Maybe Alexander Cockburn has just been at this too long, or has too many irons in the fire to give his regular "Beat the Devil" column the focus and attention to detail it deserves. Within this whole article there was one small point being made: The media industry will overlook most things in the pursuit of money, until enough fuss is made. Unfortunately, this same point has been made ad nauseam by the very media involved. We don't need to see valuable Nation space being wasted on self-evident propositions such as these. Especially when he backs them up with statements like "Walk into a clothing store patronized by the younger multicultural set and 'ho's' and 'bitches' thunder from the speakers." Maybe he meant "a" clothing store, meaning one he knows of personally. I shop a lot with my kids and there is no evidence that this assertion is true. Or take the "Europeans tend to take the position that remorse adds to the crime." I'm a European (living in Virginia) and I'd like to know the evidence for this.

Why do I object to these lines of reasoning? Because it's the same wooly thinking and stereotyping that underpins the kind of nonsense that Don Imus spouted. I have no real objection to the point being made by Mr. Cockburn, but I don't think many subscribers to The Nation were in need of convincing anyway. I subscribe because I expect a better standard from The Nation. Maybe a little editorial control would have been useful here.

Bill Kerr-Smith

Falls Church, VA