Dolls and Fat People Are the Real Problem

In the “All In Her Head” article on anorexia [Weekly, Jan. 20-26], Jessica Lyons stated, “7 million women and one million men are sick with an eating disorder.” That is nothing compared to over half of America being obese. We aren’t talking imperfection here. These people’s lives are at risk. Some have a compulsive eating disorder, which by the way is an eating disorder. Even though it may not be the “popular” disorder to write about. It is often included in the eating disorder polls very much like the one quoted. I found the “We Are Not Barbie,” article by Brett Wilbur [Jan. 20-26] bordering on narrow-minded and discriminating. At a certain age it isn’t normal when a person dwells too intensely on their old Barbie dolls. Is it now a misdemeanor to be thin? It is considered rude to comment on someone for being heavy, but when it comes to thin people, no one seems to have a problem speaking their mind.
—Tara Marie Lucido | Carmel

The Clintons Did Us Right; Keep Your Eye on the Flag

Two of your letters in the Jan. 27-Feb. 2 issue deserve a response. Charlotte Aloia calls the Clintons “hippies and yuppies” and asks, “In the eight years that Clinton and the Democrats had the power, what did they do?” Apparently Ms. Aloia needs to be a reminded that the Clinton presidency gave us a budget surplus, peace, prosperity, and the respect of the rest of the world, the opposite of what we have with the current Republican president. The second letter writer, Ryan Spriestersbach, believes the upside-down American flag he observed at an anti-war protest in Monterey is the equivalent of spitting on our freedom and represents a “disrespect of the American people.” If Mr. Spriestersbach had bothered to talk to the demonstrators, he might have learned that an upside-down flag has long represented a signal of distress. Many Americans feel that our country has caused the needless death of tens of thousands with an unprovoked and unnecessary war based on false pretenses. They surely have reason to feel our country is in distress. An upside-down flag is the kind of free expression guaranteed in the first amendment of our Bill of Rights. To condemn such expression is in reality disrespectful to the many Americans who have sacrificed their lives for the freedoms we enjoy. —Arlen Grossman | Del Rey Oaks

America Is a Glass House

In Ryan Spriestersbach’s view [Letters, Jan. 27-Feb. 2], our flag symbolizes freedom and the American people and shouldn’t be displayed upside-down. But doing so is a distress signal, not a sign of disrespect. America is in trouble and has been for some time, not because of Arab terrorists; rather, because we are a terrifying nation.

Terror is in the eye of the terrorized. Those causing it always justify their actions to the consenting patriots. Americans are loath to see that Africans and Indians were just the beginning. We invaded Mexico, slaughtered Filipinos, undermined democracies and supported horrifying dictatorships. The Vietnamese know American terror well, as do Cambodians, Libyans, Nicaraguans and Panamanians. This partial account brings me to Iraq, whose people suffered while we supported Hussein and then felt the horror of two US invasions with unbearable sanctions in between.

Our leaders lie, yet we don’t comprehend. It’s oil, money, power; it is never what they say. Unless we change our ways, we’re bound to suffer the terrorism of others again. —Philip Schafer | Monterey