Name Calling

Re "The 'R-word' is no joke," Opinion, Aug. 22 Maria Shriver wants to make the "R-word" as unacceptable as the "N-word," adding to the ever-growing list of terms that are off-limits. It is true that words can be hurtful, and thoughtful people should respect the feelings of others. But shutting off speech isn't going to stop boorish behavior. The typical reaction to insults these days is to get even. A better solution would be to get thicker skins. Names hurt only when we allow them to hurt.

I was amazed at the sheer amount of bias displayed in your "Orange Trustee Denounces Liberal Activists," Oct. 30. Although the headline refers to "liberal activists," in the article they are referred to as "moderates." Because school board President Martin Jacobson is using the well-known name-calling and guilt by association tactics so popular with the left, you went out of your way to interview a professor who calls Jacobson's tactics "red-baiting." The article also contains a quote from a challenger who calls him and those like him "right-wing," but avoids quoting similarly loaded words from Jacobson.

Do only Prius-driving, gay-marriage-supporting, organic-crazed liberals shop at Whole Foods? Not anymore. Since Aug. 11, when Whole Foods CEO John Mackey published an Op-Ed article in the Wall Street Journal opposing President Obama's healthcare reform ideas, customers who disagree have boycotted -- or at least have claimed to be boycotting -- the high-end supermarket chain. In response, a lot of other people, who oppose the proposed reforms, have apparently developed a sudden taste for organic kumquats.