STRANGER: When I walked up to the voting booth for the Seattle City Council primary, I had a good feeling about Dick Falkenbury, so good that I almost voted for him. After reading his article in The Stranger ["What Was He Thinking?" Nov 6], boy, am I glad I didn't. Contrary to Mr. Falkenbury's opinion that the voters in Seattle are all gullible idiots, before voting I read multiple voter pamphlets, read numerous related newspaper articles, visited candidate websites, visited and contacted endorsers of particular candidates, read up on The Stranger's picks, and, in the general election, even corresponded with a candidate.
As I began to vote, I thought that, although I had a good feeling about Dick Falkenbury, I should vote with my head and not my heart. Nearly everything I had read by or about Dick Falkenbury had to do with the monorail. Monorail, monorail, monorail. Now, don't get me wrong, I voted for the monorail, and that issue was one that piqued my interest in Mr. Falkenbury to begin with. However, I was voting for a seat on the Seattle City Council, not the monorail authority, so I voted for Tom Rasmussen. Not because he had more money, not because I was an idiot, but because he was the best candidate. Had Mr. Falkenbury addressed other issues as prominently as his previous monorail experience, perhaps my vote would have been different.
I may have voted for him in a future election, too, had he not lambasted the voters of Seattle in that ridiculously whiny diatribe.
Doug Wacker
PLEA FOR UNDERSTANDING
ELI SANDERS: I liked the thoughtfulness that went into your strip ["True Crime," Nov 13], but I think you are being pretty harsh on [Norm] Maleng. Maybe you were turned off by his quoting scripture, or perhaps you don't care for his politics. But he is in a nearly impossible position, and I think your portrayal of him is pretty snarky. I don't really know what I'd do, but I have to believe that anybody who has lost a 12-year-old daughter, as Maleng has, would certainly be sensitive to how the victims' parents feel.
Jim Michael
SINCERE PRAISE? SARCASTIC SLAM?
DEAR STRANGER: After reading the Hostile Holidays "food" article ["Holiday Desperation Dinner," Nov 13], I was overcome by a need to congratulate your staff, writers, and the chefs involved for coming up with such a brilliant article!!! Seriously, this article was not only interesting, creative, and funny, it was inspiring as well. I have spent many holidays away from family and home, so I can relate to how limited resources can be during those mad holiday seasons. I love cooking, and when the holidays creep up on those of us too busy to think about shopping, we have to deal with things on our own. I am not necessarily going to haul ass over to my nearest Walgreens to shop for dinner, but it was cool to see that it can be done. In the face of all odds, creativity can overcome! It was interesting to see (and read about) the results. I laughed, I cried! PLEASE DO THIS AGAIN!
Rick Klu
UNDESERVED PRAISE
DEAR BRADLEY STEINBACHER: It may seem redundant to rave about a rave, but I thought your review of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World ["Mastered, Commanded," Nov 13] was terrific. You took the time to be thoughtful in your analysis, and I appreciate it. The reason I care so much is that I worked on the film, and I know just how much sweat and love went into its creation. I have forwarded a copy of your review to Peter [Weir]. I'm sure he's pretty inundated by reviews right now, but I know that he respects well-written work.
Andy Reay-Ellers
THERE ARE SOME THINGS EVEN PIGS WON'T DO
TO THE EDITOR: I read a quote from Tim Eyman in The Stranger the other day that exposes his true nature: "Every initiative we've ever done has lost in Seattle. It's an anti-tax-reduction message. People in Seattle don't want their taxes removed" ["Taking Back the Initiative," Erica C. Barnett and Sandeep Kaushik, Nov 6].
Tim, you are a pigfucker and an idiot. Do all of King County a favor and go the hell away, or at the very least shut the hell up. We WANT light rail. We have said it over and over in referendum and vote. We WANT a monorail. We want better and more frequent public transit. Everything you do is against the wider public good, no matter what you tell people or [how much you] manipulate the numbers like the crafty professional accountant you are. Quit trying to mess with our city and our ability to get around in it, Tim, and if you would kindly die in a fire, that would be great.
Julian DiMarco
LETTERS SECTION NOTE: Three weeks ago, David Liber sent a letter to the editor of The Stranger. Liber's letter was 1,200 words long, longer than our entire letters section, and in it he complained that The Stranger wouldn't run his letter because it was critical. If The Stranger did run his letter, he claimed we would undermine his arguments by selectively editing it. We wrote back to Liber and offered to run a 450-word version of Liber's letter and, since we couldn't be trusted to edit his letter, asked Liber to edit his own letter down to 450 words and resubmit it. Liber never responded to our e-mail, never sent in his edit, and so we are unable to run his letter.
