The Good Father?
Written by George Jochnowitz to
The New York Times, April 27, 2005.

To the Editor:
Why on earth does Thomas L. Friedman admire George H. W. Bush? Friedman writes, “No one would make a better U.N. ambassador for Bush 43 than [his father] Bush 41” (“The Best Man for the U.N.,” column, April 17). Bush 41 was guilty of silence during when Iraq’s Kurds and Shiites were being slaughtered after the First Gulf War. Bush 41 was guilty of silence when protesters were being slaughtered during the Tiananmen Massacre.

Bush 41, unfortunately, was not guilty of silence when Saddam Hussein launched SCUD missile attacks against Israel. He refused to allow Israel to respond to these unprovoked attacks. He thus confirmed Israel's pariah status, acting to perpetuate instability in the Middle East by reinforcing the view that Israel’s existence is illegitimate.

—George Jochnowitz, New York, NY

Trash Talk or Terrorism?
Written by Chas Simmons to
The Boston Globe, Sept. 23, 2006.

To the Editor:
The United Nations serves several functions, some indifferently well. One of its greater successes is the provision of a place for the representatives of weak countries to meet in purported equality with the strong. Trash-talk by men like Pres. [Hugo] Chavez [of Venezuela who called Pres. Bush the “devil” in a speech at the UN, and has more recently referred to Bush as a “political cadaver,” Editor] can provide their people with pretended payback for the humiliations that they so often receive at the hands of the Great Powers. US patriots, who seem so upset by this process, should actually be pleased at the relief of third world frustrations in so innocuous a manner—unless, of course, we prefer to have their more fanatical citizens fly jet planes into our skyscrapers.

—Chas Simmons, Cambridge, MA

Cuba, an Endless American Obsession
Written by Rubén G. Rumbaut to
the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 21, 2006.

To the Editor of the Los Angeles Times:
RE: “Cuba Is Back in the Game,” by Carol J. Williams and Tim Brown, January 21, 2006:

When Fidel Castro came to power 47 years ago this month, Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House and George Bush in grammar school. Subsequent U.S. Administrations have presided over a failed foreign policy toward Cuba largely out of pique and domestic politics.

Even in Communist Vietnam, where more than 58,000 Americans were killed, trade relations with the U.S. were normalized a mere 19 years after the war ended. While no American was ever killed in Cuba, the U.S. has foreclosed a similar opening to Cuba—even though the Cold War ended, the Berlin Wall fell, and the USSR collapsed long ago.

The latest in this vengeful vein was the Bush Administration’s decision to block Cuba’s national baseball team, the Olympic champion and arguably the world’s best, from playing in the inaugural World Baseball Classic—making a mockery of the long-planned event and earning the U.S. near-universal derision around the world.

Under pressure, and faced with the embarrassing possibility of the cancellation of the event or its move from Puerto Rico to Canada, President Bush intervened yesterday to lift the prohibition. To give his Administration a face-saving spin on its about-face, Cuba’s earnings in the WBC—which the Cuban government had said it would donate to U.S. victims of Katrina to comply with the U.S. embargo—will go instead to the WBC organizers, who in turn will make the donation so that technically no money will pass through Cuban hands.

Baseball won this political pitchers duel, reason got the winning RBI, and the Bush Administration was shut out. If the Cuban team makes it past the second round in Puerto Rico, Southern Californians will be able to see them in the semis and in the final in San Diego come March. Play ball!

—Rubén G. Rumbaut, Irvine, CA