Cex Cover a New Low

The city of Baltimore will be spending $1 million to market us as an attractive tourist destination. It therefore behooves us all to see that this investment is worth it, especially since taxpayers will be footing the bill. One way everyone could contribute to our image would be to refrain from vulgar, distasteful, and borderline-obscene material like the front page of the City Paper that landed in my lobby today.

For the longest time the “visual artists” responsible for City Paper material have appeared to be engaged in the graphic design equivalent of a “stinky sneaker contest.” If awards were to be given for truly offensive photojournalistic “art,” I’d say the Aug. 10 cover would win.

It might occur to you that City Paper is free and distributed everywhere. I’ve picked it up on trains while commuting to New York and Washington, it’s in the lobbies of countless apartment buildings and in grocery stores, and is displayed in yellow street boxes and hotels. Presenting a positive image of our city should be on your agenda, and it would be nice if you took that to heart.

Why, why, why would you create such an ugly, disagreeable image as this week’s cover? Your model looks like he’s just been released from prison, and your headline “Summer Sounds That Don’t Suck” takes our English language to a new low.

In a city that apparently thrives on a culture of negativity, City Paper is right there along for the ride. Isn’t it time we tried to change the rotten pessimism that abounds in “Charm City”? Let’s celebrate what’s good about Baltimore and leave the wallowing in the visual mud to other municipalities!

Roz Nester
Baltimore

Terrible Great Letter

Brain Morton’s latest Political Animal column (“The Shape of Things to Come,” Aug. 10) was refreshing, but I think he missed a few points. First, S&P stated that a major factor in the downgrading of the nation’s credit rating was a lack of faith in the ability of the two parties to govern effectively; of particular note, the refusal to compromise on the part of the Nazi tea party reps on raising revenues. Secondly, I think it’s notable that the last time the right wing attempted hostage tactics (the Contract Against With America folks) in the early Clinton years, the far right didn’t have the propaganda arm it now has in Faux Fox News combined with the faux-populism of the tea party exploiting the ignorant at every turn. From a sociological standpoint, it’s interesting that the party that professes belief in rational agents acting in a free market has duped the majority into voting against their own economic self-interest. As an anarchist/communist, I feel vindicated in my beliefs once again. As a citizen, I can only hang my head in shame.

Jason Lewis
Baltimore