Letters

 I knew I'd get letters eventually. I just didn't expect so many so soon. Thanks, and keep it up.

Harrison Klein, my once and future announcer, writes:

Always nice to read your material. Keep it coming.

One suggestion for us lazy types: show the complete URL in the announcement
so it becomes an active link and you don't have to retype it.

Jeremy Barna of TechWeb had the same complaint. As it turns out, Microsoft Express (which I use for email) turns the URL into a clickable address without the http://, but apparently Macintoshes and Lotus Notes need a little help. In the future I will provide that help.

Neal Macklin, who led off the industry news section above, also had some nice things to say about the column. Neal allows as how he might offer some reader commentary in the future.

I won't run a lot of this kind of thing (although I did receive a lot of it), but Neal was nice enough to write:

Really enjoyed your column--I didn't realize how much I missed reading your stuff until now.

If you can keep it relatively short and in the same easy-to-read format, I'll try to read it every week.

I won't have time for anything but short, Neal. Except maybe down here at the end in the letters column.

Joe Brancatelli of upstate New York, once editor of Information Systems News (the newspaper that became InformationWEEK) didn't ask if I would be carrying reader comment, he just supplied some. Since I'm the columnist, I get the last word, so there are some [bracketed] comments in his analysis. And some cuts...

Well, the Serbia thing is very tough for outsiders. There must be some madness in this region (I mean, the Croats were nazi hacks in WW2... It is very sad. [Joe, they still talk about battles from the 1300s as if they were yesterday. You think the Middle East is tough, try the Balkans]

Now, as for the Clinton thing. I go back and forth on the process, but, still, I believe this:

1) Impeachment and trial is no terrible thing. It's in the constitution. Our founding fathers foresaw the possibility. Why are we so afraid of it. [For the same reason we fear people who use elephant guns to hunt flies. Disproportionality]

2) Everyone agrees Clinton was a jerk and a fool and should be punished in some way. Most say no removal from office. Okay. Then let's go ahead with
impeachment ... let's do the process without fear. We as a nation can handle it. We built the nation to handle it. [We don't need to do it this way... Once you've done the unthinkable twice in 25 years, it becomes thinkable. We'll have an impeachment inquiry every time we have split government from now on. Might as well move to a parliamentary system if we're going to lower the bar this far.]

3) Don't fall for the "reversal of two elections" crap. Regardless of what the Republicans may want, they can't reverse the election...[Motive counts for something. This whole thing is a Clinton-hater production, start to finish. They won't be happy until he's destroyed. I won't be happy until they are thwarted. God it feels good to say that in public.]

4) Finally, you know the American people are gonna decide in this case. If the Dems get buried on Election Day, Clinton is gone. If they hold their own, the Republicans will fold... [You got that right. Vote early and often on election day, and vote your conscience, not your pocketbook.]