Do I hear three?
I read with great interest the article, "One cheer for Obama" (Aug. 18), and I have to respectfully disagree with Jack Lessenberry.
I say two cheers for Obama.
The worst thing President Obama could have done was cater to the wishes of U.S. Republican Sens. Richard Shelby of Alabama, Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Bob Corker of Tennessee, and do nothing to stop General Motors and Chrysler from totally collapsing and going out of business.
Had Obama done nothing, there would have been a cataclysmic economic tsunami of epic proportions, which would have broken the backbone of the country and the middle class. There would have been far more casualties than what has been. This would definitely have led to a second Great Depression, which this country wouldn't recover from for a long time, as it is now doing.
So, I say, hip, hip hooray, hip, hip hooray to President Obama. —Thomas A. Wilson Jr., Detroit
Attitude adjustment
I wish to take issue with Ben Higgins' views on Jack Lessenberry ("Shitty attitude," Letters to the Editor, Aug. 18).
I have been reading Jack's columns since I moved to Michigan in 1992. They are always insightful, enlightening and well-informed, even if they (very) occasionally express views with which I disagree. I consider his Politics & Prejudices column one of the highlights of my week. I put him at the top of the political writers in the state and among the best in the nation.
Metro Times should be, and no doubt is, immune to the grousing of some readers. I am sure that any decent newspaper would be proud to have someone of Jack's caliber writing for them. —Michael Paul Goldenberg, Ann Arbor
What's going on?
In his column "DPD soap opera" (Aug. 18), Larry Gabriel hit a sore spot. Detroit is still reeling over the Kilpatrick-Beatty text message scandal and the Tamara Greene shooting, as well as rumors of the Manoogian Mansion party. Now here's Evans and company stirring up a nasty storm of controversy with their text messages.
The Detroit Police Department is supposed to be one of the best-trained, best-equipped police departments in the country. Other cities from around the world and around the country send their police to train here with ours.
Now that this is blowing up, I know other cities must be taking long, hard, deep, probing looks at our police force.
When the Justice Department investigates a major American city's police force, that tells you a lot. We're under a lot of scrutiny already, especially after that little girl was hit after cops went charging in, throwing a flash-bang grenade and shooting.
It's enough to make us Detroiters wonder, "What's going on at our Police Department headquarters? Are they doing their jobs or wanking off?" —Maurice Shippings, Detroit
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