War and the arts: a duet

AFTER 12 long years, musicians finally rise up -- but, unfortunately, against the wrong aggressor (“Striking an Antiwar Chord,” by Geoff Boucher, March 8). It is quite easy to stand against our own government. Why have I not seen any of the musicians scream and yell for Saddam Hussein to lay his weapons down and to treat his populace with dignity? Why haven’t they held a concert to bring insight to the world on Hussein’s treachery?

I’ll tell you why: It just does not make for good press to stand up against tyrants. It is politically correct to stand against a conservative president.

Aron Davidsohn

Los Angeles

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IN his recent television ads supporting war in Iraq, former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) says, “When people ask, ‘What has Saddam done to us?’ I ask, ‘What had the 9/11 hijackers done to us before 9/11?” (“Not Ready to Yield the Floor,” by Reed Johnson, March 11). Wouldn’t the rather obvious short list include the bombings of the destroyer Cole, our embassies in Africa and the first World Trade Center bombing?

Either the senator is ignorant of history, or (more likely) he’s hoping the rest of us are.

Doug Palau

Los Angeles

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WE’VE certainly redefined censorship down, way down, if it now includes not showing a tapestry version of a famous work of art on TV (“A Billboard’s Statement,” by Christopher Knight, March 10).

As far as I know, there’s still freedom of choice in this country regarding press conference backdrops. It seems understandable that an audience might be distracted by a work of art, be it a depiction of a Nazi bombing of a village in Spain, the Holy Family or a cow preserved in formaldehyde. America protected “Guernica” from war and oppressive governments for 40 years when it was on display, with Picasso’s blessing, in the Museum of Modern Art.

Today, its pitiful facsimile stands with inaccurate colors, hoisted above a used car lot and obscured with glow-in-the-dark images, conveniently appropriated as a statement of antiwar propaganda.

You tell me, who’s covering up what?

Anne Kemp Hummel

Northridge