DISSENTING ADULTS

Speaking out on free speech; fools on the Hill; and more

LETTERS

Until I read Leslie Bennetts’s courageous account of how dissent is being so blatantly suppressed in the U.S. [“One Nation, One Mind?,” December], I had believed that the recent charges against a friend’s son who is studying at Yale were a result of racial profiling, since he is brown and bearded. He was detained and charged for attending a student peace rally against the U.S. military actions in Afghanistan, organized by a 61-year-old Vietnam War veteran in Hartford.

Her article provided a most disturbing insight into the growing phenomenon in which one of the basic decencies of American life, the freedom of speech, is endangered. The American media and government will ill serve their long-term interests if, in trying to cope with their insecurities, they allow freedom of expression to be degraded. As Bennetts points out, if dissent, discussion, and analysis are stifled, “the result will be an isolated and ill-informed American populace” who will continue to wonder, “Why do they hate us?”

SURESH PAL SINGH BHALLA Toronto, Ontario

THERE’S NOTHING unacceptable about the comments made by Bill Maher, Susan Sontag, Katha Pollitt, or Ann Coulter. But Leslie Bennetts fails to mention that their comments were put into the marketplace of ideas and the vast majority of Americans rejected them. Who is Bennetts to decide we’ve lost the right to question the remarks of public figures? She later goes on to editorialize, “Americans like a simple story line that makes it easy to decide who the good guys are and the bad guys are.” Oh really? I think Americans like the facts so that they can make their own decisions, not some diatribe against censorship that actually promotes it.

MICHAEL T. JARVIS Los Angeles, California

THE CURRENT ATMOSPHERE of rahrah jingoism is providing a cover for a sinister trend that has been emerging since the new administration took power. Our government has been given carte blanche to excavate our wilderness areas, proceed with the development of military boondoggles, and trample the rights of human beings at home and abroad, all to the tune of “Remember 9/11.” I have been put on the defensive several times for not draping myself in red-white-and-blue regalia. Rather than show my patriotism by waving the Stars and Stripes, I prefer to practice it by defending the rights of those who choose not to pay allegiance to any earthly flag. Unfortunately, this puts me in the ranks of the silenced minority.

MARY SMYTHE Nashville, Tennessee

COVER TO COVER, the December issue was the finest single issue of any publication I've read in recent memory. The investigative reporting was timely and engrossing, and the quality of the writing was all I've come to expect from Vanity Fair. You both educated and entertained your readers, not an easy task under the circumstances.

MIKE VAN WINKLE Ridgefield, Connecticut

WHAT IS MASQUERADING as the trampling of “free speech” is the disappointment certain intellectuals and celebrities are feeling after learning that their opinions count less with the American public than they expected.

It is evident that no one has suppressed Susan Sontag, Bill Maher, Katha Pollitt, et al. in the very fact that they continue to prattle on ad nauseam. They are upset that most Americans, at this time, clearly do not want to listen to what they have to say. There simply must be a government conspiracy to silence their views because the hoi polloi are not as attentive as they used to be.

PAUL BOYKAS Wood Ridge, New Jersey

SEXUAL POLITICS

I AM A LITTLE DISHEARTENED that Mike Rogers’s (R-Mich.) constituent tax dollars were paying the salary of a congressional aide brainless enough to publicly thumb her nose at the workings of Congress and freely admit to forging Rogers’s signature on letters to constituents [“Meanwhile, Back on Capitol Hill ... ,” by Vicky Ward, December], Diana Davis must be pretty stupid if she did not recognize the sheer irony of her own words when she said, “The epitome of unprofessionalism on the Hill is speaking your own mind. bu’re out there to represent your congressman and that’s it.”

AMAYA LIN New York, New York

THE ANTICS OF the children pretending to be power brokers would be comical if they weren’t so damaging to the reputation of Congress and the thousands who work here. Your readers should know that even if Diana Davis hadn’t hung herself professionally she wouldn’t have gone far by simply collecting business cards, sleeping around, trolling for congressmen, and hoping to “bag me a senator.” She’s a joke, and most certainly does not represent the path to professional power on Capitol Hill.

While Capitol Hill has its share of sleazy men and women—just like any profession—the vast majority of young women who come here to work are smart, dedicated, and, yes, ambitious. Those who succeed do not follow the path of the women portrayed in your article; rather, they put in long hours, learn their issues, and are recognized by congressmen and congresswomen for their talents, not their “fake ’n’ bake” tans.

ALIXANDRIA WADE Congressional staffer Washington, D.C.

LEAVING NORMAL

JAMES WOLCOTT’S “Over, Under, Sideways, Down” [December] was one of the most needed perspectives I’ve heard since September 11. I’ve been desperate for a convincing, nuanced assessment of what direction the country’s relationship to frivolity is going in, only to find newspaper articles asking the same narcissistic question: Are we back to normal yet? Although I’d like to think Laura Bush is correct in saying that the era of self-indulgence is over, that seems overly simplistic. Media proclamations that the culture is feeling at ease again haven’t been sitting right, either. To me, Wolcott clearly voiced the hidden chaos that lies behind the guise of normalcy.

WENDY HALL Los Angeles, California

WINGS OF COURAGE

WITH REVERENCE I cut out the photograph in your magazine of Mark Bingham, who, along with the other passengers and crew members, was responsible for diverting United Flight 93 away from its intended target in D.C. [“Manifest Courage,” by Bryan Burrough, December], My son works across the street from the Capitol. I framed this small picture and put it on my kitchen wall. Every day I nod my head to it, smile, and give good thoughts of thanks to Mr. Bingham.

ELSIN ANN PERRY Knoxville, Tennessee

IRONY-FISTED

MR. GRAYDON CARTER, irony is not dead, though I too thought it was dead two times in recent history. First, with the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City. Second, with the World Trade Center and Pentagon terrorist attacks in September.

Your December issue was so terrific I intend to save it for my young sons. I truly appreciate its investigative articles: “Terrorism’s Dark Master,” Peter Bergen’s enlightening excerpt about Osama bin Laden; Janine di Giovanni’s “A Place at the End of the World,” a psychological study of the Afghan people; “Manifest Courage,” about the bravery of average Americans who found themselves in horrific circumstances and rose to the occasion—they are my heroes; “Stealth Warriors,” Rich Cohen’s history of Israel’s special forces and look at how we might meet the future.

As for “Meanwhile, Back on Capitol Hill ... ,” note to Diana: Your comments about Chandra Levy reveal you to be the ignorant person you are, and they will haunt you. Furthermore, you disgrace true conservatives, which you claim to be.

“Emily Post’s Social Revolution” [by Laura Jacobs]—yo, Diana, you should read Ms. Post’s manners book, as we all should. “Patriot Dreams”—even thinking conservatives love Christopher Hitchens. I hope he becomes a U.S. citizen, if that’s what he really wants. Dominick Dunne is a class act. I can only hope that I never have occasion to provide information to help him on one of his investigations. But if I do, I will.

Thank you, Vanity Fair, for your balance, curiosity, and, yes, irony.

JANE WALKER Edmond, Oklahoma

CORRECTION: “Meanwhile, Back, on Capitol Hill..." contained a mistaken identification: Senator George Allen (R-Va.) was not in conversation with a Senate Appropriations Committee staffer at the Capital Grille as described on page 322. Also, Representative Anthony D. Weiner (D-N.Y.) did not invite congressional staff assistant Diana Davis to his office: his E-mail simply says, “Apologies like yours are best offered in person. (Don’t worry. No singing will be required.) I may have to offer you one of my own. I, uh, don’t actually sell auto parts at all. I just say that to impress strangers. Clearly it didn’t work..”

Letters to the editor should be sent electronically with the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone number to letters@vf.com. Letters to the editor will also be accepted via fax at 212-286-4324. All requests for back issues should be sent to FAIR@neodata.com. All other queries should be sent to vfmail@vf.com. The magazine reserves the right to edit submissions, which may be published or otherwise used in any medium. All submissions become the property of Vanity Fair.