Readers feedback 12.22.04

THREE CHEERS FOR BURR!

The Democrats lose so gracefully, they act like they are in
love with Bush.

            The Clinton
Library love-in was bipartisanship at its worst. They are all buddies. American
history is full of examples of real fights for democracy and justice. Aaron
Burr and Alexander Hamilton had a duel back in 1811, based on their mutual
dislike. They were on opposite sides of the political spectrum back then and
Burr shot the bastard who authored two-thirds of the federalist papers and
advocated a political system of aristocratic fascism. The Bush gang is still
trying to undo the New Deal, which staved off revolutionary change in this
country.

            While the
people of the republic of Georgia storm the parliament and force the government
to recount a fraudulent election and eventually resign, and the same is
developing in the Ukraine, the American people are back asleep watching TV,
eating fast food garbage, and working 12 hour days while Bush and friends steal
all the money at Enron, Global Crossing, Halliburton, and Wal-Mart, steal
elections, and steal our children to use for cannon fodder in Iraq.

            Couldn’t
they at least slap him in the face? Three cheers for Aaron Burr.

            Bill McCoy, Magee Avenue, Rochester

‘—ING MISSED’

It is difficult to write a review critical of an icon, and
Herbert Simpson’s dance review fails to do so, although it damns with an absence
of praise (“Dance a New Dance,” December 8). Garth Fagan’s newest creation,
“—ing”, is the first number I have seen of his that simply does not
work. Simpson’s review is descriptive of the dancing, but he avoids comment on
the quality of the work, summing it up by saying, “Brahms would be amazed
but probably pleased.”

            In this
number, Fagan applies his amazing dance vocabulary to a masterpiece of
classical music, the Brahms clarinet quintet. The music has a structure of its
own, mostly beautifully lyrical, with the haunting primary melody of the first
movement woven into a wonderful theme and variations in the final movement. The
music opens up all kinds of possibilities for dance using the structure of the
quintet, but unfortunately, none of these possibilities is fulfilled.

            The
movement of bodies to music which we call dance traditionally uses the music to
inform and inspire the motions of the dancers. Fagan has invented wonderful
choreography to great music — the other numbers in his current repertoire
show how well he is able to put movement to music. In “—ing” there
is a disconnect between the music and the dance, so that either might stand
alone, but the combination is jarring, with, for example, nervous and jerky
movements at the times when the music is the most sensuous.

            If this
were a part of the whole, it could be seen as ironic or purposeful contrast,
but the entire piece fails to connect the music with the dancing. At the end,
one is left wishing for the integration that is not there, as the fantastic
motions of the dancers and the beauty of the music clash in the memory.

            Fagan is
our local treasure, but even he can’t get it perfect every time.

            Victor A. Poleshuck, Council Rock Avenue, Brighton

            Herbert Simpson’s response: “What a
perceptive independent response! I’d be pleased to think that our paper has a
number of other readers this thoughtful and articulate.”

THE ANNAN RECORD

The four top blunders by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan:

            1) His
denial of the request by UN peacekeepers in Rwanda for permission to seize the
weapons being accumulated by the Hutus for their massacre of a million Tutsis.

            2) His
staging of a vote on independence in East Timor, which set off a blood bath
there.

            3) His
lip-service threats to the Sudanese government to disarm the Arab Janjaweed
militias that are murdering and displacing thousands of individuals in Darfur
or face UN action.

            4) His
apparent admitted cluelessness about his son Kojo’s involvement in the Oil for
Food scandal.

            This
international diplomat’s woeful humanitarian record reaches the heights of
underachievement, redefines it, and speaks volumes of ineptitude. While
countries like China, France, Russia, and Germany sing Mr. Annan’s praises for
his effective leadership, this plastic smiling and foot-shuffling bureaucrat
disgraces the UN’s mission with his titanic incompetence.

            If Annan
led a US company with an $880 billion budget, he’d be booted out on his keester
in a New York minute. However, if there were a higher position in this august
organization, this bungling international multi-billion-dollar US-tax-siphoning
organization would promote him.

            Resignation
would be the right thing for Annan to do, but he seems to be lacking shame and
a convicting conscience. Remember how hard it was to oust Boutros Boutros-Gali?

            Oliver Glover, Rochester

WRITING TO CITY

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This article appears in Dec 22-28, 2004.