It's Not About Race
While I may agree that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and nominee Harriet Miers were not the best qualified candidates, Jonathan Zimmerman is misguided in his thinking that affirmative action is to blame for such bad choices [Slant, "Voting in the Affirmative," Oct. 13, 2005].

President Bush nominated Miers because of their personal relationship. This, above anything else, was the deciding factor in her nomination, not gender. Hence, cronyism and looking out for friends is the real problem, and this is why an unqualified, white man like Michael Brown got his job as the FEMA director.
LaShawn Hand
West Philadelphia

Whine and TVs
Bruce Schimmel's recent column [Loose Canon, "New Media, Old Whine," Oct. 13, 2005] is as contradictory as it is defeatist, as he lambasts Philly media activists for not getting "bricks and mortar" results and simultaneously insists that we give up on the fight for a public access center.

Not only does Schimmel set up an unnecessary split whereby Philadelphia either gets a fancy indie film venue or public access television, he completely misses the point.

My vision of a real venue for the stories of Philadelphia won't be realized by a hipper place to watch films and drink martinis. It will be realized when kids, elders, the disabled, the politically challenging, the offbeat, the poor — the low budget and unrepresented voices of Philadelphia — have what 2,000 other cities and towns have: a media creation center of their own.

Guess what, Bruce: There are a lot of people in Philly who can't afford the laptop video-editing systems you say are so plentiful. There are also lots of people who have neither the time nor the disposable income to hang out at a West Philly lounge spot and schmooze with their homemade films. What they do have is a television, still the absolutely most common information and entertainment source for most people.

So, until the citizens of Philly receive their rightful due under a 1983 city ordinance that mandated public-access TV, we are definitely not giving up.

We are going to continue our good faith negotiations with the city. We are going to continue to educate lawmakers about the valuable role of public access in the city's ambitious WiFi plan. We are going to continue to participate actively in the seat at the table we do have — public hearings and meetings with our City Council members.

What we won't do is roll over and play dead.
Wendy Jane Hyatt
Philadelphia Community Access Coalition

In a city which will spend $600 million of taxpayer money on two sports monstrosities in South Philadelphia, it's only fair, to say the least, that they come up with the funds for something as democratic as public-access television.

What we need are more wonks and Comcast bashers to make people aware of how they are being ripped off in this fashion. And if the people can't get it together to demand what has been promised them since 1983, then they deserve to live in this second-rate town.
Larry Petkov
Philadelphia Regional Anti-War Network

Yikes! How'd you get to using Limbaugh-lingo with the "whine" rhetoric? Troubling. And, I must ask with a chuckle, aren't you whining here?
John Jonik
Via e-mail