BY
Re “Lambda Protests are Disrespectful Browbeating,” (page 5, Oct. 2):
First, when one’s convictions compel him to oppose a government policy, it is silly to suggest that he must make sure not to step on any toes in the process. Second, it matters to the government what Harvard students do and say in a way that is not true for the general public. And third, even “puerile” protests can have an impact.
I know a Harvard alum who sat down in front of Robert McNamara’s car when he visited Harvard in the late 60s in protest of the Vietnam War. No doubt this interfered with other people’s desire to cross the street, or get McNamara’s autograph, or perhaps even land an impromptu job interview with the Secretary, but surely these were trivial concerns for anyone strongly committed to opposing that terrible war. And McNamara later said something to the effect that if Harvard students were acting in that way, then it proved that the war was making the country ungovernable. That protest and others like it ended the LBJ presidency, and probably would have led to a timely withdrawal from Vietnam had RFK lived to Election Day.
And can we please stop perpetuating the myth that military action protects our freedom? The use of military force concentrates power in the executive branch of government and raises a passion in the people that stifles the free expression of dissent. One need only remember the period after 9/11 when the Attorney General equated dissent with supporting the Taliban and Al Qaeda. On a personal note, I can remember protesting our latest terrible war and being called some pretty bad names – much worse, by the way, than “insufferable.”
Michael Flannery, 2L
Re “Baldwin Criticizes Family Courts,” (page 1, Oct. 2):
You are not alone[,] Alex [sic]. Your abuse is nation wide as Judges slander and show perverted prejudice against the Fathers and Men who gave them their job and trust. My story is also one of abuse, bias and crimes against Fathers. Joint Custody is the only way. The tide is rising against this judicial abuse and the offenders will soon be in jail.
Jeff Ferris
Conley, Georgia
Although Alec Baldwin gets no votes for “Poster Boy” of the Fathers Rights folks, he is an acceptable spokesman for the Shared Parenting people. And he is an excellent voice for the Alliance Against Parental Alienation.
What Baldwin faces is no different from what many decent, loving fathers face in custody courts. Though a woman may want to divorce her kids’ father, he does not want to divorce his children. Alternate weekends for the disenfranchised dad is not enough – for the father or to the kids.
Children need both parents. This is true for children of divorce as much as it is for kids in intact families. Laws should be changed to reflect this.
Don Mathis
Sherman, Texas