Salon | Letters to the editor

_______________ OKLAHOMANS TO TOM TOMORROW: YOUR PORN IS AS HIGH AS AN ELEPHANT'S EYE! BY DAWN MacKEEN (05/01/98)

I wish I could be surprised at yet another burst of "morality" (I use this term extremely loosely) from the state legislators of Oklahoma,who are currently attempting to ban homosexuals from any school-related post, as well as using our budget surplus to build prisons while hiking tuition at our universities. I wish I could be astonished at the depths of inanity purveyed by the Oklahomans for Children and Families (OCAF), who had the Oklahoma City Police march Gestapo-style to area video stores seizing copies of the Oscar-winning "The Tin Drum" from shelves. However, I can't be amazed or shocked, just saddened.
I am a native Oklahoman who chose to stay in state to get my education from the University of Oklahoma -- a great school and one of the few redeeming characteristics of my state other than our reputation as the "Heartland of America" (happily being exploited by our governor in corporate boardrooms nationwide). We aren't all hayseed rednecks who string up gays from the nearest oak tree or who spout reverently from the Holy Scriptures of Rush Limbaugh. Well, at least I'm not.
What I am doing, however, is giving up any vestiges of an old desire to serve in state government, packing up and joining the mass exodus of intelligent Oklahomans (yes, we exist) to out-of-state graduate schools and successful careers someplace that isn't Oklahoma. "The land we belong to is grand," all right, but only if you are willing to become indoctrinated to the church, "Family Values," and the right-wing way of life. I never was.
-- Sarah Walker
(An apologetic Oklahoman)
After reading the story about Tom Tomorrow being banned in Oklahoma, I just want to thank Dawn MacKeen for helping me to realize that Oklahoma is one place I will never, ever visit. Thank you!
-- Jeff Jennings
Sacramento, Calif.
_______________ A REAL GROWTH STOCK BY DAVID FRIEDMAN (04/23/98)

I am sorry to say that I am disappointed with the Viagra pill. I am a 58-year-old male whose prostate was removed because of cancer. The only result I encountered was a splitting headache and ringing of the ears. After all the media attention I expected more. I will have to continue with Muse until something better comes along.
-- B.D.
_______________ REVIEW OF "BITCH: IN PRAISE OF DIFFICULT WOMEN" BY LILY BURANA (04/20/98)

Lily Burana, in her review of Elizabeth Wurtzel's book titled "Bitch," argues that Wurtzel should have chosen to ruminate about Aileen Wuornos rather than Amy Fisher, because Wuornos would make a more interesting "bitch." Burana states, "She at least chose her targets correctly." Wuornos, she explains, "felt helpless at the hands of men so she attacked men."
Aileen Wuornos was a pathetic drifter, a woman who hitchhiked through southern Florida and over time murdered seven of the men who gave her rides. She robbed them and dumped their bodies in the Everglades. Is Lily Burana trying to offer up some sort of sexist justification for women murdering innocent men? Is a female serial killer like Wuornos a feminist icon because she chose only male victims? Does Burana believe that reasonable and fairminded people will respect the misandry that seems to guide her thinking? All that is apparent to me is that some feminists are just as sexist and irrational as the men they disdain.
-- Christopher Heard
Nashville, Tenn.
_______________ PAVING THE ROAD TO YALE -- OR PALOOKAVILLE BY ALBERT MOBILIO (04/20/98)

Albert Mobilio's contention that the poor and middle classes are screwed because they can't afford $15,000 to send their kids to swanky East Coast schools flabbergasts me. I'm a poor graduate student who would never dare sacrifice my daughter to the altar of political ideals. Nor would I send her to an exclusive private school. My solution? A good Catholic school for $2,000 a year. $15,000!? Please! These inflated numbers about the cost of education -- be it private school or university -- may be dramatic, but they're hardly accurate.
-- Ricardo Matthews
SALON | May 6, 1998

R E C E N T L Y+| HOW MANY WORKING FATHERS DOES IT TAKE TO SCREW IN A LIGHT BULB? BY ELIZABETH RAPOPORT (04/24/98)

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_______________ OKLAHOMANS TO TOM TOMORROW: YOUR PORN IS AS HIGH AS AN ELEPHANT'S EYE! BY DAWN MacKEEN (05/01/98)
	I wish I could be surprised at yet another burst of "morality" (I use this term extremely loosely) from the state legislators of Oklahoma,who are currently attempting to ban homosexuals from any school-related post, as well as using our budget surplus to build prisons while hiking tuition at our universities. I wish I could be astonished at the depths of inanity purveyed by the Oklahomans for Children and Families (OCAF), who had the Oklahoma City Police march Gestapo-style to area video stores seizing copies of the Oscar-winning "The Tin Drum" from shelves. However, I can't be amazed or shocked, just saddened. I am a native Oklahoman who chose to stay in state to get my education from the University of Oklahoma -- a great school and one of the few redeeming characteristics of my state other than our reputation as the "Heartland of America" (happily being exploited by our governor in corporate boardrooms nationwide). We aren't all hayseed rednecks who string up gays from the nearest oak tree or who spout reverently from the Holy Scriptures of Rush Limbaugh. Well, at least I'm not. What I am doing, however, is giving up any vestiges of an old desire to serve in state government, packing up and joining the mass exodus of intelligent Oklahomans (yes, we exist) to out-of-state graduate schools and successful careers someplace that isn't Oklahoma. "The land we belong to is grand," all right, but only if you are willing to become indoctrinated to the church, "Family Values," and the right-wing way of life. I never was. -- Sarah Walker (An apologetic Oklahoman) After reading the story about Tom Tomorrow being banned in Oklahoma, I just want to thank Dawn MacKeen for helping me to realize that Oklahoma is one place I will never, ever visit. Thank you! -- Jeff Jennings Sacramento, Calif.
_______________ A REAL GROWTH STOCK BY DAVID FRIEDMAN (04/23/98)
	I am sorry to say that I am disappointed with the Viagra pill. I am a 58-year-old male whose prostate was removed because of cancer. The only result I encountered was a splitting headache and ringing of the ears. After all the media attention I expected more. I will have to continue with Muse until something better comes along. -- B.D.
_______________ REVIEW OF "BITCH: IN PRAISE OF DIFFICULT WOMEN" BY LILY BURANA (04/20/98)
	Lily Burana, in her review of Elizabeth Wurtzel's book titled "Bitch," argues that Wurtzel should have chosen to ruminate about Aileen Wuornos rather than Amy Fisher, because Wuornos would make a more interesting "bitch." Burana states, "She at least chose her targets correctly." Wuornos, she explains, "felt helpless at the hands of men so she attacked men." Aileen Wuornos was a pathetic drifter, a woman who hitchhiked through southern Florida and over time murdered seven of the men who gave her rides. She robbed them and dumped their bodies in the Everglades. Is Lily Burana trying to offer up some sort of sexist justification for women murdering innocent men? Is a female serial killer like Wuornos a feminist icon because she chose only male victims? Does Burana believe that reasonable and fairminded people will respect the misandry that seems to guide her thinking? All that is apparent to me is that some feminists are just as sexist and irrational as the men they disdain. -- Christopher Heard Nashville, Tenn.
_______________ PAVING THE ROAD TO YALE -- OR PALOOKAVILLE BY ALBERT MOBILIO (04/20/98)
	Albert Mobilio's contention that the poor and middle classes are screwed because they can't afford $15,000 to send their kids to swanky East Coast schools flabbergasts me. I'm a poor graduate student who would never dare sacrifice my daughter to the altar of political ideals. Nor would I send her to an exclusive private school. My solution? A good Catholic school for $2,000 a year. $15,000!? Please! These inflated numbers about the cost of education -- be it private school or university -- may be dramatic, but they're hardly accurate. -- Ricardo Matthews SALON \| May 6, 1998