Madam, - Breda O'Brien contends (Opinion, November 6th) that the Democrats lost the US presidential election by failing to grasp that, this time, "it's the morality, stupid". She wonders whether they will attain the serene humility that the Republicans learned when they last lost a presidential election.
Funnily enough, humility is not a virtue that I associate with the current incumbent; the man who has declared that "you're either with us or against us" before waging war of highly questionable moral or legal justification is characterised more by a brazen swagger, I would have thought.
As for the morality (stupid), it is remarkable that Breda O'Brien, along with so many of the right, closely identifies morality with particular positions on a very restricted range of views, notably abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage. These days, having God on your side appears not to entail any consideration - much less condemnation - of capital punishment, poverty, civil liberties and war as moral issues.
The language of morality has practically become a trademark of the right, and those of us who do not share their malignant world view would do well to reclaim it. Meanwhile, those who wear their religion on their sleeves should have the humility to recognise the arrogance (not to mention stupidity) of thinking that morality is exclusively their domain. Yours, etc.,
SHANE O'ROURKE, Grattan Street, Cork.
A Chara, - President Bush's Irish acolytes have been busy in recent days writing to your paper in an attempt to counter criticism of their hero's election. Their common theme is that we should no longer oppose the President as he was elected by a majority vote.
However, might is not always right and sometimes - lamentably - the correct point of view can be in the minority. Many of the people who elected President Bush believe with a passionate fervour that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11, that Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction, and that, internationally, America can pursue whatever unilateral course of action it sees fit, regardless of the opinion of the rest of the world. For that matter, they also believe evolution is a lie, that the world is just 6008 years old, that dancing is sinful, and that the Lord is coming any day now to raise them - literally and physically - up to heaven in a process known as "The Rapture" which, naturally enough, will leave the rest of us heathens back on earth to burn for our sins.
Madam, your correspondents are in good company. - Is mise,
DAVID CARROLL, Castle Gate, Dublin 2.
Madam, In his response to my letter of November 6th Jack Healy (November 10th rightly congratulates the Irish and British governments on the Good Friday Agreement. But he seems to forget that a long war had been fought with the terrorists and that it was the effectiveness of the security forces on both sides of the Border that made them realise they could not achieve their goals militarily and therefore opt to talk.
America's situation is different. Al-Qaeda want to destroy the Western world, particularly the US. They do not want to talk, Bin Laden does not want to talk, those who planted the bombs in Bali and Madrid do not want to talk. Therefore they must be hunted down. Americans believe that George Bush will do this and that is why they elected him.
Talk is a great thing, but sometimes it is not enough. - Yours, etc.,
CHRIS MEGRAW, Oldbridge View, Lucan, Co Dublin.