Letters to the Editor

Shocking development

So your Reader's Picks categories included the best of every sports team except the Detroit Shock, a team with two WNBA championships, and the only place a Shock player showed up was under "Best ass on a local pro athlete."

I am deeply disappointed. I really expected more from a newspaper that employs Jack Lessenberry. —Joni Hubred-Golden, Farmington

Jack Lessenberry reached a new low in his continuing criticism of Governor Granholm in his Oct. 11 column ("Our future with Dick & Jen," Metro Times): "Indeed, it is hard to know what she stands for," and that we have needed "a progressive governor who would draw a line in the sand, tell the people what her priorities were and throw down a challenge to the GOP-controlled Legislature."

He does note that the governor drew a line in the sand around naming replacement revenue when the Single Business Tax was eliminated, only to be shot down by the Brooks Patterson end run — an initiative that allowed a willing GOP Legislature to eliminate the SBT and its $2 billion in revenue — thereby putting all state services and individual taxpayers at risk — and declare that their plans will be made clear after the election.

If Lessenberry were a disabled person or elderly and in a nursing home or a working poor parent, he might know about the governor's line in the sand around maintaining Medicaid for the most vulnerable citizens of Michigan.

And how about the governor's line in the sand around reproductive rights for women when their health and lives are at risk?

If Lessenberry wants a civil, intelligent discourse on the real issues, as his column suggests, he needs to draw a line in the sand around his unhelpful, gratuitous comments on the values of our sitting governor. —Beverley McDonald, Southfield

Referencing Jack's comment, "So why don't the Democrats make their own Pledge to America? How about a Pledge to America that they will put us and our jobs first ...?"

Simply put, they won't — because the Democrats are just as bad as the Republicans. Both parties have forgotten long ago that their job is to support us, the citizens. They're much more concerned about their own agendas and their fight for power. —Jonathon Kecskes, St. Clair Shores

I found Curt Guyette's story about Dick DeVos very interesting ("You don't know Dick," Metro Times, Oct. 4). There are so many things I didn't know about Dick, even though I thought I had him down pat. Clearly, things are much more extreme with him than most people know. Where have the media been? Thank you for taking this to task.

I think this article was vital to the election, and more should be exposed about political candidates, especially the ones determined to drive our country into a state similar to 1920s Italy or 1930s Germany. —Mike Welchans, Detroit

I was reading Metro Times' Letters to the Editor page in the Oct. 18 issue and I came across a letter by one Steve Sutton from Farmington Hills entitled "Ironic praise," in which Mr. Sutton defends the right-wing background of Mr. DeVos. I have one question for Mr. Sutton: If these things in Mr. DeVos' history are not a problem, why is he trying his best to hide them from voters? What I see in Mr. Sutton's letter is nothing but right-wing talking points, for example, when he talks about the voucher program which Dick and Betsy DeVos championed. I have to remind Mr. Sutton it was defeated when it was up to the voters in Michigan a couple elections ago.

Public education may not be perfect, but you can't fix the problem by bleeding it and giving the funds to charter schools; their record of producing better students is, at best, questionable. As for the two think tanks Mr. Sutton mentions, the Acton Institute and Mackinac Center, both promote the idea of outsourcing — and isn't Dick DeVos' entire campaign based on the lack of jobs in the state? Finally, the low taxes remark: for whom? Does Mr. Sutton mean low taxes people of lower-to-middle-class status or low taxes for Mr. DeVos' circle of billion-dollar buddies? I suspect low taxes for the billionaire because I know how hard it is for billionaires out there. —John Conner, Detroit

I just had to let you know how awesome I think your new column, "Motor City Rides & Cribs," is, and how important items like this are for our city's emotional health. Because Detroit still refuses to capitalize on its own culture, it takes the local, national and international media to remain dedicated to this cause, and I applaud Metro Times for "keeping it real." It is about time someone began publicizing the mad style sported by so many taste-making and creative Detroiters, not to mention reminding people that Detroit, to this day, still kicks more jams out of humble basements in the hood than arguably any other city on the planet!

Working in the music industry for the past five years or so has taught me where Detroit's place is in the grand scheme of the history and future of music, and it is truly, truly shameful what outlets and tributes we do not have in our own home — that is, except for things like this column.

Unfortunately, it seems as thought it will be years before the bureaucrats in this city admit that the economy of culture would sustain this wildly diverse and creative city, if they would just let it. Until then, we will simply remain the No. 1 Exporters of Talent in world. —Jocelyne M. Ninneman, New Orleans, La.

Errata: In last week's issue (Oct. 18) Metro Times staff selected Frank Lloyd Wright's Cooperative Homesteads, a subdivision in Madison Heights, as Best Architectural Guessing Game. Unfortunately, we have since learned that Wright's Cooperative Homesteads neighborhood was torn down in the summer of 2001 to make room for a Meijer Thrifty Acres and the subdivision Pine Ridge Estates. Also, an item about local historians in the same issue misidentified a local film expert. His name is James E. Wheeler.