After reading the cover story of the Dec. 3 issue of NEWSWEEK I have this to say: “Luv-ya, Dub-ya!” Thanks for the great story letting us know more about our president and First Lady. It is much appreciated. Marilyn Kortman Wyoming, Mich.
Much of your Dec. 3 article on the Bushes sounded as if it had been written by his personal cheerleader. People should be thankful that Bush is surrounded by experienced people (Powell, Cheney and other veterans of his father’s political clan), as otherwise he would be lost. They all understand the intricacies of policymaking, which his simplistic approach apparently doesn’t take into account. I don’t think Bush is “the coach”; I think he is being coached. David Aller Quebec, Canada
It would be nice if you guys could remove the red-white-and-blue ribbons from your lapels long enough to step back and take an objective view of what’s going on at home and abroad. Apparently, the magazine that showed journalistic vision by tackling the stark reality of American foreign policy in the 1980s has abandoned all that for puff pieces on the president America tried not to elect. Tim Harrison Rocky Mount, N.C.
High-Altitude Courage
I just finished reading “The Real Story of Flight 93,” and I can honestly say that I have never been prouder of my country and my fellow Americans than I am at this moment. Under the most horrible of circumstances, the passengers on this plane decided they would not allow themselves to be used as part of a living missile. This decision was not made lightly. They took what little information they had, voted on it and acted with tremendous courage. I cannot fathom how difficult that must have been. While no one truly knows how he or she would react in a given situation until faced with it, I hope that I would behave as these passengers did. They must have been afraid to die, yet they didn’t allow their fear to paralyze them. Their sacrifice is not without meaning; their deaths were not in vain. They died to save their fellow Americans. There are no words strong enough to express my admiration and respect. My prayers will always be with these brave souls and their families. Barbara Hallett Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
I hope Osama bin Laden knows that the four hijackers on Flight 93–men who were, theoretically, trained and fully prepared to die–squabbled among themselves and seemed to panic when the moment of death was finally upon them. By contrast, the passengers aboard the doomed jet had the realization of their fate harshly thrust upon them, yet they responded with valor. The terrorist acts on September 11 have caused our nation great suffering, but they also have made us stronger. Jessica Cox Springfield, Va.
It’s Not Always Blessed to Give
stuff
Thank you so much for Anna Quindlen’s Dec. 3 column on America’s crazed consumerism. If I hear one more commercial selling something served up with patriotism, or see one more disposable plastic incarnation of our beloved flag in a store window (flags are not supposed to be rendered in any kind of disposable material), I’m likely to lose my faith that our country represents freedom, not consumerism. Thanks, Anna, for bringing home in a most insightful way the reminder that we are human beings, not humans buying. Leif Thor San Francisco, Calif.
Anna Quindlen’s excoriation of the liberated Afghans’ desire to try to accumulate some of what Quindlen already has is a beautiful example of Yuppie elitism. Edward Stephens Syracuse, N.Y.
My brother jokingly called me Scrooge when I expressed my thoughts about the consumerism of Christmas just hours before coming home to read my Dec. 3 NEWSWEEK, which included Anna Quindlen’s Last Word column. This Christmas, the gifts will be there for my family, but we will also remember that there will be thousands of families in America whose needs make ours seem insignificant. Todd Nelson West Monroe, La.
War and Remembrance
‘While His Guitar Gently Sleeps’
Unlike the numbing shock we felt when John Lennon was assassinated, there is, instead, a bittersweet ache at the passing of George Harrison. While cancer cut his time short, he accomplished so much in the lifetime he did have and, to the end, his faith and spirit were intact. The art of the music he helped to create has secured him a place in our memory, which is stirred each time we hear and each time we hum one of his captivating refrains. As long as this is so, he is alive in message and tune, the way he wanted to be, even while his own guitar gently sleeps. Norman L. Bender Woodbridge, Conn.
I never met George Harrison and always wanted to, but from listening to his music for the past 23 years, I feel as if I could almost call him a friend. Back in 1980, the year John Lennon was murdered, I was in high school, doing things I should not have been doing and wanting to drop out. Through determination and the grace of God, I was able to pull myself together and eventually finish high school and graduate from college in 1989. Through those tough times, I turned to music, namely the Beatles, and then to the solo careers of each band member. I still have all their albums and would never part with that chapter of my history. I am grateful that Harrison’s music helped me through the difficulties I had to go through to make the necessary transitions in my life. Anthony Vela Baiting Hollow, N.Y.
