Mash Notes, Hate Mail & Other Correspondence

“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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To the Editor: Let’s say a non-commissioned officer leads a squad of men. The NCO says to them, “You are all equal and will be treated equally.” They all run the same obstacle course, eat the same food and are dismissed together at the end of each day. One day the NCO needs one soldier to do something that is considered desirable. The NCO picks one soldier by some truly random method known to all and sends that soldier off to do it. The NCO had to pick one, did not in any way play favorites, and has made clear a policy of equality, but …

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To the Editor: It has been 100 days of the Biden Administration and to date five Constitutional protections are being attempted to be destroyed [sic] with impunity by Democrats in total disrespect to the people of the United States. They are: States rights to control their elections, freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, the District of Columbia as the seat of federal government to be a State, and separation of the Judiciary, the Executive and the Legislative branches and each their power of influence. [Deleted: 814 poorly chosen words, assembled into an incoherent argument, apparently intended to support the anti-democratic agenda of Donald …

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Sanders calls on President Biden to back negotiations with pharmaceutical companies to lower the outrageous price of prescription drugs in American Families Plan. WASHINGTON, April 28th—Ahead of President Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress and as his administration considers policies to lower drug prices, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Wednesday released a report commissioned by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) finding that the U.S. pays more than two to four times higher prices for a selected sample of 20 single source, brand name drugs than Australia, Canada, and France. The result is that Americans suffering from blood clots, bronchitis, emphysema, and Hepatitis …

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