You express your wish that protestors who are quoted in the press not say stupid or hypocritical things. But did you ever consider why the mainstream press takes such a delight in printing these quotes? In any crowd you can find people who will say the wrong thing or who will look like idiots. Use these as the representatives and you can make everyone involved look bad. And by continuing to focus on them, because they were quoted in the Daily News, of all places, you’re actually doing the exact same thing.

I was locked up for nearly 36 hours with these people, most of it in that far grimmer place known as the Tombs. The courage and strength they showed in this uncertain and frightening experience was simply astounding to me. Total strangers cared for one another and looked after those who were in far worse shape, because the police certainly weren’t doing it. Throughout it all they maintained a sense of humor and gave each other strength. Think of those people when you write your next editorial, instead of the one idiot who calls it a Nazi concentration camp—and then ask why something like this had to happen to them.

Eric Corley, aka Emmanuel Goldstein, Manhattan

WALKING THE TALK

Regarding “Guantanamo on the Hudson Reconsidered,” shame on you (Page Two, 9/8). I’m no “spoiled brat.” I’m a seasoned protestor who has taken the time to educate herself regarding the law and civil disobedience, and as such, I find your blanket dismissal of those of us held at Pier 57 offensive and sad. I was there, and I was uniformly impressed with the intelligence, demeanor and bravery of those with whom I was detained—a great many of them, including me, long past spoiled-brat age.

What you should be most ashamed of is that you make your claims without having been anywhere near the place, and even more, that you “stopped joining mass street protests a long time ago” based on what—the company? Your complacency is appalling, and that you choose to sit on your behinds editorializing—and worse, generalizing—about those of us who continue to work hard and take risks for social change makes you the spoiled brats, no question about it.

It’s attitudes like yours that lead our government to be as confident as it is in its ability to erode our First Amendment rights. When I see you out in the streets again like responsible, thinking citizens who are above high-school level “discussion,” maybe I’ll listen to what you have to say about current events. In the meantime, you only demonstrate that “those who can’t do criticize,” and that you prefer to discriminate from your desks rather than stand up and make a difference. Pathetic.