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Stakes
on a Train To the Editor:
I
don’t think that Darryl McGrath considered the threat of further
attacks on the United States that’s been voiced by Al-Qaeda,
the commuter trains that have been blown up in Spain, the
uncovered plot to blow up the tunnels in New York City [“Strangers
on a Train,” July 27]. Nor has she considered the destroyed
lives of the families of the 3,000 victims of the World Trade
Center attacks or the 20,000 American soldiers killed and
wounded in Iraq or the 100 people a day that are being killed
by insurgent terrorists on the streets of Baghdad. All she
has done is to create a piece of journalistic trash that belongs
in the Enquirer.
President Bush did promise to increase border security on
the northern border and it seems that, if anything, the job
that the Border Patrol is trying to do with the handful of
agents that are putting their lives at risk searching for
foreign agents on Amtrak trains deserves praise rather than
condemnation. Unfortunately there aren’t enough Border Patrol
agents available to inspect people who board trains at every
whistle stop along the border. Having to go through an inspection
in the Atlanta airport, which is further inland than Rochester
or Buffalo, would appear wasteful, but we gripe and we do
it. I feel sure that if an Amtrak train traveling the northern
border is attacked, Ms. McGrath would come down on the Border
Patrol for not doing their job.
Certainly it’s inconvenient to the Amtrak passengers, it’s
also inconvenient to have to remove our shoes during an inspection
at the Rochester Airport. However if somebody who is supposed
to have a green card doesn’t have one, he is in violation
of the law. If he happens to have the appearance of a mid-easterner,
it’s unfortunate. Has Ms. McGrath bothered to look into the
arrests that have been made by the Border Patrol agents as
a result of their searches, and determined that they were
wrongful? Probably not.
The nation is under a severe threat that’s being downplayed
by our government to avoid panic. It would seem that the people
that are benefiting from the protection that the Border Patrol
is providing have every reason to be thankful and that the
negative viewpoints expressed by the politicians that were
interviewed by Ms. McGrath are just more of the useless dribble
expressed by politicians who will say practically anything
that will get their names into print.
Bernard
Kantor
Melbourne, Fla.
Memories
To
the Editor:
Perhaps
Mr. Clinton made the mistake of calling Ms. Goodman more than
once, but the conversation I heard between them was signficantly
different in character than what Stephen Leon recalls [“The
Politician,” Comment, July 27]. My heroine and the only newscaster
I listen to, was somewhat nonplussed initially, and Mr. Bill
played the “I Am The President” card when she did fail to
kowtow to him. The biggest issue and disappointment I had
with the reporter was when she failed to challenge him on
his statement that Saddam had $17 billion in oil money to
use as he saw fit to help his people. I knew at that point,
as did everyone else listening, that that money was controlled
through the U.N. by, guess who?
The fact that this conversation was and is unique in our politics
as versus the British yelling-and-screaming interchanges between
Blair and MOPs is probably the most telling aspect of the
whole episode.
I await the day the current jerk is closeted with Ms. Goodman
and an open mic.
Dave
Smalley
Glen
Nit
Pickin’
To
the Editor:
It
appears that Anna Hendrick may be guilty of self pity [Letters,
July 27]. (“I pity the fool who mixes up his poetry meters.”)
Although Cheeky Tiki Monkey is indeed trochaic, its six syllables
(three metric feet) make it trochaic trimeter rather than
hexameter as stated by Ms. Hendrick. I neither pity Ms. Hendrick
nor think she’s a fool.
Fred
Heitkamp
Schenectady
Museum
Worthy
To
the Editor:
The
Clark is flattered and honored to be named best museum [Best
of the Capital Region, July 20] by the editors of Metroland.
It is gratifying for our entire hard-working staff from the
curators, education, and events staff who create the outstanding
exhibits and programs to the communications folks get to crow
about all that the Clark is and does.
Thank you for recognizing our efforts.
Sally
Morse Majewski
Manager of Public Relations and Marketing Sterling and Francine
Clark Art Institute
Williamstown, Mass
Correction
The
photograph of Ani DiFranco in our July 27 issue (“A Righteous
Homecoming,” Newsfront) was uncredited. The photographer was
Alicia Solsman.
Metroland
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