I would like to commend Anne Elizabeth Moore on a fantastic job of reporting from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. But I also want to point out that her comments about anarchists being unlikely to target people with cameras might be a bit shortsighted. Given everything else the authorities have done to make life as difficult as possible for protesters at these sorts of events, it should come as no surprise that many anarchists and black-bloc participants are (probably justifiably) paranoid that their photographs will be used by authorities to identify them. By the time I witnessed the UMass-Boston protests during the first presidential debate in 2000, many had adapted to this reality by using kerchiefs to cover up their faces. Still, I was firmly told “No pictures” time and time again, that night and since. Not that I can blame them.
Neil Dempsey
Brighton
It is terrible that this brutal suppression of protesters and journalists could take place in America without resulting in much reporting or outrage. However, I think that it is needlessly partisan to call this “Republican Thugocracy.” This has nothing to do with party affiliation or the fact that this happened at the Republican National Convention. This is what happens when the people turn over too much power to any police force. When unchecked authority and privileges are given to the police in the name of “law and order,” this is the inevitable result.
Dash Murthi
Boston
Thunder from down under
You’re a terrible critic, Richard Beck. To give Okkervil River’s new record, The Stand Ins, one and a half stars — the kind of review a record by someone of Britney Spears’s caliber would receive — shows sheer ignorance on your part. You’re reviewing the music — I don’t care if you disagree with the sentiment or not. It’s interesting that you are the sole critic I have seen who reviewed this album and panned it. Clearly, you’re just delirious because your ego has inflated to a size larger than your pretentiousness.
“Poor intelligence”? In regards to singer Will Sheff? Regardless of the meaning of the lyrics, they themselves are brilliant. Very few songwriters can weave a story into a song as well as he can. Nine out of 10 for me.
Laurence Barber
Brisbane, Australia
Maybe we’re the crazy ones
I was shocked to see the Phoenix editorial page attack the only three Massachusetts representatives who realized the bill bails out the perpetrators of financial fraud rather then the victims. Do we again have to wait eight years to hear the truth? A fourth estate that trusts this administration more than it trusts the people is superfluous. This country can not afford that many more trillion dollar mistakes. If Wall Street needs money, our candidates should start by giving back all the campaign contributions they received from Wall Street.
Bob Mullen
Newton
Texts of the week
We all know that 1929 had the Great Depression, and that 1987 had Black Monday. There’s no such thing as bad publicity — even when it comes to economic disasters. If you lost, say, $60,000 in a dubious pork-bellies trade 11 years ago, that would, of course, suck. But if you lost the same amount on Black Monday, wouldn’t you feel so much better? To that end, we asked our readers to text in their nominees for what we should call the economic crisis plaguing the country right now.
Here, in reverse order, are the best three responses.
3) Trickled Out Economics
2) Black Wednesday Through Sunday, Interrupted by Rosh Hashanah, Then a Couple More Black Days of the Week
1) The Great Derangement
