Jan/Feb 2005

e c l e c t i c a
s a l o n

Salon


(These are excerpts—click on the title to view the whole piece!)

Lessons Learned

I'm of the school of thought that electing one's political leaders should be informed not by primary colors, branding, and hackneyed campaign slogans, but by a reasoned survey of the issues and the opposing candidates' stances on them. If people's votes can be influenced by a critical mass of bumper stickers and lawn signs, then I'd rather they just skipped the trip to the voting booth and watched re-runs of Trading Spouses.

Tom Dooley

 

Useless Courage

The culture of that hospital is, alas, insane. Their clientele has been damaged by warfare. The halls are full of men in wheelchairs, on crutches, with empty sleeves or empty eyesockets, all souvenirs of war. You might think that war would be a dirty word in those clinics. But it is not.

Paul J. Sampson