| Readers
respond to music coverage
Please bring Michael Swanger back. I’m a big
fan of his dedication. He’s been doing such
a great job interviewing, promoting and reporting
on the local music scene, which is really starting
to come into its own lately. Please rethink
this new hire.
Editor’s note: Swanger never left. His work
is still in Scene Scribe each week. Chad Taylor
is now adding to the mix with CD reviews.
Bryan Farland
Des Moines
I just wanted to take a minute to tell you
how much I am enjoying the recent change in
Sound Check album reviews. They are well written
and refreshingly honest. The recent Lou Reed/Metallica
review (“Sound Check,” Nov. 3) is probably my
favorite — though, I’ll be honest, bad reviews
are usually more fun to read. The “fat men in
an elevator” line is probably the best comment
I’ve heard in reference to... well, anything.
Anyway, I just wanted to give y’all a thumbs
up. I like what I am reading, and I figure most
people don’t really take the time to pass on
positive feedback.
Kelly Leaman
Des Moines
Politics is dirty
I always watch “Inside Edition” on channel
8 as it comes on after the 6 p.m. news. They
recently had a photo of talk show host Steve
Deace. He used to be on WHO Radio until he quit
to found his own syndicated radio network. I
guess he wants to be the next Rush Limbaugh.
Well, he claimed that Herman Cain sexually affronted
two employees of WHO Radio when he was there
for an interview. Now, is this accurate, or
is Deace in Rick Perry’s camp and trying to
discredit a black man? Who knows? One thing
is for sure — I’m not going to be voting at
the Republican caucuses in January.
Gary Thelen
West Des Moines
Ron Paul is the man
There is one candidate who is constantly being
underestimated by members of the press and the
media as a whole, one who appeals to many Americans
who demand change in a different form than we
are undergoing under this administration. Despite
what some politicos may think, Ron Paul is not
a third-tier candidate. He has consistently
placed between 15-30 percent in polls in crucial
states like New Hampshire and Florida, and he
took a solid third place in the Des Moines Register
poll released on Oct. 30. The two in front of
him were Herman Cain and Mitt Romney. They don’t
mean what they’re saying more than half of the
time, so they bend over backwards to appeal
to a niche group, e.g. people who jeer soldiers
because they’re homosexual. The difference is
Paul always says what he means, and he means
what he says, whether or not you agree with
him.
Nick Dolan
Des Moines
Corrections: Our Money page (“Travel,”
Nov. 3) contained an error. The cost for Des
Moines Mayor T.M. Franklin Cownie to attend
the U.S. Conference of Mayors was $768.40, but
the airfare portion of that cost will be reimbursed
to the City. Last week, we misspelled Judy Tyler’s
name next to her photo (“Say Cheese,” Nov. 3).
We apologize for the mistakes. | 
