Inbox

Looking Back on Campaign '08
Laura Ingraham's contribution to TIME's "Moments to Remember" from the 2008 campaign illustrates my own: the Republicans' utter lack of vision [Nov. 10]. The overwhelming majority of their campaign ads never carried the remotest hint of what the Republicans would do if elected. Instead, like Ingraham, they produced laundry lists of reasons not to vote for the opposition. GOP mouthpieces complain that their candidates don't get positive coverage in the mainstream media. Yet if you have no message, you probably won't get much coverage.
Dennis Sheehan,
Waupaca, Wis., U.S.

Obama's Red Dawn
Re Michael Kinsley's essay, "That Wealth Spreader," it is clear that John McCain's campaign has fallen back on an old, tired McCarthyist anthem and it is ugly [Nov. 10]. With much of the world and many staunch conservatives all endorsing Obama, how do they call him a socialist with a straight face? It shows how little faith they have in the strength of their own ideals and the credibility of their own party after eight years of Bush. This smacks of desperation and deceit.
Fred Grygiel,
Sea Girt, N.J., U.S.

It's in the best interest of wealth to be, in part, spread. It is, after all, not money but the movement of money that produces more money. Deeper pockets across the country mean more that can be spent by consumers. In any case, during the past eight years we have been redistributing wealth — from our kids, and theirs, to the upper few percent on the economic ladder with little or none trickling down to the common man the GOP purports to speak for.
Dan Thompson,
Union, Ore., U.S.

Kinsley notes that Obama will cut taxes for those earning less than $250,000, which represents the bulk of the middle class, while raising taxes on the top 1% of wealth earners who have a disproportionate hoarding of America's wealth. Who are McCain and Palin speaking for, if not for this plutocratic top 1%? Obama is not a "socialist" just because he believes that the middle class has a right to exist and prosper. In my country, such a political understanding is hardly radical. It's just a reflection of what just and fair societies in this modern world ought to defend.
Rob Evans,
Willowdale, Canada

Best Inventions of 2008
No disrespect to the Quebecois, but the Bixi bike system has been in place in Paris for more than a year [Nov. 10]. I'm sure Parisians would be miffed to find that a city — Montreal — that appropriated its language is now getting credit for a bike system, known in Paris as Vélib', that has already met with much acclaim across Europe.
Jonah Peppiatt,
Boston

When I 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

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 Hawk-Eye) have all embraced the concept. Even Manchester United's Alex Ferguson now thinks that there may be a role for "instant replays" in soccer. Welcome to the video gang, baseball. What kept you?
Richard Percy,
Wigan, England