Get rid of the bum

As a faithful subscriber to The Jakarta Post since it first became available and at the risk of being grouped into Mr. Peter B. Doering's "complaining Americans" category, I must point out that your newspaper is being, sadly, used and abused by this writer.

As an English language newspaper, for the most part, you do a great job but, a reoccurring fault is your kind naivete toward the letter writers who have some personal axe to grind. That Mr. Doering has some hang-up in his appreciation of us "grand," "superior," "complaining," "criminal" Americans is not worthy of the space it takes in your pages, or the ink that's wasted to print it.

Mr. Doering bases his assumptions and vents his jealousy on a sampling of one-three millionth of the U.S. population (in the case of the youth Michael Fay). In his ire he seeks to convince your readers that the source of all evil lies in America. He exposes his phobias with the zest of the classic sex flasher in a public park.

Beyond claiming to be a "European," he does not reveal his own nationality. I can guess (by applying his brilliant logic) that, in Europe, we would find him running with the neo-Nazis, burning out "undesirable" Asians and defenseless minorities begging for a peaceful life.

Regarding his stated desire to wield the split bamboo cane on "American criminals" (...President Clinton, or, any other American, for that matter) I wonder how he would like to try that entertainment where the recipient was not tied down over a frame? Just to set the picture straight: I am one "superior" American who will gladly give him lessons in the use of a cane we would each have in hand!

He complains of "professional complainers" but I have to ask, what do we have to do to get this jerk-off off the pages of an otherwise nice little newspaper?

LINK LUCKETT

Jakarta