Loathsome Love and Hate (But Mostly Love)

Love and Hate (But Mostly Love)

I loved this year's 50 Most Loathsome New Yorkers issue. What I loved most about it is that only one nigra made the list. It's not that I think we African Americans are on some higher moral or cultural plane. I can't stomach selfish, money-loving, status-worshipping, materialistic-little-control-freak-fascist Americans any more than the typical New York Press staffer. But what you have donethough I am sure it wasn't your intentionis prove just how racist and segregated the U.S. is. This year's list might as well have been compiled in 1905.

Though you New York Press folks seem to be pretty enlightened and progressive, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that your staff is 99 percent non-black. And I would be willing to bet my first-born that no blacks are in any decision-making positions. This in a city where blacks number something like two million and constitute the largest voting block. Your list reflects an America more segregated than it was 50 years ago.

NAME WITHHELD,, Manhattan

Your condemnation of Mayor Bloomberg is the equivalent of smacking him square in the jaw with a two-by-four.Fabulous! The one guy I know would get the biggest kick out of it is unfortunately Graydon Carter (Come on, No. 8? Vanity Fair isn't that bad; it's not like he's on Fox). The one thing that Bloomberg did do is the 311 numberI called it when a construction crew was jackhammering at 11:30 p.m. and it actually worked. Otherwisefry the punk.

Andrew P. Wadium, Manhattan

Clever stuff. Even from a distance, you appear to have hit these people where they live.

Chris Chalk, Chicago

You guys are fucking hilarious. Thanks for a great article.

Susie McGeever, Atlanta

I'm not going to admit how brutal I thought the Olsen twins paragraph was because at the end of the day, I really don't like them. That aside, I would like to note how lame it is that you ranked Carlos D. number 15 based on clichd Joy Division jokes and internet rumors. I mean, if you're going to dislike the man, at least do it for a legit reason. Here's two: Carlos D. is a pretentious fuck, and he wears a gun holster.

Sharon Becker, Austin

Thanks again for one of my online-reading highlights of the year. I look forward to this issue much the same I as relish rewatching the video of Fabio getting whacked in the face by that heroic goose.

Billy Sottile, Palmdale, CA

How on earth did Bernie Kerik not make the list? In fact, how on earth did he not come in at number one? [Editor's note: Kerik was 2003's #22. Repeats are not allowed.]

The scale of corruption during his time in New York office challenges even former NJ Gov. McGreevey, and his giving out busts of his own head to various city offices is reminiscent of the power-mad egomania of no less a personage than Sejanus, Roman Emperor Tiberius' infamous hatchet man.

David Posner, Brooklyn

Loved your list of the 50 Most, especially how you got the nudnick mayor right on his flower button! Almost makes me want to come back to the big acid apple.

Michael Roloff, Seattle

Bruce Ratner needs to be one of the sucking blowjobs on this list for a second time [Ed. Note: He was 2004's #49] and much higher up. As someone who has his dick firmly crammed in the ass of the New York Times and his lips on Bloomberg's joint, he is a master of the underhanded land grab, making his greasy little deal happen totally under the radar. This man is single-handedly taking a corporate dump on one of the best, most neighborhood-oriented parts of Brooklyn in the name of "community development," aka lining his toilet bowl with fur.

David Tierski, Brooklyn

Single and Loving It?

Re: "No Twat for Twits" (Judy McGuire, 3/30): I don't understand. If single moms don't want a relationship with a guy who will help out with the kids once in a while and shoulder some of the financial burden, then what exactly are they looking for? Seems to me a willingness to help out in the familial sense would be a prerequisite.

You can't really ream out a letter-writer without providing some sort of answer.

Jeremy Mesiano-Crookston, Ottawa, Canada

Biden's blurry branding

Re: "Brand This" (3/23): So, basically Mr. Taibbi agrees with Howard Dean? Wonders never cease.

And by the way, strep is a bacterium, not a virus.

Robert DuBard, Miami

Re: "Brand This" (3/23): You just go right on thinking like this. By the way, the sainted FDR didn't do a damn thing for the black man. I don't care how jauntily he clenched his cigarette holder.

Ato Anderson, London

Mr. Taibbi attempts to paint the "security camp" of the Democratic party as being out of touch with Americans because of the polls he cites showing dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq ("Brand This," 3/23). As usual, Taibbi's obsession with Bush's decision to invade Iraq (and probably his pure hatred for any decision by Bush in general), clouds his understanding of the issues that the country and the Democrats face.

By the Democrats' own punditry and posturing, the war in Iraq was a "distraction" from the war on terror.If I recall correctly, Sen. Kerry made this point numerous times before the primaries, as did Howard Dean and myriad other Democrat contenders.

To cite a quote by Biden about how people in the United States feel about the war on terror and its importance in the elections, and then cite polls showing (no surprise) that a majority of those same people that Biden is referring to don't support the war in Iraq, is disingenuous to say the least.

While some do believe that Iraq is a major war-on-terror issue, those who would support a guarantee by God that no bomb would kill their relatives at the expense of social programs are not necessarily those who believe that Saddam had WMDs or that a preventative invasion was just. If your own party splits hairs on that issue, Taibbi, don't insult our intelligence and act as though we cannot or have not.

Ramon A. Pagan, Manhattan