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307 West 5th Street Austin, Texas “Dialogue,” from page 2 added that characteristic on the urging of his editors and their lawyers to help protect the identity of the source. 8.In paragraph fourteen, King writes that Lake Eufaula is in Arkansas. The huge lake is in Oklahoma, if King had bothered to do his homework or read the Afterword more carefully. 9.In paragraph sixteen, King states that Hatfield “refused to reveal his uncorroborated `sources’ even to them [his editors] or their lawyers.” Barry Neville told Salon magazine that Hatfield had confided in him the name of one of his sources. In addition, Hatfield was quoted on 60 Minutes as stating that he attempted to tell the attorney for St. Martin’s who vetted the book, but she didn’t want to know. When is the press going to accept this information for what it really is? The Truth! Don’t tell me that you too have decided to hide this information from the public in order to protect this man. We are deciding who will run this country. The position of president is very important, and George Bush and his daddy’s money does not qualify him for this job. Soon, very soon, you will have egg on your face concerning this information. I am very disappointed in how you presented this story and the unnecessary attack on Mr. Hatfield. Mr. Bush states he has been redeemed, saved, etc. and you accept that. Mr. Bush is no better than Mr. Hatfield. Both of these men have obviously made past mistakes. What concerns me is that the Observer is willing to accept and go as far as to hide Mr. Bush’s past and attack or try to destroy the messenger. The truth will come out. I believe that with all of my being. I will never patronize your paper ever again, based on the terrible job you did in reporting this information to the public. Kathy Schroeder Port Aransas Michael King responds: I thank Linda Starr and Kathy Schroeder for the opportunity to correct my inadvertent transposition of Lake Eufaula from Oklahoma to Arkansas. I apologize to our readers for the confusion. Otherwise, my thoughts on J.H. Hatfield and Fortunate Son remain unaltered. ENGLISH FIRST Mike King, a good person all the time and on occasion even a saint, editorially writing about that horse’s ass Henry Kissinger \(“Good Rid”Consigliere,” which would have caused my father turned over in his grave. Maury Maverick Jr. San Antonio Michael King responds: Maury Maverick, a maverick all the time and on occasion the shining light of Texas independent journalism, confessed to me on the phone that he hasn’t seen a movie in twenty years, which is why he doesn’t recognize pop-culture references to gangster films, e.g., the malevoThe Godfather’s Don Corleone. Perhaps only Robert Duvall could do justice to the malebolge that is Henry Kissinger. STARS AND BARS FOREVER There’s been considerable discussion lately about Texas’ numerous public memorials to the Confederacy, and how George W. Bush might respond to this issue \(Left Field, “The Bush refurbished Texas Supreme Court Building, which has a prominent plaque with a very visible Confederate flag in raised bronze. There’s also another very conspicuous plaque there, with the Seal of the Confederacy, “Dedicated to Texans Who Served the Confederacy.” Why do these plaques occupy such prominence in the Supreme Court Building, and why were they recently placed there when the building was refurbished? Wouldn’t it be more appropriate for the walls to exhibit something about equal justice perhaps the 1972 Texas Equal Rights Amendment, that “Equality under the law shall not be denied or abridged because sex, race, color, creed, or national origin?” Most high court buildings in the nation proclaim equality, but not in Texas. Rather, ours recalls a period of slavery. Nor is there any memorial in the Supreme Court Building honoring Texans who fought to abolish slavery, or who were its victims. Perhaps Governor Bush and the Texas Supreme Court should attend to this issue. And while they’re at it, they ought to consider why all but one of the seventy elegant portraits of jurists hung on the court walls as part of the renovation are white men. Symbols are important in our justice system, and those in the Supreme Court building are contrary to Texas’ rich and diverse history. The Confederate seal and flag need to come down, and the portraits need to be changed out so they reflect all Texans. James C. Harrington, Director Texas Civil Rights Project, Austin STUCK INSIDE OF MOBIL It appears every time the oil companies decide to jack up the price of gasoline there is sure to follow a ridiculous story about how little Americans pay for gas compared to other countries. The comparisons are totally wrong. You do not compare apples to oranges. Such a story popped up in the Austin American-Statesman March 10. As usual the writer used Europe and Asia as examples of high gas prices. Let’s take Germany, for example. Texas is twice the size of that country; in other words, Texas would cover several European countries. Consider that within 450 miles from the center of our state, we could drive to several foreign countries as Germans can do. But let us remember that we are not in Eu rope. Americans commute many miles to work each day, even those living in so-called rural areas, working in towns some distance away. Europeans do not commute distances like that. Let us also remember American cities have extremely poor public transportation systems. Not so in Europe. Also, inter-city transportation in Europe is great, trains running frequently and on time. Not true here. Our train system is a joke. In Europe people travel by train because they are fast and inexpensive. Travel by car is not needed to the extent it is needed here. Train service like Europe’s would be impossible because of our land mass, thus making the auto our only real mode of travel. Oil companies know that. The writer of the March 10 article also mentioned the price of gas in Hong Kong. Come on! How far are you going in Hong Kong? It is like New York, filled with cabs. Most people who reside in one of the boroughs of N.Y.C. do not own cars. In the U.S.A. we find N.Y.C. is one of the few cities having a reasonable transit system with its subway system. With all the cars on the road in our country burning fuel, does the petroleum industry expect us to believe it is not making money when the price of gasoline was eighty-five cents a gallon as it was last summer? I remember reading of the profits by oil companies last year. Roland Dath Fredericksburg Mathis and Company Certified Public Accountants Tax Work, Litigation Support and Other Analyses Austin, Texas [email protected] [email protected] 28 THE TEXAS OBSERVED MARCH 31. 2000