In his article, Conason comes dangerously close to painting all Christians with the same brush. The religious right (or Religious Right as they would probably prefer to be called) are not Christianity, only the loudest and most attention-seeking part of it.

There are many people (myself included) who understand themselves to be disciples of Jesus Christ who also strongly disagree with the divisive and oppressive agenda of the ultra-conservatives. These "other Christians" are doctors and scientists, teachers and social workers, parents and children who work humbly and faithfully for those in need in their communities each day. They are individuals who see in the example of Christ the call to feed the hungry, to provide medical care to the sick, compassion to those who mourn and justice for the oppressed around the world.

I realize that these non-fundamentalist Christians do not provide the most interesting stories to be covered by the press. We do not ask for it either. However, we do ask that if we are to be critiqued, this critique is to be done fairly and objectively, not by simply assuming we are all no more than our very worst elements.

-- Rev. Douglas Forrester

Conason describes the effects of fundamentalism forcefully, succinctly, and sadly. Hopefully the religious right of all faiths will just make a lot of noise as they are dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. But when, oh when, will we get a presidential candidate willing to stand up to these guys? We need more voices like Conason's.

-- Joe Nathan

Descent of the Divas
BY DAMIEN CAVE
(01/10/99)

For such a good article, I am disappointed in Cave for rattling off the "fact" that gay men are statistically better educated and make more money. These "statistics" are often used against the gay community and are egregiously inaccurate. Whenever such data is presented, it is important to note that people with a better education and financial situation are not more likely to be gay, but only more comfortable revealing their sexuality to a pollster.

-- Andy Bosselman

I only wish what Cave were saying were true. He obviously has never heard a young gay man proudly announce he has never seen a Bette Davis movie, then repeat every Sigourney Weaver line in any movie (especially "Working Girl"), then launch into every "Absolutely Fabulous" episode while your face hits the table from boredom. And of course there is Sandra Bernhard.

No, there is no single person like Judy Garland. And no, I don't much personally subscribe to this cult (that is what liberation is about -- choice), but every day of my experience as a gay man tells me that this phenomenon is far from gone. Diluted maybe, by the vast choices in today's cable-ready world ("Are you a Cordy-Buffy queen or a Sandra queen?") but not over.

-- Skip J

Girlfriend, get out your VCR and watch "All About Eve" again! When Bette Davis utters her most famous line, she is ascending the staircase, not descending, as reported in "Descent of the Divas." Otherwise, a wonderful article!

-- Charles Johnston

A nother sad example of the death of divahood is that no matter how gay the author of this article was, and no matter how gay various staff editorial members of Salon might be, no one was able to spell-check Liza's oft quoted last name as "Minnelli" and not "Minelli." It's two Ls and two Ns, darling, not one. She's got Promethean talents, legendary parents, a Tony, a Best Actress Oscar and a career that stretches across five decades but still no one in the year 2000 can properly spell the woman's name.

-- Stephen Winter

The Talented Mr Greenspan
BY IAN WILLIAMS
(01/10/00)

I found your story on the Federal Reserve chairman to be a refreshing change from the usual glowing endorsement of him as a man and his policies. It's normal now to see commentators on CNBC, CNN and just about every other business show around bow deeply at everything Greenspan does, without a whit of criticism.

But please be mindful that the United States is not the only country with this problem. Here in Canada, Greenspan's counterpart, Gordon Thiessen (the governor of the Bank of Canada) enjoys a similar reverence. Although not as high-profile as Greenspan (even in Canada), investors do hang on his every "important" word, and do bet on what he might say, and what he will likely do in the near future.

And although Thiessen has not been in the job as long as Greenspan, he is following closely in the footsteps of the former governor, John Crow, who was zealously anti-inflation. He, like Greenspan, can be credited with keeping our inflation rate below 2 percent for a decade, but can also be credited with an unemployment rate of close to 10 percent that Canada endured for about as long, and which only recently has started to go down.

-- David Michael Lamb
Canada

The free market banquet in the late 20th century has shown decidedly that capitalism works! Planned economies languish at the expense of "the people," yet backwards publications cling to socialism to the bitter end. Why? Is there such a thing as fear of success?

Certainly, in the sake of fairness a pro-Greenspan article must be forthcoming. However, if Salon was letting the brilliant economy and the clear rationality of Greenspan's policies stand on their own with no comment necessary, I withdraw my objection.

Thanks for your wonderful publication, I look forward to years of Ian Williams-free reading.

-- Anthony Albini

I find one of the most pernicious aspects of media and government in Williams' unquestioning article about Alan Greenspan's fourth renomination. Rather than inform readers, you fed them a simplistic and uninformative puff piece.

This article boasts that the U.S. has "the lowest unemployment in 30 years." This does not count people who have been out of the workforce, underemployed persons and persons unemployed for so long they no longer qualify.

Also, just because people in high tech Silicon Valley are rolling in money does not mean that everyone in the country enjoys the same prosperity. How many people do not dare quit their jobs, knowing that the competition for a better job would be more fierce than the competition to fill the job they leave?

-- Steven Dunlap

Adrift in America
BY MICHAEL SHAPIRO
(12/02/99)

No one has mentioned [Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez's] mother except in terms of her noble sacrifice of giving her life to "save her boy." But no one knows her real motive. Risking a child's life in an overcrowded raft is not necessarily a noble act. Perhaps staying in Cuba with him, allowing him to know both his parents, a right to which every child is entitled, and from which he can only benefit, would have been a more noble act.

-- Name withheld

I don't understand the boy's relatives in Miami who claim to have his best interest in mind. This case is clear: a boy who has gone through a tremendous trauma should be with his closest relative, his father. Period. A great uncle?! Please! We would not allow any other country to determine our affairs in such a manner, and I imagine that Cuba is highly resentful -- with good reason. Return little Elian to his father as soon as possible!

-- Mary Lou Najera

It amazes me how Fidel Castro picks and chooses which citizens he wants returned. Exactly what system does he use to determine this? The press? Publicity? The almighty dollar? Who rescued the child? Was it Castro's government, his navy or his coast guard?

Why doesn't Castro take steps to stop his citizens from leaving his beloved Cuba by the droves in makeshift rafts, overcrowded boats and other unsafe flotillas? And why do they take the chances that they do to flee in the first place? Clearly, they would rather die than stay.

-- Janice Lanham
Gulfport, Miss.

Ally McSqueal?
BY AMY REITER
(01/10/99)

I was shocked to read that Melissa Etheridge would want David Crosby to father her children. Didn't she see VH-1's "Behind the Music"? The guy was a mess: an addiction-prone former heroin junky who dragged his "beloved" wife Jan into the depths of addiction as well. Not to mention he looks like a big freaking walrus. Anyway, what can you do?

-- David William Tucker