Mash Notes, Hate Mail & Other Correspondence

Dear Editor: Mother’s Day. I read a lot of science fiction. It has come a long way from space monsters to political commentary. Human beings are diverse. We have an odd sex life, compared to other species of mammals. We can get pregnant any month in the three decades we are fecund. It used to be shameful for a woman to not be pregnant after her first menses. That may seem like ancient history, but the nagging from would-be grandparents shows it is not. When I was raised, and schooled, in the Catholic faith, I remember Pope John XXIII, who was in office when I …

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To the Editor: Gonzalo Boye is the lawyer for the President of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, and members of his government, who, in 2017, accompanied him to Belgium after holding a referendum on Catalan independence. They went into exile in Belgium because they saw that the Spanish justice system would condemn them even though organising referendums is not a crime in the Spanish penal code. This is exactly how it turned out, because the Spanish justice system sentenced the members of Puigdemont’s government who stayed in Catalonia to between nine and 13 years in prison. Thanks to the work of lawyer Gonzalo Boye and the international …

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To the Editor: President Biden has consistently promoted bipartisan support for legislation that would help solve America’s pressing problems. This is a laudable aspiration and necessary to overcome the dreary legislative deadlock that has hamstrung public policy. Bipartisan solutions, however, require two parties that share a vision of the common good and participate in reasoned analysis to achieve compromise solutions. It is questionable whether these elements exist in the political discourse of the Trump era. The greatest impediment to bipartisanship is the Trump-dominated Republican Party. It has degenerated into tribal loyalty to Trump and has become solely focused on the preservation of its power. It …

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“You can get a lot done with a bayonet, but sitting on one is uncomfortable”– from Secondhand Time, Svetlana Alexievich I. Things you can do with a bayonet Kill people. Persuade people to do things they don’t want to do by threatening to kill them. Control unruly crowds by threatening to kill them. Control peaceful crowds by threatening to kill them. Control your wife by threatening to kill her. Rob a bank or convenience store by threatening to kill the clerk. Wave it in the air on your front porch or in your backyard to demonstrate your manliness. Eat peas with it (this one’s challenging). …

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Dear Editor, There is no safe place in Palestine. It has no army and is occupied by Israel, a country with one of the largest militaries in the world with tanks, jets, drones, guided missiles, assorted weaponry, and over 200 nuclear bombs, plus an extensive surveillance system. Israel’s military might is largely funded by the U.S.A. As a result of our largesse, Gaza—all 12 by 7.5 miles of it—is an open-air prison, housing over two million souls. It is one of the densest places on the planet. Is it any wonder they have a very active Resistance movement? Isn’t it time to send in UN …

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To the editor: If I were teaching a civics class, I would ask students to consider what was at stake on January 6th, when protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol. An investigation is underway, with one guilty plea thus far. We would review the First Amendment right to “peaceably assemble” and ask for redress of grievances. Noting that some states are passing laws to ban protests (and even give immunity to people who drive vehicles into protesters), I would ask students to compare protests against racist police brutality to the event of January 6th, in terms of purpose and in terms of violence. I would make …

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