The letter in the Feb. 12 edition, entitled “Jews are cleaner and smarter than Arabs,” is such a repugnant, a-historical, racist, and ill-informed bit of tripe that I have to ask myself if New Times is being deliberately provocative by allowing such garbage to insult its readers.  If you guys are fishing for letters to the editor, then appeal to brighter people rather than an ignorant homunculi not even AIPAC would employ. Mehl’s letter resembled something from the comments section of a right-wing blog for the intellectually challenged.