Is Gay a Choice
I want to thank John J. Smid for raising some important questions in the recent “Letters to the Editor” (March 29th issue). Is there conclusive scientific evidence of a biological cause of homosexuality? Can people who are gay choose to be straight, and can straight people easily choose to be gay?
I find it hard to believe that people choose to be heterosexual, homosexual, or even bisexual. It would be difficult to get a heterosexual man to voluntarily spend a lot of time, energy, and money seeking out sexual encounters or long-term intimate relationships with another man to the level that this same heterosexual man seeks out the same thing with a woman. Bisexuals may choose to live a heterosexual lifestyle because it is easier in our society; however, I doubt heterosexuals and homosexuals can flick that switch so easily — if at all.
Jason Grosser
Cordova
The Iraq Pullout
It appears that alliances are forming on the prospect of the pullout of U.S. troops in Iraq. President Bush’s authority is being undermined by legislators such as Senator Hagel (Letter from the Editor, March 29th issue). Hagel’s comments reveal not the low point of the executive branch but the continued incompetence, lack of integrity, and lack of intelligence of the legislative branch.
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has decided to not attend an April event in Washington D.C., likely because he wants to distance himself from Bush, pending a United States pullout in Iraq forced by the unconscionable and partisan acts of the House and Senate.
The U.S. pulling out of Iraq could be a real mess for the entire world. There are millions of Islamic extremists around the globe. With the U.S. out and the conflict in the Middle East in the hands of sects that want to either control (or “cleanse”) each other, these jihadists will be free to continue the attacks they have been distracted from since 9/11.
Earl Barnett
Speedwell, Tennessee
Walter Reed
The firing of two Walter Reed Army Hospital generals and the deliberate misinformation advanced by Army officers (including four generals) concerning Pat Tillman’s death remind me of the assertion by H.G. Wells: “The professional military mind is by necessity an inferior and unimaginative mind; no man of high intellectual quality would willingly imprison his gifts in such a calling.”
James A. Easter
Memphis
The Fall of Republicans
After the presidential election of 2004, I was not happy with the results. However, part of me kept telling me that it was a good thing. Now I know why. The Bush administration has fallen so far that now the future of the Republican Party is in jeopardy.
You could see, in the election of 2006, Republicans scrubbing the word “Republican” from their Web sites and campaign literature because they saw then that Republican was becoming a dirty word in the eyes of the electorate. Now, as we move on to the election of 2008, Republicans are trying to find more and more ways to preserve their political careers from the disaster that is George W. Bush.
The Karl Rove belief that Republicans would be a permanent majority in this country has vanished. Their politics of pitting American against American, taking the side of lobbyists over that of the American people, and the disaster of the Iraq war will continue to destroy all trust in the GOP.
The way Bush is going, by 2008, even the South won’t be a stronghold.
Aaron Prather
Cordova
Guns and Progressives
Senator Jim Webb of Virginia says people in his position should be allowed to carry weapons to protect themselves. The translation: “I get to and you don’t.” Rosie O’Donnell gives a nationally broadcast speech saying people who own guns should be thrown in jail. Then we find out that she filed papers that allow her bodyguard to carry a loaded weapon.
It would seem that these “progressives” have more than one thing in common: hypocrisy and a lack of common sense.
Frank Boone
Memphis
Editor’s note: In last week’s Flyer, we neglected to credit Flyer reader Joe Mercer for his photograph of I-240 that was used in “Fly on the Wall.” And in Living Spaces, the photo of the CityHouse interior was courtesy of Diane Gordon of See the Difference Interiors.