Amen To That
To the Editor:
Amen to Jeff Golightly on his letter
concerning Memphis music (July 4th issue). I have been trying
to make this point since relocating to Memphis in
1992: our overabundant emphasis on past musical
achievements while the rest of the country passes us by.
I visited the Memphis music Web site and found that
it was last updated in December 2001. What benefit
is this resource to musicians and fans?
With all due respect to our musical roots, I often
refer to Beale Street as a theme park, but instead of
mouse ears and fairy tales, we peddle blues and barbecue. I
think most Memphis music affiliates encourage and
nurture interest in the blues so budding musicians will stay
close to home to ensure a future for Beale Street. Musical
heritage is one thing; musical stagnation is another.
Rawleigh Hartzell
Memphis
HE MEANS WELL
To the Editor:
Thanks for your article (Media, July 4th issue) on
the two best-selling books that poke fun at our inept
president. We have to laugh to keep from crying. And
thanks for Texan Molly Ivins’ hilarious commentary on the
spectacle of George W. Bush posing as the “Scourge of
Corporate Misbehavior” (Viewpoint, July 4th issue).
As many of us predicted, Bush is proving to
be exactly what we feared: a nice man who probably means well but is A) poorly prepared for this job,
B) entirely lacking in intellectual curiosity and
knowledge of critical issues, and C) an unthinking pawn
of his wealthy supporters, including but not limited
to the Ken Lays of this world.
President Bush was a failed businessman who
made money only when one of his many failed companies
was purchased at an outrageously inflated price by Harken
Energy (which admitted it was basically buying Bush’s name)
in 1990. Harken quickly floundered but hid its true
financial status (with the help of its accountant, Arthur
Andersen) long enough for Bush to sell his holdings at a huge
profit. The accounting shenanigans (creation of a fake profit in
a subsidiary) used to keep Harken afloat are exactly those
used recently by Enron executives.
Bush is being criticized because he broke the law
in the Harken matter by failing to report his insider
stock sale in a timely manner. But the real question for
the special prosecutor is: “What did Bush know, and
when did he know it?” regarding the sham profits that
propped up Harken long enough for him to make
millions. Harken’s fake profits were many times greater than
the tiny sums involved in the Whitewater land deal in
Arkansas but less costly than the Republican-led witch
hunt that it sparked.
Imagine the outrage from Rush Limbaugh and
his ilk if Bill Clinton had been found to have profited
from such a stock deal while he was governor of
Arkansas! Then try to keep a straight face when Bush claims to be outraged about the state
of corporate ethics. The Republican Party may not have invented
hypocrisy, but surely it has perfected it.
B. Keith English
Memphis
Applauding the Fly
To the Editor:
I applaud last week’s Fly on the Wall column (July 4th
issue), which advocated an open-minded approach to the
question of compulsory recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance
in public schools. However, by saying that the pledge has
been declared unconstitutional, your writer has committed the
same fundamental mistake that has been made by practically
every newspaper editorial, magazine article, and television
news program on the subject. And he may have
unwittingly fueled the passionate flames of misunderstanding.
The issue before the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals was quite simply whether the government (in the
person of a local public school system) can compel captive
students to declare that we are all “under God.” When
the question is phrased properly, it is easy to see that the
9th Circuit judges had no choice but to rule exactly as they did.
I doubt that your writer intended to feed that
frenzy. Nonetheless, it will now be even easier for those
whose purposes are served by cloudy confusion to scream that
God has been taken out of our schools, when it just ain’t so.
Bruce Ralston
Memphis
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