YOUR FAVORITE CANADIAN ASSHOLE— NOW WITH FLAMES!
I was going to send you a note regarding your caustic comments about the great American city of Detroit… that is, until I read the many, many comments already delivered to you from my fellow Detroiters.
What was it that Reagan used to say? "The American people always get it right"… and the good people of Detroit got it right too: You are a flaming asshole. I had no idea until this morning that you are Canadian. Unfortunate, that, as we enjoy a warm relationship with our northern neighbors. So why don't you take your isolated, provincial, uninformed, and divisive comments and stuff them where the sun does not shine. Piss off, hoser!!!
PS— Fox, Gem, State, Music Hall, Opera House, Masonic Auditorium, St Andrews Hall, Orchestra Hall, Magic Stick are all theaters operating very nicely in the Motor City, you fucking tool of the machine.
Brad Peterson
Leland, Michigan (born and raised in Detroit)
YOUR FAVORITE CANADIAN SCROTUM - NOW IN PINK BRIEFS!
First off I have to say that I am proud to say I have never heard of you and hopefully I never will hear of you again. Your attacks on the city of Detroit are completely unfounded, yes, every city has its problems and rough spots, and as a resident I am well aware that the city of Detroit has more than most. But as a 21 year old college student (yes I am literate, contrary to your beliefs) who was born and raised there, I have to be honest and say that you are a complete idiot and you have never probably even been to city, and if you have been you probably stayed in a hotel in the suburbs and then went downtown and were so scared to explore and see the real city that you didn't see all of the positive things happening. If the city is in such a state of decay, why do companies like Ford, GM, Chrysler, Compuware, and numerous others keep investing in it? Or better yet why do Ilitch Holdings invest millions of dollars into the city itself and take pride in saying that they are from Detroit?
Dare I say but you are even more ignorant than Johnny Knoxville, because even that "Jackass" had enough balls to go into the city and see that young people are investing in the city and creating new industries on a daily basis. Yes, a man that hits himself in the testicles for fun is more educated than you sir. I am also amazed that you have the audacity to open your mouth on a topic that you know nothing about, but I guess that is how you do things where you are from isn't it? Then you just let the government bail you out. Heaven forbid you do something useful with your life, something that requires a little bit of hard work or skill, I know four year olds who can sit there and talk about something they know nothing about.
With all of this being said I will close with this: Grow a pair of testicles and educate yourself on something before you attack a city that is capable of standing up for itself and stop crying when people tell you how it really is. I'd love to see you work at a stamping plant for a day, or even follow around a Detroit police officer and do something with your life that requires a little bit of grit. I would love to hear a response from you, and from what I know about you so far, which is nothing I figure I may get some smart-ass reply where you insult my city again, and I'm sure you will that is if you have big enough scrotum to reply. I know if you actually had to confront an actual Detroiter you would probably have to change your pink briefs because you wouldn't be able to hid behind your little website and microphone and would actually have to take a stand for yourself.
But then again, if you saw an actual Detroiter you'd probably run away wouldn't you? Because after all we all carry handguns and just shoot each other all day right? Grow a pair and investigate the city for yourself you silver-spooned prick, and why your growing a some man-parts you also might want to grow a brain so you can actually make intellectual comments on social issues for once. I know I probably won't hear a reply from you even though I'd love to hear what you have to say, but you'll probably just run away like everyone else who was never taught how to do things the right way. Have a nice life prick.
Raymond Wojtala
Allen Park, Michigan
CURTAIN UP
I just got finished listening to your interview on WJR radio, and I can understand the frustration so many Detroiters have with you. Mr Beckmann tried several times to get you to understand, but you just wouldn't listen: the Fox Theatre has been refurbished, so everything is okay. Shut up.
Daniel Stevens
Los Angeles, California
URBAN BLIGHTS, TRAGIC NIGHTS
I live in a suburb of Detroit and heard you on two local talk-radio programs yesterday (WJR and WLQV). I want to go on record to say that you are correct in your assessment of a once fine city. Many in the greater Detroit area are intent on "maintaining the delusion" (to quote you) that Detroit is rising from the ashes. Nothing could be further from the truth! While some buildings have been restored, along with some growth in the downtown area, Detroit is not a safe place to visit or to raise a family any longer.
I would venture to guess many in the tri-county area of Detroit (Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties) would agree with what you say— we just don't have the voice to state our case.
My neighbor, a husband and father of three (ages 10-16), was shot and killed in a robbery in Detroit. The crime occurred last July and still, like countless other murders here, remains unsolved. The family has been devastated and fearful the killer may come after them. There are so many crimes occurring in Detroit that this particular story received very little coverage, and I have doubts the case will ever be solved. Many also ignore the fact that Detroit has lost a generation of black kids to violent crime and drugs, while choosing to be a cheerleader and "rearrange deck chairs while the ship is sinking". I could go on and on, but I won't bore you.
I admire the fact that on both shows, you held your position, and defended it in a logical, factual, manner. I also enjoy it when you sub for Rush— maybe you'll get a show here in Detroit someday, too!
Steve Witkowski
Rochester Hills, Michigan
LET THEM READ BOOKS (IF THEY CAN)!
Mark, I just finished listening to your interview with Frank Beckmann, and I was a bit surprised that he labeled you an "elitist". Your point about the illiteracy rate of those in the Detroit Public School system was met with the counter argument of "but look at our theatres and hotels!" And while I'm sure that they are lovely, Beckmann was completely oblivious to the reality that those who are suffering the consequences of the public school system's incompetence wouldn't be able to read the playbill at the theatre or fill out an application to work as a janitor in the hotel, let alone afford patronize either of these establishments.
I expected to hear him utter the words "let them eat cake" before it was all over. Who is the elitist now?
April
RENAISSANCE CENTER, JUST AROUND THE CORNER
Detroit is the progressive paradigm. As a life-long Michigander I can say you are spot on with your analysis. It is interesting that Mr Huck stated he lives in the Detroit suburbs. Of course he does, that's where everyone wants to live around Detroit! If you don't have to live within the city limits, you don't— that's the problem. The suburbs for the most part are prosperous and high tech. The city itself is rotting.
Dominated politically by Democrats, if you name a liberal policy, it was tried in the Motor City, and what was achieved? In my occasional drives around the country, I marvel at the growth of once much smaller cities. The skyline of almost every metropolitan area in the US has surpassed Detroit. What was the last building built within the city limits over five stories tall? Not counting the publicly funded sports stadiums, I believe it was the ironically named "Renaissance Center" completed 30 years ago.
Enough said.
Jerry Coon
Midland, Michigan
RACE CARDS AND SHELL GAMES
Brilliant! Absolutely Brilliant! Bravo to you, sir for telling it like it is in Detroit. As a local PR specialist, I was very intrigued with your comments on Rush's program and then on WJR with Frank Beckmann. I couldn't have said it better. As much as I like Frank, he was way off the other day and kept throwing red herrings into the mix; he let emotion out rule logic. You're right when you say Detroit did this to itself.
The one thing that neither of you touched upon though, was race relations, which plays an overwhelming part in this scenario. It started with the riots in '67 and affirmative action shortly thereafter. Then came Mayor Coleman Young, who really made things worse with his anti-white, anti-suburbs rhetoric. But God forbid I should ever say that! (Oh, I just did, didn't I?)
If you play three-handed Pinochle, you know that there are three cards in the middle of the table that people can then bid on to see if they can improve their hand. Chrysler did the same thing: a $9 million gamble on something that may be there, though they have no idea if it will work. And quite frankly, I know it will not— the government might just as well have taken the $9 million and flushed it down the toilet or bet on the Lions to win the Super Bowl in 2011.
Keep their feet to the fire, Mark!
Franklin Dohanyos
IMPORTED FROM TOYOTA CITY
I was delighted to hear you on the radio, and I particularly enjoyed your observations on Detroit and the Eminem Chrysler commercial. As I recall, you noted that although Detroit is in an inextricably horrible fix, it has found itself there entirely by its own lights. I see you have offended a few residents of Detroit, including one who sweetens his proposal to disabuse you of your erroneous impressions with a booty call. (It reminds me of the old joke in which an Irishman wins a drawing and the first prize is a week in Belfast. Second prize? Two weeks!)
Even the Chrysler commercial that inspired your anti-Detroit philippic admits in its words and imagery that Detroit is a blighted urban center. It is the shining negative example that municipalities point to when they lament the impending fiscal doom slowly descending on their fair city: "We must curb spending and curtail political corruption or we will end up like Detroit!"
While I do not want to kick a man when he is down, I see nothing wrong with pointing out the circumstances that drove him down. In this case, Detroit has made disastrous decisions that have bankrupt, debased, corrupted and enervated its people. Its unions have contributed mightily to its ruin and made mendicants of proud companies. The civic government has long since abandoned the welfare of its citizens and wallowed in a culture of corruption for decades. I hope Detroit has the will to right itself and become a vibrant city again, but I intend to work to ensure the same hardships don't visit my city, or any other.
Just a word on the Eminem commercial: I found its tone very irritating. Where was the acknowledgement, however slight, that Detroit had learned something from any of its recent setbacks? The voice-over provided an implacable sense of entitlement that one hopes would have been driven out of the breast of the Detroit native. As for Eminem himself, I always find it distressing to behold a grown man who wraps himself in the trappings of a surly, belligerent teenager, simply oozing with the false pride of unabashed egotism. All in all, the experience filled me with a longing to buy a Toyota.
Stephen Herubin
A PLEASURE NOT DOING BUSINESS WITH YOU
Mark, your comments on Detroit were precisely correct in every detail.
I came to work at the Burroughs Corporation in June 1967, a month before the Detroit Riot. My employment as chief economist and senior VP with Comerica Bank spanned another 35 years; all my full-time working career of 38 years was in downtown Detroit.
The business climate in the City of Detroit is among the most atrocious I've ever experienced. Despite what many execs admit in their public (PC) conversations, they say something very different in private and over guarded lunch and dinner tables.
People and firms vote with their feet. We see vindication of your logic and observations in the empirical evidence all around us. To paraphrase Ayn Rand, you can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.
David Littmann
THE WORST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN MICHIGAN
I spent 35 years living in the suburbs of Detroit, and I can state categorically that you couldn't put a complete set of teeth together out of the mouths of the nimrods whose e-mails I just read. Detroit hasn't had a government that could run a whorehouse on a Marine base in the last 50 years. Now, having lived in Scottsdale Arizona for the last 30 years, I can say without qualification to the people of Detroit: The truth hurts. Deal with it.
PS— While reading America Alone I made the mistake of taking a sip of coffee while reading the part about shaking hands with Hillary— spewed all over the place!
Tom Stitt
Scottsdale, Arizona
SECURITY, PLEASE!
Typically, a city like Detroit riots after a professional sports victory; however, your upcoming Hillsdale appearance might be the exception.
Angie Sharp
Manor, Texas
Thank you for your kind (and unkind) letters from America, Canada, Britain, Australia and around the world. Mark reads all mail, but especially enjoys the vicious ones. Each day Monday to Friday we pick six of the best for our Daily Delivery. So drop a line to Mark's Mailbox, and on Friday if you're chosen to be the one and only Letter of the Week you'll join our roll of winners from four Continents and receive a copy of Mark Steyn From Head To Toe. It would help if you could indicate your city or town, or, at any rate, your state, province or country. If not, at least let us know what planet you're on.
