Battling Election Day Glitches

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The U.S. economy seems like an addict taken off its drug (deficit spending) and put on methadone (government intervention). Sobriety — a healthy society built on what is has, and not on what it has not — is still elusive. May the new President have the necessary moral strength to guide the country into a saner future.
Renate Jaeger, BREGENZ, AUSTRIA

Re your cover "Sea of Debt": should the flag not be upside down, the acknowledged sign of a ship in distress?
Ronald Coppin, HILLCREST, SOUTH AFRICA

Campaign Comparisons
In his article "Here be Monsters" [Nov. 3] Mike Murphy correctly points out the many polarizing fears that motivate the tactics of each party's campaign. I would like to think that all the unethical conduct is only a mutual and relatively equal reaction to the other's bias. Yet an objective tally proves otherwise. Obama's mistakes have been mainly exaggerations and minor factual errors. He has also used some sound bites and headlines that may offer misconceptions about McCain's motives and ideas. However, when it comes to innuendo, half-truths and character assassination — I would give McCain the prize. It is obvious that he has veered hopelessly and is no longer the man he claims to be. There is no real relative equality in his departure from civility.
Peter A. Johnson, SUPERIOR, WIS., U.S.

Eager Students
William Lee Adams' bleak picture of diminishing American Studies [Oct.27] may be accurate for the U.K. and individual European universities. However, in European countries where English is not the native language the interest in English and American Studies is unbroken, if not on the rise. As someone who has been teaching American Studies in Austria for 35 years, I know that students (and faculty) have often viewed U.S. domestic and foreign policy very critically, yet that has not kept any of them from pursuing their studies. Since the Iraq war it is true that one has to occasionally remind students who are hesitant about attending a U.S. university that not all Americans are fundamentalist holy warriors, but overall student interest in experiencing the U.S. life remains high, and usually the number of applicants exceeds the number of available exchange positions. As to the danger that students consider their American Studies professors propaganda agents for the U.S. government, this has not happened to me yet, and I see no danger of it in the future.
Walter W. Hoelbling, DEPARTMENT OF AMERICAN STUDIES, KARL-FRANZENS-UNIVERSITY, GRAZ, AUSTRIA

Lost America
"The Lost Leader" by Michael Elliott [Nov. 3] reinforced my dismay at the path that the U.S. has taken over the years. I grew up in the 1940s and '50s, enchanted by the honesty and high moral standards portrayed by the good guys in countless American films. They formed my ideas of the U.S., but now, alas, my views are more in line with Bernard Kouchner's when he says of America, "the magic is over. It will never be as it was before." Where are Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne when you need them most?
Ronald Larkin, KILKENNY, IRELAND

This is the first article that has ever really explained my feelings about the U.S. I love that country because I lived there for a time. But back in Europe, where I am from, I found the U.S. was just like a spoiled adolescent which had lost its way. That's how I perceived it in the context of European reactions. I hope that after the election, it will open its eyes.
Jan Zeleznak, IRELAND

Brave New World
When Ii turned to your Invention of the Year [Nov. 10], my eye fell upon a beautiful young woman wrapped in a closely typed aura of sheer unpredictability; so I thought it wise to put the record straight. My wife got there first — decades ago.
Peter Terry, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

Baseball may have adopted the use of instant video replays in 2008, but invented? I don't think so. Rugby league has been using the technology since 1996, and cricket, rugby union and tennis (with Hawkeye) have all embraced the concept. Even Manchester United's Alex Ferguson now thinks that there may be a role for "instant replays" in football (soccer). Welcome to the video gang, baseball. What kept you?
Richard Percy, WIGAN, ENGLAND

Proud, with no Reservations
Your postcard from Lame Deer, Mont., brought back memories of my childhood, when locals would fling racial epithets like "redskin n_____" at me [Oct. 27]. As I grew older, I denied having native blood, and it wasn't until I hit my late 40s that I started becoming proud of my heritage. In spite of the condescending attitudes of some non-Native people, it's heartening to see Native Americans accomplishing what would have been unheard of not so long ago: running tribal colleges for their children. There is a long way to go to cure the social ills that Native people face, but it is good to see a mainstream publication bringing such stories to the attention of the general public.
Rick Sheafer, SANFORD, FLA., U.S.