Letters to the Editor

Rick ... or Red?
Could Rick Sanchez, Miami's most notorious journalistic windbag, actually be an agent of Fidel Castro?
By Robert Andrew Powell

Was It Self-loathing or Were We Just Bored?
I find it amusing that in his emphatic and quite satirical attempt to discredit Rick Sanchez ("Rick...or Red?" June 1), Robert Andrew Powell uses the tactics of none other than ... Rick Sanchez. And while pretending to vilify one whose example he follows, is he not being equally if not more disingenuous?

In this merry-go-round of life, it is the perceived but illusory movement of stationary objects that creates the illusion of same or different, better or worse. So tell me, New Times, it is your disdain for self or your boredom that caused you to strike out at something so similar? How does it feel to know that after embarking on a journey of many words, you have ended up in the same place?

Manny Losada
Miami

Idiocy + Lunacy + Paranoia = Saint Fidel
My heartfelt compliments to New Times for the spoof of Rick Sanchez, local buffoon and journalist extraordinaire. Sanchez's idiotic pandering and speculative rants indeed achieved new milestones during the Elian saga. Many "new generation" Cuban Americans like myself already were sitting in awe and abhorrence witnessing this child's tragedy, manipulated and magnified by fascists here and communists there. But watching WSVN added an additional disgusting dimension, as we were treated to an unending volley of idiocy, lunacy, and paranoid speculation by the ratings-desperate Mr. Sanchez. The question on most of our lips: How can this television station survive with a clown like this as its anchor? Where's the FCC? Don't tell me this braying hound is acting in the public interest! For God's sake, give the mongrel a milk bone and reassign him to Baghdad, Chechnya, or even Havana.

After reading Robert Andrew Powell's article, it's now obvious that there are thousands of double agents among us. This clearly explains everything that has transpired, from the indefensible and pagan efforts to separate a child from his father to the threats of violence to destruction of property to betrayal of the laws of a nation to which most of us exiles swore allegiance upon becoming citizens.

Wowee! Mr. Sanchez and the rest of the "gang that couldn't shoot straight" exile command are in fact subconscious Castro agents. Yes, now we see it. And yes, it isn't just Mariano Faget, who like Judas is after blood money. Our own Herald (both versions) did better than Izvestia in fanning flames and inciting the lumpen with shameless headlines and obscene blowups. (By the way, did the new editor ever spend any time in Moscow or Havana?)

Before "Rick...or Red?" we were dumbfounded by such conduct. But now the dynamics are clear and make absolute sense:

•Attacking the universal rights of a good father: Makes exiles look bad and Castro look good.

•Defying U.S. law, insulting the president, blocking traffic, and antagonizing the American public: Makes exiles look bad and Castro look good.

•Stifling public expressions of differing opinions via threats of violence or, better yet, by calling others communists: Makes exiles look very bad and Castro seem just shy of sainthood.

Obviously these folks, including our journalistic wonder boy, are subliminally programmed to project on cue what lies buried in their psyche. Half this herd are closet Batistianos and the other half are former Castro groupies who fell out of favor and mostly hate the man but still cling fondly to his Stalinist tactics. Just wave a flag -- any flag -- and the bull emerges from within both camps, all acting in Pavlovian concert to benefit el jefe in Havana.

Ultimately this excellent article has made many of us stand back and take a second, hard look at those faces that continuously violate the phosphor on our TV screens. The mugs on those journalists, politicians, businessmen, and dubious unemployable types speak volumes. Those expressions on the pied pipers of Hamelin, who led us like lemmings over the cliff in a suicidal betrayal of democratic principles -- they're all caricatures! The round faces, the triple chins, the Chaplinesque mustaches, the overreaching lips, the jutting jaws and the flared nostrils and head-shaking from Washington -- wow, all masks. Most, in fact, are clown masks festooned with flowers, pictures, and cellular phones grafted to their ears.

Castro's fifth column is among us all the time and called to action under cover of a media circus. No wonder Fidel took us by surprise.

Tony Perez
Pembroke Pines

If George Ruled the World
During this whole Elian period, I found the reporting on Channel 7 to be so biased that I continually switched to Channel 10, where, of course, every poll conducted by that station showed results exactly the opposite of Channel 7.

Tricky Ricky is biased, but I think the Channel 7 management should be called to task for allowing this to go on. Then again, I'm not in charge.

George Sterling
via the Internet

What Are the Chances of This Bozo Ever Learning Anything from This Story?
I really like Rick Sanchez. He's personable, has charisma, and speaks well in at least two languages. However Robert Andrew Powell's article was right on the money. I want my news programs to be objective, not biased. Rick angered this viewer several times by favoring the Cuban exiles, who were illegally holding Elian hostage. When one of the judges issued a ruling opposing the Miami Gonzalez family's wishes, Rick casually dropped this aside: "What are the chances of this judge ever getting elected in this town again?"