Letters

A President in Isolation

In the run-up to the midterm congressional elections, we reported how President Bush's dogged insistence on sticking to his guns had left him a lone rider. Readers argued over whether Bush is an embattled hero in a white hat and whether he and the nation need to change horses

TIME's cover headline referring to President George W. Bush as "The Lone Ranger" [Nov. 6] was like calling Donald Rumsfeld Mahatma Gandhi. Don't you know your pop-culture history? The Lone Ranger was a gallant man who helped people in distress. He then rode away, not waiting for accolades. The only thing Bush has in common with the Lone Ranger is that he is from Texas.

R. LEE LAWRENCE

Los Angeles

I could accept that President Bush is, as you put it, "faltering in Iraq," "out of favor with his own party" and "increasingly isolated." But to refer to "the world he's created" was just too much. The present state of affairs was created by the terrorists of 9/11, not the President.

GEORGE R. OURS

Petersburg, W.Va.

Like a coach using an old playbook, Bush has shown how mediocrity can take hold when an agenda begins to get stale. The elections were a clear referendum on his leadership. He seemed to ignore criticism and was ineffective in achieving any of his goals, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Republican Party paid the price on Election Day.

JETHRO SINGER

Santa Monica, Calif.

I admire a leader like President Bush, who stands up for what he believes, regardless of the effect it has on his popular support. I believe that World War II would never have taken place had there been leaders like Bush around to stop Hitler in his tracks.

BOB BUCKLEY

Benoni, South Africa

Bush's political isolation is not his fault. The central challenge in dealing with militant Islam has always been the tentative resolve of most Western nations to defend their interests and values. Europe, in particular, just sits on the fence and snipes while watching the U.S. take a stand. Real friends would be there to help, advise, plan and even make sacrifices on behalf of a shared destiny. These fair-weather friends actually seem to want Bush to fail. What would they do if they got their wish?

GARTH KLATT

Calgary, Alta.

As Americans finally awake from nearly six years of misrule, we are recoiling at the damage done to our institutions, the rest of the world and our future. Let's hope this election marks the first step in repairing that damage--or at least checking the power of those who would inflict more.

BRAD JARVIS

Arvada, Colo.

Throughout history, great men with vision and courage have stood alone in the face of political opposition. Hurrah for the Lone Ranger!

JOHN WIEDERSATZ

Jeffersonville, Ind.

This Bud's Not for You

Dr. Sanjay Gupta's article "Why I Would Vote No on Pot" [Nov. 6], which argued against legalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, completely missed the mark. The ballot initiatives weren't about whether marijuana is good or bad for you; they were about whether personal possession should be a criminal offense. Lots of things are harmful to your health--tobacco smoking, fried chicken, trans fats--but is the best way to combat those health dangers to incarcerate users? Absolutely not.

JONAH MUNIZ

San Francisco

Gupta reported that marijuana's side effects include short-term memory loss, impairment of cognitive ability, depression and impaired driving skills. All of these are, however, common side effects of many pharmaceuticals, which most physicians nevertheless seem to hand out like candy. Perhaps when pot farmers start taking doctors out for fancy lunches and golfing trips, legalized medical cannabis will be less controversial.

CHANDELLE BATES

Murray, Utah

As a college student, I am surrounded by recreational pot smokers, but I have chosen to abstain because I have seen the detrimental effects. I'm glad Gupta reported the harm marijuana can do to one's health.

BONNIE BUIK

Evanston, Ill.

Held Captive in Iraq

"The Disappeared" [Nov. 6], Aparisim Ghosh's gripping story about the stark reality of the underworld of kidnapping and torture in Iraq, made me angry. If people in the region had sympathy for their neighbors, such criminality would not be tolerated. Yet greed and willful neglect of morals and humanity rule the day. What a sad state of affairs.

TONY YANG

Chicago

I am a former New Yorker, and the photographs of missing persons on the wall of that Baghdad police station reminded me of the pictures and notes on walls in downtown Manhattan after 9/11. The desperation and sorrow of people whose loved ones have disappeared is very familiar. The story of Waddah al-Anbari's ordeal as a kidnap victim made me shiver, cringe and wonder whether I would be able to keep my wits in a similar situation. It also got me to thinking about the untold consequences of war. Please keep telling these stories.

ANDY SHERRY

Washington

Kudos to TIME for paying attention to a sad new trend in an already tragic part of the world. Pity Iraqis like al-Anbari whose plight goes unnoticed by their government and the larger world. I hope your story will make more readers stop and wonder how the people of Baghdad must feel when U.S. forces fan out across their city in search of one missing American, when not even their neighborhood police can be counted on to search for kidnapped Iraqis.

JIM OBEIDI

Washington

Bigotry as Comedy

Joel Stein's story on comedian Sasha Baron Cohen's movie Borat stated that "any normal person over 35 is going to find [Baron Cohen's character] Borat horrifying" [Nov. 6]. I disagree; I'm 37, and although I thought the film was as vulgar and far removed from political correctness as you can get, I was not horrified. It is a brilliant satirical look at global prejudice and without a doubt the funniest movie in years. You don't have to be under or over a certain age to know a sharp work of satire or pure comic genius when you see one.

SHAWN FITZGERALD

Melrose, Mass.

Baron Cohen criticizes all the things Borat pretends to admire and uses Borat's faked attitudes and stories to reveal the hidden resentments within the people he encounters. As a Jew, Baron Cohen carries Borat's anti-Semitism to the extreme, thus making a laughingstock of it while also revealing the bigotry of the unsuspecting people he is fooling. The same goes for Borat's imaginary Kazakhstan: he is making fun not of Kazakhs but of ignorant Westerners who overrate their own cultures.

DOMINIK MAUER

Augsburg, Germany

With Apologies to the Bees

The graphics and all the descriptive information about the honeybee in "The Buzz on Bees" [Nov. 6] were truly magnificent. But there was an enormous blunder in the story's introductory sentence, "We don't give bees much thought unless they're terrorizing us at a picnic." Bees are not the least bit interested in picnickers or their food. Yellow jackets are the insects that take great delight in pirating our food even as it enters our mouths. It is disheartening to hear people blaming the bee for the bothersome foraging of the yellow jacket.

TOM FRENCH-CORBETT, BEEKEEPER

Moorestown, N.J.