Cracking the nutcase
Since Colbert is making fun of know-it-all, combative, mean-spirited talk-show hosts, except when he is going after targets such as Bush, he isn’t Rambo-like (see “Comedy Rambo,” News and Features, November 16).
One has to make the distinction between when he’s playing “Colbert, the nutcase talk-show host,” and when he’s making fun of nutcase talk-show hosts and the people who agree with them. When Colbert has people he actually likes or agrees with on the show, for instance, his interview style is more like a gentle ribbing than a take-no-prisoners attack. The “Empty Your Pockets” segment with Dennis Kucinich is a beautiful case in point.
Monica Hileman
Medford
Hope against pope
The Pope isn’t avoiding Boston, as you imply in “Not Shipping Up to Boston” (“Could Be Verse,” November 16). This whole story (not just in the Phoenix, but in all of Boston media) is overblown. Pope Benedict does not “owe” Boston a visit because of the sex-abuse scandal. The horrors that were perpetrated on children in Boston and the surrounding parishes were not carried out under his watch.
Also, just how would a papal visit help heal anyone’s pain? This pope does not travel as often as his predecessor did, and his upcoming visit to the US is not part of a grand world tour. He is focused on peace in the Middle East — an agenda that a trip to Boston would not help advance.
Maggie Miller
Kingston
His executioner’s song
Regarding your Norman Mailer obituary, “Wrestle in Peace” (News and Features, November 16), when obnoxious, drunk geniuses are gone we tend to say, “Gee, something was going on there.” That’s what separates the living from the dead. But then it’s always that first novel, that initial flush, that damns the successful. Overall, of all the tributes, I think this one adds up.
Andrew Guthrie
Hong Kong
Crosses to bear
Just when I think you folks are completely loony (a glance at the cover usually does it), I come across another thoughtful and well-reasoned piece. In this case, it was “He Ain’t Heavy” (“Presidential Tote Board, November 23), in which Steven Stark suggests that Mitt Romney’s fellow presidential candidates “give the Mormon speech” on his behalf.
I agree that Obama is the best one for the job, but I must add that he’s also the least likely to speak up. He wants to be seen as a person of faith, but only by the religious left (read: Jim Wallis and friends). To come out in seeming support of a “right-wing religion” like Mormonism would shock those who already know of his faith, and scare away those who don’t. I say Huckabee should do it — what’s he got to lose? Perhaps if he gives it five or 10 times, people will notice.
Darrell Hartwick
Newton Corner
Text of the week
This past issue we asked readers to text in their thoughts on President Bush and our “Tragicomedy of Errors” (News and Features, November 23) feature, in which we excerpted best-selling author Craig Unger’s new book, The Fall of the House of Bush. Here’s one reader’s response:
Bush & Cheney should be tried for treason against the sovereign power, the American people.
