Letters to the Editor

The Constitution doesn't call for newspapers to tell the truth, thank God. Dopes like Madison and Adams figured each American ought to be smart enough to understand our own Citizens Handbook without the assistance of corruptible and political newspapers. But would it kill you?

JM Schell
Arvada

Breaking silence: Bravissimo to Alan Prendergast for his exemplary audacity in screaming out against the far-too-long suppressed silence enforced on prison inmates in both state and federal institutions ("The Long Silence," September 12). Here's the rest of that story: The United States Postal Service took it upon itself in the interest of noblesse oblige to sister bureaucracies to allow officials of "any jail-type institutions" to confiscate or destroy any incoming or outgoing mail addressed to or sent by any of its charges without fear of prosecution. What a fine example that sets. Herbert C. Hoover, our 31st president, was responsible for instituting the federal penal system, and for some mystifying reason, he wound up the recipient of (Dr. Joseph Paul) Goebbel's Diaries. Obviously, Hoover learned a few tricks in disseminating false information amongst the mass-minded from Hitler's chief propagandist.

How many Americans are aware that those "interpretative tours" of Alcatraz Island are unconscienced distortions of historical facts? Those trusting tourists visiting one of the most infamous prisons in chronicled penology must pay to take a ferry ride to Fantasy Island compliments of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

James Carey
Leavenworth, Kansas