Talking Heads in a Time of Terror

Re “The Windbags of War,” Opinion, July 21: Ana Marie Cox worries about a “tacit complicity between policymakers and media ... [that] contributes to an atmosphere of hysteria that undercuts our good judgment and weakens our loyalty to civil rights.”

She prefers experts who see little danger from foreign sources. She approvingly quotes one such expert to the effect that the risk of an attack on nuclear plants is “really very, very small.” According to Cox, the major danger facing the U.S. is an overreaction on the part of right-wing warmongers. I hope she’s right, but I doubt it.

Barry Freedman

Los Angeles

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Straight out of Central Casting to play the wicked witch of the Republican right, Ann Coulter--one of Cox’s subjects--is guaranteed to do time on all of the talk shows and sell her book while interrupting those who disagree with her. She thrives on negativity and unashamedly plays the Christian card with a very unchristian attitude.

From her harbor of hate, Coulter tried to sink the Clinton ship of state with every verbal blast of arrogance at her command. But while the captain’s personal behavior left a lot to be desired, it did not result in wrecking the lives of thousands of senior citizens or dashing the hopes of so many young people now stranded on the rocks of the unemployment line. Coulter is still angling to reel in former President Clinton and blame him for what in fact is the incompetence of our well-heeled leaders, who got there not by hard work but by hard cash, inherited. And a little malfeasance for good measure.

Kathleen O’Donnell Hunt

Huntington Beach