Free Republic

You control our world. You’ve poisoned the air we breathe, contaminated the water we drink, and copyrighted the food we eat. We fight in your wars, die for your causes, and sacrifice our freedoms to protect you. You’ve liquidated our savings, destroyed our middle class, and used our tax dollars to bailout your unending greed. We are slaves to your corporations, zombies to your airwaves, servants to your decadence. You’ve stolen our elections, assassinated our leaders, and abolished our basic rights as human beings. You own our property, shipped away our jobs, and shredded our unions. You’ve profited off of...

2011 is shaping up to be the year of the open letter. The general form of these open letters breaks down to the following format: Salutation Praise for the person or product you are about to dismantle. A breakdown of what is wrong and how miserably wrong it is. An explanation of why this is bad. Your solution for how the person being addressed in the letter can solve all your problems. A close that again praises the person or product because you can’t leave on a sour note. Every time I read an open letter I envision the person...

Dear Editor We the undersigned have detected a recent resurgence in open letters to newspapers and would like to explore this further. How effective are they? What's the key to a good open letter? Why are so many springing up now? Yours faithfully Concerned readers Subjects as diverse as regional theatre, fiscal policy and trouble with the in-laws have all been recently tackled by open letters to newspapers. It's become a widely used tool to register disapproval, set out one's position or simply let off steam. Fifty-three MPs urged reform of drugs policy, 46 actors protested about cuts to regional...