"I'm not peaking too early"
BY JAKE TAPPER
(08/04/99)

There he goes again, putting on airs. This time it's Al Gore's expansive insights on the complex nature of stock car racing. The vice president brags to Jake Tapper: "You know, in stock car races, it's usually the second car in the gun lap that wins."

Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that, in stock car racing, the guy who wins the race is almost always the one who dominates the race. Last-lap, come-from-behind victories are quite rare. They happen, but definitely not "usually." That's true for every form of racing, from local dirt tracks to the big-dollar NASCAR circuit.

Perhaps the vice president is suffering from yet another delusion of rural Tennessee life: After a hard week of stripping and putting up tobacco, young Al would amble on down to the local dirt track and soak up the last-lap victories.

Or maybe not. But one thing's for sure: Al Gore ain't no Dale Earnhardt.

-- Bill Greene
Arlington, Va.

Gore did not boast to anyone, off the record or not, about being a model for Oliver in "Love Story." A Tennessee newspaper first noted the "Love Story" connection, which the New York Times proceeded to bollix up.

And speaking of myths: Since when is the entire nation suffering from "Clinton fatigue"? Not the persons I've dealt with. What they have suffered from is an anger at the 24-7 media, which, since corporate and political strictures prevent it from dealing with substantive issues, turn to trash to make money. I suggest that the real issue is this: Big Media is pissed as hell at the idea that it no longer has quite the opinion-molding power that it thought it did. In their frustrated fury, the media sharks are now trying to smear Al Gore, and they don't care how many lies they print in order to do it.

-- Tamara Baker

The real problem: We want Al Gore to be the statesman we like to think his father was. And we get good talk, big ideas; but Al Jr.'s actions seldom measure up to the talk. Gore needs to convince us that he has a better attention span than Clinton, and that he will seriously address issues such as poverty that have been largely ignored during the past seven years. We want Gore to be the fulfillment of what we thought was the Clinton promise now squandered. But he is not. And so we make fun of him.

-- Dale Madren

Are we supposed to be impressed by Al Gore's use of Dr. Shettles' "How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby"? I find it rather disturbing that he wastes his time with such pseudoscientific literature. Perhaps Gore would have done better to have read a book on overpopulation instead, rather than irresponsibly increasing the size of his family so that he could have a son.

-- Travis Hime

Chaos in Kosovo
BY LAURA ROZEN
(08/04/99)

Obviously it's time for another "humanitarian intervention" in Kosovo -- this time against the Kosovar Albanians. Then when we've put the Serbs back in power, we can bomb them again. Then maybe it'll be time to be humane to the Macedonians ...

-- Jim Crutchfield
Newport News, Va.

Dear Mr. Blue: Porn widow
BY GARRISON KEILLOR

(08/03/99)

Garrison Keillor's advice to the "porn widow" whose husband is spending four hours a night and $200 a month viewing online sex was particularly bone-headed. Normally, Keillor is able to dispense his wisdom with minimal damage, but not so in this case. This woman is appealing for help because her husband is neglecting her for a nightly rendezvous with images on a screen. Telling her to join him and to try to find "better deals" to hold down the costs is like telling an alcoholic's spouse to quit whining and try to help the falling-down drunk become a "control drinker." It just won't work. The lame advice in this case not only leaves this porn widow with less of a clue than before, but it also promotes the collective denial of tens of thousands of other addicted to pornography.

I suspect that Keillor's disregard for the seriousness of this couple's problem is based at least partly on a hesitancy to appear prudish on the topic of pornography. But putting aside any arguments of whether naked bodies doing what they do best is moral or immoral, just look at the mechanics of this couple's situation. I would venture that doing anything for four hours a night that costs $200 per month and threatens your marriage is simply out-of-control behavior. What would his advice have been if the woman had complained that her husband spent that much time and money just watching television?

-- Liam Rooney

Will a Barbie computer make math easy?
BY JANELLE BROWN
(08/04/99)

Janelle Brown notes that Mattel's Barbie computer, but not its Hot Wheels computer, will include typing and writing software, and asks what messages a girl will get from the presence of such software. I wonder what messages a boy will get from its absence.

Believe it or not, not all boys grow up to be manual laborers. A few take jobs that require writing skills. If Brown insists on believing otherwise, at least she should stop presenting such a belief as enlightened feminism, when it is anything but.

-- David J. Edmondson
Washington

I found Janelle Brown's article on Barbie/Hot Wheels computers extremely sexist. Brown never seemed to realize that a Hot Wheels computer could easily be given to a girl and vice versa; she seems to push the idea that Barbie means "girl" and Hot Wheels means "boy." It is people like her who have it so ingrained in their heads that Barbie equates to "girl" that are truly forcing sexism on the younger generation.

-- Andrea Hawksley

Sharps & flats: "Philadelphonic"
REVIEWED BY JOE HEIM
(08/03/99)

I found myself cringing at Joe Heim's attack on a white musician's choice to play blues and experiment with different sounds -- to be a "cultural interloper." I haven't heard the new album, but I am familiar with Garrett Dutton's music, lyrics and vocal style, and yes, they fall into what is usually the domain of black artists. But unlike, say, Vanilla Ice, he does not pretend to have had a difficult childhood, to be tough, to be "down with the 'hood''; he doesn't promote violence or gangster life; he doesn't even use excessive street slang. Instead, he expresses love for his hometown, family and friends (bourgeois though they may be); he describes the joy and sadness he has experienced. I don't think anyone who has actually paid attention to Dutton's lyrics would call him a poseur.

I can accept that Heim does not like G. Love's music; what I find ridiculous is that he offers no valid argument to back up his distaste for it. He seems simply to have a problem with white boys playing black music. He even goes as far as to state that Dutton "wants to be ... very, very black." Does he really?

-- Elizabeth Einstein

Cut me open!
BY JEAN HANFF KORELITZ
(08/02/99)

and

Give me drugs!
BY NINA SHAPIRO
(08/03/99)

and

Take me to a hospital!
BY SUSAN GERHARD
(08/04/99)

Jean Hanff Korelitz has a good message to deliver -- that it's no failure to give birth by Caesarean section. Two interesting facts that her readers might be interested to know: Since Jan. 1, 1998, federal law has required insurers to pay for a 48-hour hospital stay after childbirth; and the maternal death rate for Caesarean births is four times higher than for vaginal births.

-- Pete Danko
Applegate Valley, Ore.

After my first (emergency) Caesarean section, a neighbor came up to me and said how sorry she was. I couldn't believe it -- my daughter and I would have died without that C-section; and were it not for fetal monitoring, my daughter would have been born with brain damage due to oxygen deprivation. How could anyone be "sorry" about that outcome?

Too much of the "natural birth" movement is a vain effort by women to exert control over the uncontrollable. The tragedy is that they do not realize how they are endangering their babies by this attitude.

-- Cathie Fornssler
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

I'm all for Caesarean sections when they are necessary, but to have one because it's more convenient for the mother seems irresponsible. It's major surgery, which means it's expensive and invasive. Until this article, I believed that no responsible doctor would schedule a Caesarean just because a patient asked for it, and that no mother would actually ask for one without good cause. How can the author compare a teeny vaginal tear to an incision that slices through seven layers of tissue?

Also: Labor pain isn't that bad. I've had two births without epidurals and they were horrible and wonderful, sort of like parenting. As they say, don't knock it until you've tried it.

-- Eileen Bordy

The cult of pain which glorifies "natural childbirth" prevents many women from seeking relief and makes others feel ashamed of having sought that relief. An epidural would have made the birth of my 9-pound, 12-ounce son a less horrifying experience. By the time he finally emerged I was too exhausted and shaken to appreciate the miracle. By contrast, my daughter's birth two years later was pain-free and completely joyous. I was able to leave the hospital within 24 hours and felt "up to the task" of caring for my children at home.

-- Justine van Engen

I am truly sorry that Susan Gerhard felt like her homebirth and her midwife were not to her liking. Homebirth and midwifery care is, obviously, not for everyone. But it is a choice for 1 to 2 percent of women, despite the obstacles insurance companies throw in their way.

In my experience as a midwife as well as a childbirth educator (I've spent 12 years teaching home as well as hospital couples), women who are cared for by a homebirth attendant are much more satisfied with their prenatal care and births than those in an institutional setting. Gerhard was just one disgruntled client who did not take charge of her own situation despite warning signs all along the way.

I am a Certified Professional Midwife, and I pride myself on detecting the occasional dissatisfaction from a client; intuition is one of the "services" I provide. Had Gerhard been my client, I trust I would have been aware that this was not working and we would have explored how best to meet her needs -- including considering transferring care to a hospital-based practitioner before labor began.

-- Susan Moray

I'm desperately tired of the past three days' worth of bashing natural childbirth, homebirth and midwifery! Please. The natural childbirth movement is not full of a bunch of activist loonies who aren't looking out for their own safety or that of their unborn or about-to-be-born children. Stop trying to justify an individual choice by bashing others.

-- Stephanie Smith