Letters

Vice President Dick Cheney decided that Katharine Armstrong, owner of the land on which he accidentally shot Harry Whittington, was the best person to tell the press about the event [Feb. 27]. Cheney handpicked someone who had potentially serious liability issues to give the story to the media even before the President was informed. The disclosure that Cheney and his friends were hunting from their cars without proper licenses adds a smarmy exclamation point to another display of his arrogance and disregard for the law.
Ed Vecchio
Huber Heights, Ohio, U.S.

Thousands of Vietnam veterans heaved a collective sigh of relief that sharpshooter Cheney received five draft deferments.
Harry Palmer
Marblehead, Massachusetts, U.S.

The most disturbing excuse for the delay in reporting the accident to the public was that Cheney had no press officer with him. Why couldn't he write his own statement about something supposedly so straightforward? How could relaying facts be beyond his ability? If only Cheney were committed to truth and transparency, and if only he were candid enough to face the public outside the comfort zone of Fox News. The media overreacted to the delay in reporting the shooting, but Cheney's excuses attest to his secretiveness.
William A. McCartney
Delaware, Ohio, U.S.

It's puzzling to think that anyone could enjoy blasting away at quail. The quail's little bobwhite whistle is one of the most beautiful sounds. Quail are farmers' friends, eating insects that are harmful to crops. These gentle birds harm no one and take good care of their families.
Sherrill Durbin
Mounds, Oklahoma, U.S.

It's amazing that the victim was the one who apologized, while the shooter said, "It's one of the worst days of my life." Couldn't Cheney have apologized for shooting his friend without making the statement all about himself?
Georganna Dickson
Hightstown, New Jersey, U.S.

TIME's story suggested that this circus was the last thing the President needed. On the contrary, the circus seems to have provided the media with a less damaging diversion from the really bad news of the week. The shooting generated an 11-page story package, while the scathing, 520-page congressional report on the Hurricane Katrina fiasco was underreported. Seems like Whittington literally took a hit for his buddies.
Michele Tombari
Las Vegas

The real story was how reporters went completely berserk, looking under every rock to find dirt. All the facts were in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times on Monday and the sheriff's statement released on Thursday. What fools you make of yourselves—although it was hilarious watching the circus.
Marvin Volz
Houston

Legacy of an Uprising
It is unfortunate and ironic that just as TIME's Anthony Spaeth offered an appraisal, in "Glory Days" [Feb. 27], of the 1986 People Power revolution that toppled the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the world witnessed truncheon-wielding police trying to break up rallies for the overthrow of the Arroyo government. Your story quoted an official report on our national flaws, describing Filipinos as "passive, unreflective, undisciplined and prone to loyalty toward personalities rather than institutions or ideals." Seen in another light, we might be regarded as resilient, spontaneous, flexible and sentimental. TIME credited People Power as the Filipino contribution to history, "a true gift to the world." But even before that, Filipinos wrote Asia's first constitution and proclaimed its first republic. The monuments to the People Power revolution on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue offer a hint of the democratic achievements of the Philippines, but its citizens are capable of accomplishing even more.
Leomil O. Aportadera
Iloilo City, the Philippines

Spaeth's piece on the Philippines past and present is one of the most penetrating and succinct analyses of the country I have read. We Filipinos keep wishing for change but are perennially fractious and now so demoralized, any change for the better may remain an elusive goal.
Isabel Escoda
Hong Kong

"Glory Days" described the rise and fall of the People Power revolution and the individuals who were behind it. A gift to the world that is uniquely our own, People Power was used and abused until its true essence was degraded. To say Filipino history repeats itself is an understatement. What's happening nowadays to the country clearly indicates that history strikes back with a vengeance. The inability of some Filipinos to learn from the past holds back the entire country, including the many who just want to move on.
Raphael Causapin
Manila

TIME noted that a great contribution of Filipinos to history—People Power—failed in the country of its birth. But our complex society is basically at peace. Our press is free; our economy is dynamic, resilient and competitive. Our art and culture are vibrant, our people are happy, and we are the friends of everyone on earth. We have a lot to be thankful for, despite our tragedies, some of which are self-inflicted. Only a great people could have produced People Power, and appraising this great nation from the historical speck of 20 years is like judging the U.S. in the aftermath of its Civil War, or France after its revolution.
Bayani Santos Jr.
Manila

Risky Operation
U.N. ambassador John Bolton's answer to your question about the possibility of a more aggressive response to the genocide in Darfur was quite telling [Feb. 27]. He said, "You could end up with a lot of dead military people and not save a single civilian." The Janjaweed militia, which is doing the killing, is armed with rifles and riding horses and camels. Surely the U.S. military is capable of taking them on.
Pete Castelluccio
Indianapolis

Hamas Takes the Helm
Before winning the legislative elections, Hamas strategically took charge of many Palestinian educational and social-aid institutions while teaching schoolchildren hatred and continuing to advocate the destruction of Israel [Feb. 6]. The swindling ways of the previous Fatah government made it easy for Hamas to be democratically elected. In the 1930s, Hitler also achieved democratic election by appealing to the populace with the same form of mass appeal. Let's hope the U.N. and the E.U. will not become emasculated appeasers. It would be an exercise in futility to negotiate with enemies who are intractable in their determination to destroy Israel.
Harry Grunstein
Hampstead, Quebec, Canada

Grim News from Greenland
"Has the Meltdown Begun?" [Feb. 27] reported the discovery that Greenland's glaciers are melting faster than anyone expected. That is more proof of global warming, and the resulting rise in sea levels makes the immediate impact of climate change worse than anticipated. The glaciers are also receding at Glacier National Park, Montana. We are having milder winters in the Midwest, and tropical frog species are disappearing. What more evidence do we need?
Shane Nodurft
Chicago

Our greedy, growing world is fast running out of resources, two of them being oil and freshwater. Maybe we have to rethink our priorities. It might be better to build pipelines to ship pure glacial water to thirsty parts of the world, as I haven't met anyone yet who drinks oil.
Patti Tetrault
Truro, Massachusetts, U.S.

A Mixed Diagnosis
In her essay "Why I Dumped the Baby Doctor" [Feb. 27], Michelle Cottle argued that pediatricians should be more responsive to the concerns of nervous parents. As a nurse and mother for more than 25 years, I was dismayed by Cottle's account of her irrational fears. She traded a doctor who was very busy for a doctor who had plenty of time to develop a codependent relationship with a phobic parent. Her new doctor, whom she said she is seeing "about once a week," is taking advantage of a mother who apparently would rather spend time with the baby doctor than the baby.
Sue Borcherding, R.N.
Peoria, Illinois, U.S.

Had it not been for the Internet, many of us parents of autistic children would still be watching our toddlers bang their heads against the wall while our dumbfounded pediatricians stood by telling us it's just a passing phase. If you have reason to doubt your child's pediatrician, your instincts are probably working perfectly.
Joanne Palmer
Los Angeles

Cottle complained that "pediatricians often treat parents like children" and whined about not getting enough attention from her baby's doctors. My pediatricians treat me the same way they treat my children: with love, respect and clear boundaries. Cottle wants her doctor available for weekly visits, daily calls and weekend chats. That reminds me of my teenager, who wants that kind of 24/7 availability as well as access to the family car. Someone has to be the grownup.
Michele Bombardier
Bainbridge Island, Washington, U.S.

Silver but Unsafe?
Re "The Rise and Fall and Rise of A Skating Superpower" [Feb. 27], about the Chinese ascendancy in figure skating: Time said the pairs figure-skating team of Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao "nabbed the silver." Nabbed indeed. Zhang Hao flung his partner into the air with all the grace of a stevedore hurling a sack of cement onto a ship. That Zhang Dan didn't sustain a more serious injury is a miracle. Zhang Hao's seeming disregard for the safety of his partner was nothing but a savage show of physical strength and should have been heavily penalized by the judges, no matter how the couple executed their moves after the chuck. You describe their victory as "a valiant silver." I think a sadomasochistic silver is more like it.
Brian C. Russo
Lodz, Poland

Setting the Record Straight
• Preying on Pilgrims
The Feb. 20 "In the Arena" column referred to terrorist bombing attacks in the Iraqi city of Karbala that took place during Ashura, the Shi'ite day of mourning, killing 170 pilgrims in 2004 and 60 in 2005. There were no attacks in Karbala during Ashura in 2005, but there were 60 killings in other parts of Iraq.

Weather Forecast
Despite the uncertainty of the science of climate change, some effects of global warming are hard to ignore, like the unexpected meltdown of Greenland's glaciers and the extinction of frog species in the American tropics. TIME's Oct. 19, 1987, cover story provided an early warning about mankind's impact on the earth's climate:

"Atmospheric scientists have long known that there are broad historical cycles of global warming and cooling; most experts believe that the earth's surface gradually began warming after the last ice age peaked 18,000 years ago. But only recently has it dawned on scientists that these climatic cycles can be affected by man. Says Stephen Schneider, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder: 'Humans are altering the earth's surface and changing the atmosphere at such a rate that we have become a competitor with natural forces that maintain our climate. WHAT IS NEW IS THE POTENTIAL IRREVERSIBILITY OF THE CHANGES THAT ARE NOW TAKING PLACE.' Indeed, if the ozone layer diminishes over populated areas—and there is some evidence that it has begun to do so, although nowhere as dramatically as in the Antarctic—the consequences could be dire."

Read more at timearchive.com