Letters

Jim Sampson
Houston

Right on: I appreciate a music critic who can differentiate between real Texas music and the schmaltz put out by the record and radio companies to appeal to the lowest common denominator of musical taste. Thanks, Mike, for an honest review.

John Preston
Houston

Party Tags

Right and left:Jim Stevens's remark of the Libertarian Party as "right-wing" in the April 24 edition is horribly off the mark [Letters, "Taking Aim"].

Regarding social policies, Libertarians believe people have the ability to make their own life choices, and to bear the consequences of those choices. For women, in particular, this means reproductive freedom. Libertarians also support your right to ingest what substances you choose, and we support ending the racist, costly and ineffective war on drugs. In this regard, the LP aligns more closely with the liberals than with the conservatives.

Libertarians are not traditionalists regarding fiscal policies, either, a quality that is a centerpiece of "right-wing" or conservative thought.

More information about libertarianism is available at the national LP Web site, www.lp.org.

Monica Granger, president
College Libertarians at UH
Houston

Stop the stereotyping:Where does Jim Stevens get his information? My friends and colleagues who have participated in peace demonstrations are not at all like his idea. Rather, they are business owners, professionals, managers and retired citizens who are American all the way. They are disturbed by the timing and the purported purpose of the made-for-TV war, where truth was the first victim.

We had been led to believe that our troops would be gassed, that they would find huge caches of horrible weapons, that soldiers would be met with open arms by a grateful Arab citizenry, that democracy would spring up from the remnants of the invasion.

Some of our top officials feel they are absolutely right, even being sent by God to carry out a mission. As for guns, Mr. Stevens has a safe Anglo name, but pity the owner with a "foreign" name or associations or one who encounters a Justice Department zealot -- that gun and freedom can vanish.

Let's stop the 1960s stereotyping and paranoia. We should focus on taking care of our own people and their needs first. It is vital that we watch for manipulations and changing "truths" that serve a secret agenda. Democracy relies on accurate information and intelligent use of it by the citizens. Sharing different opinions is just one step.

Name withheld by request
Houston