant rise of mega-corporate capitalism has overwhelmed our public election process. Until the private funding of our public elections is seriously addressed, democracy will continue to decline in America.
Politics in America has become a futile exercise. Choices aren't being made with the intent of improving the prospects of our human condition. It has been reduced to a fruitless activity by ruthless consultants and admen. Our politics is more Republicratism than Demopublicanism because of the inordinate edge in funds fueling the former.
Americans are very concerned about the fate of our nation. However, the contrived debates in the media rarely get to the heart of what disturbs our peace. Republicratism versus Demopublicanism is a sad substitute for a genuine conversation on the issues. The rush to war overseas is just an excuse to avoid our inner conflicts. When the American people finally reject the bogeyman balderdash of George W. Bush, we'll be able to set the stage for an honest national debate about our future.
Franklin L. Johnson, Manhattan