BIGGEST MORON

DEAR EDITOR: KOMO general manager Jim Clayton's idiotic quote that "smoking marijuana is illegal" and that airing Rick Steves's "legalize it" infomercial would be like advocating "robbing banks" is astounding ["Drug Money" Dominic Holden, Aug 14]. Showing the reasons why pot should be legal is more akin to telling people that taxes should be much lower, more so than armed robbery at least. By Clayton's logic, arguing for tax cuts promotes defrauding the IRS. Thus, Dino Rossi's commercials should be banned from KOMO as well.

However, the biggest moron in last week's issue was cover story writer August Flanagan, a "casual smoker" who got his hands on some pot in Nicaragua "despite the penalties" ["Busted in Nicaragua," Aug 14]. Who are these Americans who do drugs in third world countries like they are in Amsterdam? If you flirt with any type of Midnight Express scenario when you get high, you aren't exactly a "casual smoker."

Russ Lauron

MOST HAUGHTIEST

QUESTION: Does being a movie reviewer for your paper require that you have a smart-ass quip every paragraph? Is it possible in this world to get fair movie reviews, without a writer (if you can call Andrew Wright that) trying to impress readers with his cutting-edge sarcasm and haughtiness? I realize whatever his plans were in life have slipped by, and he is now stuck in the review racket, but spare us the desperate attempts at flashing your "brilliance" and give us a decent review.

Joe Rota

A CERTAIN LEVEL OF VANILLA

HELLO STRANGER: Just wanted to offer my two-cent defense of Mistress Matisse in reaction to last week's slam of her in the illustrated letter [Letters, Aug 14]. While I don't know her personally, her perspective and ideas have both entertained and challenged me time and again, and have helped initiate a number of rewarding conversations with my wife about communication, sexuality, and gender. Her no-nonsense reflections on polyamory etiquette have been especially helpful! Perhaps these admissions reveal a certain level of vanilla on my part, but I don't mind—everyone was a beginner at some point and I'm happy to have Mistress Matisse as an experienced, engaging, prolific teacher.

MM Fan

A BRAND OF BULLSHIT

HA HA! I wanted to throw in my two "ha's" to the Mistress Matisse column–basher in this week's ish. I fully and totally agree that Matisse's brand of bullshit ended in 1995, and if she was ever at the end of my whip, she sounds like she'd cry like a little bitch. Can she shut her fuckin' mouth already!?

TotomoTzu

WHITE SNOT RAG

Why did you feature a Native American in your Drunk of the Week column [Aug 14]? You are on OUR land, you print your little white snot rag on OUR trees, and yet that's not enough? You must photograph a drunken Indian and quote Chief Seattle on the same page? Let me ask you something, when was the last time you featured a Native artist, musician, or writer? (News flash: Alexie is not the only Indian who writes!)

You owe us a lot of things, white folks, but after all this time no one expects you to repay them. The least you can do is leave certain wounds alone and go stroke the big white ego elsewhere.

Jade, Indian and sober, wow, how 'bout that

LOVE LETTER

I just got your voter cheat sheet [Aug 7]. I love it. I love you. And I love that I can vote for judges whom I've never met before (and hope to never meet) with the reasonable confidence that someone who's probably a little cynical on the outside but fairly honest on the inside—someone who wants safety, fairness, and to be a champion for the nonmainstream—has read at least three sentences about this judge (and maybe even met them, who knows) all so that I don't have to. Thank you, Stranger, my very own local free paper, thank you.

Stephanie

HATE MAIL

After reading your political endorsements, I can say I will never touch another Stranger as long as I live. The totally one-sided, childish, demeaning comments have no place in my life and in no way make the author or your rag credible in any way. It only makes you look like kids. Please cancel my subscription. (Oh, it's free. No wonder... never mind.)

Eric

DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS: The choice of the sloppy drunks at the Stranger Election Control Board for Commissioner of Public Urination, Kollin Min, ran against City Council Member Judy Nicastro in 2003, not Heidi Wills. Jean Godden, an even sloppier drunk than the SECB, beat both Min and Nicastro.