By MODERN TIMES BY LLOYD GARVER
It’s that time again for me to shut up and to allow the readers to talk. Below are some of the responses I’ve gotten to recent columns: In my column on EAVESDROPPING, I discussed the administration’s policy of wiretapping without getting the proper warrants: TOM: I think you have the situation all wrong. I realize that many people hate the president, probably you included, but to be against the president who is doing a good job of protecting the people of the United States is ludicrous... if an attack can be prevented by listening to my phone calls, then so be it.”
LINDA: I am troubled by the fact that those who are defending the president’s powers... are OK with the fact of the law against domestic wiretapping without a warrant has been broken... the U.S. public should not have to pay the price of having their privacy jeopardized or compromised because either the system is flawed or the thinking of those who support the system is flawed. Either way we deserve better than that.”
BOB: “Your little make-believe scenario of the president talking to Harriet Miers, and then with Hillary was not all that cute.”
In discussing HARRY POTTER, I confessed that I have never read a “Harry Potter” book and could never get into the fantasy genre or even cartoons: FRANK: “Lloyd, your sentiments are more or less mine. I had the same reaction to cartoons as a kid as well... at any rate, Harry Potter books have come under some attack from religious groups and that’s ridiculous, too.”
GORDON: “OK, Garver, I’m glad to know there are at least two of us heathens that don’t give a rat’s rump about Harry Potter.”
DARON: “I feel sorry for you.”
In a column about FAKE NEWS, I talked about the revelation that the Pentagon was feeding Iraqi newspapers erroneous stories: MALCOM: “Bravo! What a wonderful column, and a wonderful departure from all the mendacity that has been foisted upon our citizens.”
RICK AND AMANDA: “We feel as if we are being lied to or told twisted truths all the time by the media and certainly by this government. Are Americans waking up? I would like to think so especially about this war. Especially since our son decided to join the Army.”
ROBERT: “Let Uncle Sam spread as much good news propaganda about the U.S. in the Middle East as they want. We have our own propaganda machine running in the US which does the opposite.”
I talked about the brouhaha surrounding PRESIDENT BUSH’S CHRISTMAS card omitting the word, “Christmas:”
GLENDA: “I appreciated the broader perspective you provided on the Christmas card non-issue. Happy new year to you too.”
AL: “If you don’t think there is a war on Christmas you should talk with the people at the ACLU.”
ROBIN: “I will continue to pray for you and all the other secular nonbelievers. I will pray for your deliverance and that one day the veil will be removed from your eyes and you will see what we see!”
In a column about KNITTING, I talked about how more and men are getting into knitting.
NICOLE: “It looks like someone has already started knitting in a maximum-security prison... It would be great if you could publicize it so they could get more yarn.”
I discussed the recent MISS AMERI- CA pageant: CORAL: “Shame on you and your article. The Miss America pageant means a lot to many young ladies and you should not be the one handling the reporting if you had such feelings about pageantry to begin with.”
WILLA: “The pageant is lame because judging a woman by her beauty is at its limit. There is nothing more contestants can do to their faces or figures to shine above the other contestants, let alone the rest of America... I chuckle to think that perhaps you wouldn’t be so bored if it were you up there on stage in a scanty swimsuit with pairs of eyes judging your chest to see if you measure up. I wonder if while you are standing there you would wish like many women do, that you could be judged on the internal character you developed yourself over a lifetime.”
I came out against the recent proposals to demote PLUTO to a non-planet.
ANDREA: “I loved, loved, loved your column about keeping Pluto in the family. It’s just wrong to take away its credentials just because it’s made of ice. I mean, it’s not Pluto’s fault it’s made of ice. It’s all location, location, location, and Pluto just didn’t get the luck of the draw like we did.
I described the difficulties I was having with the immersion method of LEARN- ING ITALIAN: LUCA: “Don’t worry, we are not like the French... nobody but a small minority will see you as an ugly American, unless you are one.”
So, I’m being told my writing isn’t “all that cute,” I should be ashamed of myself, readers feel sorry for me, and others are praying for me. I guess I must be doing something right. (Lloyd Garver has written for many television shows, ranging from “Sesame Street” to “Family Ties” to “Frasier.” He also has read many books, some of them in hardcover. He writes the “Modern Times” column for CBSnews.com’s opinion page and a weekly column for SportsLine.com. He)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 8, 2006. Read the original PDF.