Arnold's a charmer, but he's not matrimonial material

Arnold's a charmer, but he's not matrimonial material
EDITOR:
I read many articles and opinions about the phenomenal election of Arnold Schwarzenegger in California recently, but I was surprised that everybody seemed to have entirely missed the essential point in this fiasco. That is except for my wife. The morning after the election she said to me: & quot;You know what this is like? It's like when a girlfriend calls you up and tells you that she went to a bar last night and met the most wonderful man she has ever met. He's rich, he's handsome, he's totally in love with her. They ended up spending the whole night together and he has promised to take care of her for the rest of her life and now they are going to get married. You know in your gut that it's all a fantasy but you can't say anything because she really believes it's true. & quot; California has chosen fantasy over reality.
In our political system money and marketing are everything. The voters were infatuated with the image that Schwarzenegger projected. They were swept off their feet. Yet he never told them anything relevant about his programs or his views for governing. It is not that we have had our freedom to choose taken away. Rather our judgment is gone. We can no longer resist the temptations of modern advertising and now even our political systems are for sale to the highest bidder and briber, if I may use that term loosely.
Gore Vidal used to say that Americans have no sense of history. But it's worse than that. They have no sense of reality anymore. Hollywood has replaced history in Americans' consciousness, and hero worship, which is what Hollywood's influence is founded upon, has now replaced sound leadership. It reminds me of the myth of Narcissus. Narcissus the handsome Greek youth who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. Americans have fallen in love with their image as reflected in the pool of Hollywood. We really believe we can conquer the whole world, and we expect that the whole world will love us for our heroism. The problem is that the rest of the world still knows the difference between fantasy and reality. In the end Schwarzenegger will fail because special effects cannot work in the real world, and he never was or will be a true real-life hero.
ROGER LAFONTAINE
Youngstown
Media vultures circle pope
EDITOR:
I wholeheartedly agree with Bishop Tom Tobin's letter of Oct. 17 about the media vultures circling Pope John Paul. What will be left to say when the poor man finally dies? I feel like I've been reading his obituary all month long.
I'm not really a devout person but I have a picture of Pope John Paul kneeling in a Saint Louis cathedral on my bulletin board because that picture gives me such comfort. He is bent over in prayer and it's obvious he's in pain but goodness and godliness just ooze out of that image.
I suggest that the person who wrote that nasty editorial say five Hail Marys and a sincere Act of Contrition.
ANNE MILLER
Mansfield
Judge did right by the kids
EDITOR:
Let's give Judge Dellick of juvenile court a hip, hip, hooray. She is in charge of two programs by which kids can become decent human beings by counseling or, if need be, by incarceration.
The judge went all the way to the supreme court to get what is required to provide a corrections program. Have we all forgotten that a man tried to drag a witness to murder out of juvenile detention some years ago?
I have much respect and admiration for someone like Judge Dellick. We need more like her. The money that is needed just won't pop out of thin air.
E.J. SMITH
Austintown