LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (09/19/04)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Why waste energy on taking credit?

Dear Editor:

Regarding the letters by Askold Lozynskyj (August 8) and Lubomyr Luciuk (August 22): two distinguished pofessionals could better channel their talents and focus on more pressing issues facing Ukraine and Ukrainians, rather than debating who should take credit for what. Talking and writing about "upmanship" is pure dribble.

How about the thousands of ordinary citizens who wrote notes of support, signed and paid for postage for the postcards? You don't hear them complaining.

The postcard campaign was very effective no matter who started it.

Let's go! Next project, life goes on!

Michael W. Bohdan
Union, N.J.

Directness does not equal responsibility

Dear Editor:

After George W. Bush's speech at the Republican convention, many media analysts were quick to praise his direct rhetoric and point out how at ease he appeared. Contrasting with John Kerry's furrow-browed presence resembling a Shakespearean warrior, Mr. Bush's grinning posture was that of a good-old-pal at a tailgate party.

I wonder why this affability of President Bush is immediately equated with "trustability" and the capacity to lead our powerful nation. Rather than showing wisdom or honesty, to me his relaxed manner bespeaks someone who has endured little hardship in his life and who easily shirks responsibility.

His much-touted "loyalty to friends" does not suggest that he has all of our best interests at heart. In the international arena, we find him strangely extending his friendship to the Russians but not to the French. His personal and international "loyalty" reminds us of the tsars' devotion to their boyar-peers and their loyalty to one ally one year and another the next.

The Republican Party values personal accountability: every American should take responsibility for his actions and not expect handouts. Yet President Bush and his administration have yet to apologize for any of their errors: their error in ignoring CIA information about terrorists before 9/11; their error in ignoring military advice to send skilled American soldiers to search for Bin Laden rather than Afghans; their error (if not lie) in proclaiming that Saddam Hussein held weapons of mass destruction; their four-month silence about the Abu-Ghraib atrocities. These were no mere venial miscalculations but mortal mistakes that resulted and continue to result in thousands of dead and wounded. Instead of taking responsibility or expressing remorse or altering their course, Mr. Bush and his aides blame low-ranking officers, the media and "evil-doers" named and unnamed. Their policy of bravado and finger-pointing does little to calm our anxieties.

In my years as a professor at universities around the country, I've taught a lot of affable young men. Mr. Bush's easy-going manner reminds me most of one student from western Pennsylvania. Every day he showed up to class, slapped the backs of his chosen friends, but took no notes. When I asked him about his plans for the future, he replied directly that he was about to inherit his father's farm and would convert it into a golf course for himself and his friends after graduation.

Let's not confuse President Bush's directness with intelligence, his ease with high ideals, or his "loyalty" with a sense of responsibility or care for every American.

Marika Kuzma
Oakland, Calif.

The letter-writer is Virginia Lew Associate Professor of Music at the University of California, Berkeley.

More on Canada and political science

Dear Editor:

Re: "Kuzio commentary causes kerfuffle in Canada" by Oksana Zakydalsky (August 8): That Dr. Taras Kuzio was unable to earn tenure in Canada has nothing to do with the support available here for political scientists interested in studying contemporary Ukraine. For example, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) recently announced a multi-year, multi-million-dollar grant aimed at promoting democracy in Ukraine, awarded to a distinguished political scientist at Queen's University, Prof. George Perlin.

Lubomyr Luciuk, Ph.D.
Kingston, Ontario

The letter-writer is a professor with the department of politics and economics at the Royal Military College of Canada.

Jack Palance: a man of integrity

Dear Editor:

Earlier this year, the Oscar-winning actor Jack Palance refused to accept the Russian People's Choice Award of "narodnyi artist." The award was offered by the Russian Ministry of Culture, with the full support of President Vladimir Putin, and was the culmination of a week of "Russian Nights" in Los Angeles to celebrate Russian contributions to the world of art. After his introduction, Mr. Palance told the audience that he was Ukrainian, not Russian, and walked out of the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, where the presentations were made.

Although the incident was not widely reported by the media, as Ukrainian Americans we are proud of Mr. Palance's decision and believe a similar award should be offered him by the Ukrainian government. It is well-earned. Even during the late 1950s, when being a Ukrainian in the United States was not particularly popular, we remember Mr. Palance coming to the East Village in New York and singing "Ridna Maty Moya" for his Ukrainian audience, boosting its morale and pride.

If each one of us took a similar stand, we would go a long way in discouraging the Russians from raising their country's reputation and image at Ukrainian expense. It's about time we took some wind out of Russian historical sails.

Our kudos to Mr. Palance, a man of integrity and high ideals.

Eugene Melnitchenko
and Helena Lysyj Melnitchenko
Owings, Md.

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