Letters to the Editor

Therefore, for the first (and hopefully last) time in my life, I will cast a single vote for a Democratic candidate for public office. Katherine Fernandez Rundle has earned my respect and my vote.

Michael H. Boyle
Miami Shores

How Is Jerusalem Like Havana?
Both are Miami political touchstones: Only near the end of Jacob Bernstein's article about the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party ("Donkey Demise,"July 20) is there any mention of the "largely...Jewish" makeup of the county's traditional Democratic electorate. While we think nothing of labeling Hispanics by their names in Miami, the press must avoid all Semitic commonality among Grossman, Geller, Gelber, Silver, and Bloom. Demographics, however, prove that one-third of the non-Hispanic white population is affiliated with this ethnic group. The numbers in the local bar association are even greater.

Members of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation hold inordinate power in the party. The traditional litmus test in local Democratic politics has been the financial support of Israel. Investigation would prove that the big bucks in the party come from supporters of Israel and the local Bar, both heavily weighted with Jewish names. I believe this is one reason why Hispanics and gentile non-Hispanic whites avoid activism or financial support of the party of Jefferson and Jackson, although they may vote for the candidates themselves.

I strongly believe that no intelligent person need fear a "Jewish conspiracy" in local politics. But my opinion is that support of Israel by Democratic candidates is no less a requirement of Jewish voters and donors than is isolation of the Castro regime by Republican candidates seeking support from Cuban voters and activists.

Name Withheld by Request
Miami

Bravo Rodman #1
The man is an artistic genius! Brett Sokol's "Kulchur" column about Dennis Rodman ("Sex Sells," November 2) touches tangentially on the rap/hip-hop lifestyle. Frankly I like Rodman's comic-book persona. Like Charles Barkley, he doesn't pretend to be a role model, and what he does has the fascinating originality of any challenging artist. But the gangsta ethic espoused by "Big Pimpin'" and the like is poison, plain and simple.

Paul Waters
Miami Beach

Bravo Rodman #2
He boldly plays for suckers: You've got to admire Dennis Rodman's guts for his latest business venture. But if anyone is stupid enough to encourage him by paying twenty dollars per month for access to his Website, surely they deserve what they get. The same can be said of anyone who actually pays to gain access to any site, especially a porn site.

It always was obvious that adult companies would move to the Web, and why shouldn't they? As long as the people involved are consenting adults, and so are the people watching them, why should anyone care, if it doesn't hurt anyone? Me? I've got better things to spend my money on.

Now, does anyone know where I can find Brad Pitt eating a bar of chocolate while driving a Chevy?

Heather Kirby
via the Internet

Free Weekly Humbly Accepts Benediction
Solemnly vows to continue great work: I would like to tell all the New Times writers, especially Jim DeFede, that I absolutely love your paper. I wait every week for New Times to come out. Sometimes I don't agree with what is written, but I understand there are always three sides to every story: theirs, ours, and the truth.

Keep up the great work. We the people need writers like yours. And as far as this Manny Losada fellow not liking the Confederate flag -- well, it is as American as apple pie. But a communist flag is a disgrace. I fly an American and a Confederate at my home in Davie, but so do my neighbors.

God bless your newspaper and your writers and staff.

Linda Theis
DavieGreed Screed
Monster, know thyself: Kathy Glasgow's article about the labor union battle at RC Aluminum Industries ("Foiling the Union,"August 17) is a local story but part of a much larger trend. The events are reflective of the general principle that people won't do what's right unless forced to do so. That's why government must get involved in the lives of people, and why laissez-faire economics is nothing more than greed. (Are you listening George W. Bush?)

The struggle of workers to make ends meet is reflective of the growing disparity between the classes. One percent of the population in this country now holds fifty percent of the wealth. It's no wonder an average family of four can no longer afford a house, or that a good many of our children are denied health care.

Yes, what Raul Casares's RC Aluminum is doing possesses global implications. Watch the stock market all you want. It's not going to mean a thing when we see the value of the dollar plummet. Workers of the world unite? Communism? No. Labels mean nothing. Capitalism, communism, whatever. They all are simply a means to control or exploit. If we want to foil communism, we need not "foil" the labor union, but rather the monster within.

Manny Losada
Miami