News

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Amtgard, Howard Stern and Infernal Bridgroom

That's Debatable

Houstoned blog readers comment on "Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Austin," by Keith Plocek, February 21.

Hope not: The "hope" being sold by Obama and his true believers is misplaced. Obama can't deliver; he can't save; he can't improve individual circumstances by redistributing wealth and talking to America's dictatorial enemies. He is selling snake oil.

What we see in Obama is a man with great rhetorical skills who is untested in battle. Many are projecting hopes on him because he makes them feel good. What commander would put a low-ranking officer in charge of all troops during wartime? We are close to making Obama our Commander in Chief with no hint of how he might perform, other than to withdraw troops from Iraq. As President, Obama might be worth the risk in peacetime, but with crafty enemies seeking to destroy us, can we afford to make what might be a fatal mistake by electing someone upon whom too many of us project ungrounded hope?

Anonymous

Boo: Funny how there was no mention of the crowd booing Hillary's immature "xerox" comment. It's pretty obvious by the tone of this coverage who this Plocek was pushing for. Forget the 11 primaries in a row Obama has gotten. The Houston Press once again shows its true colors (ahem).

People are not delusional, but they are tired of what's been going on. Hillary is Claude Rains in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

JJ McClure

Faking it: I actually like the "xerox" comment. It makes people think about how much of a fake Obama is. He could have said he was quoting a friend. No, he wanted people to think he thought of this. Obama has no substance and no words of his own. This is what people are voting for. Hopefully, Texas will be the state to stop the nonsense.

Doris

On Amtgard

Duck to director: Great story on Amtgard ["The Big Boffers," by Craig Malisow, February 21]. I was one of those first people to play in El Paso back in 1983, starting a couple of weeks after the first meeting. I loved the article, because even as someone there at the beginning and someone who had made some attempts at understanding the group's history, there was a lot I did not know until I read your article. It also makes me happy to see that Amtgard continues to do for others exactly what it helped me to do, mature from a (not to put too fine a point on it) shy, thin geek into a confident, accomplished man.

Ben Passmore, Ph.D. (a.k.a. Gilos
a.k.a. "The Purple Duck")
Director of Policy Research
and Analysis
University System of Maryland
Silver Springs, Maryland The Artist and Artie

Sex sells: So, a local artist goes on The Howard Stern Show, plays to her audience, and is practically slandered in the Houston Press for doing so ["A Stern Lesson," Hair Balls, by Richard Connelly, February 14]. 

The same Houston Press with pages upon pages of adult-oriented advertisements decides to point the finger at a local artist who does what nearly every other one of Stern's female guests does.

I would have thought the writers and editors of the Press would be more concerned with helping local artists than dishing out irrelevant "gossip" about them. You might say it was her fault for saying what she did on the air, but what did you expect her to do? Go on Stern and act like a puritan? And disappoint the entire audience, along with the hosts, just to meet your flimsy "moral standards"?

She's trying to make a living, you know. And frankly, sex sells...just look at the last ten pages of this publication.

Sergio R. Garcia
Houston Where's the Money?

Not in this lifetime: The August 2, 2007, Houston Press article "IBP vs. IRS" quoted a former IBPer as saying: "I think people know the artistic staff had nothing to do with any of this...So if we started a new organization, I don't think it would be held against us." The issue was brought up again in a recent issue ["Comeback Time," Hair Balls, by Richard Connelly, February 14].

Having paid for, at minimum, two lifetime IBP memberships (over $20,000) to help support former musical colleagues turned IBP participants in their endeavors, I can only say that this is what happens to spoiled HSPVA kids when they get into their mid-thirties and find it is far more difficult to skip out on their responsibilities and go do something more fun. 

Which "nonartistic" IBP member was in charge of finances? I've never met a "nonartistic" IBP member. Where is the Press's investigative journalism now that one of their cultural darlings is mum on where the money's gone? As a former donor, I will say there's no way in hell they will be getting a dime from me this time around. But I guess they don't care.

Name withheld by request
Houston

Correction

"Obama and Me" [by Todd Spivak, February 28] stated that Barack Obama vied to fill an open Senate seat being vacated by retiring two-term incumbent Peter Fitzgerald. In fact, Fitzgerald served just one term as a U.S. Senator.

The Houston Press regrets the error.