Letters to the Editor
damaged goods
Published Letters: 20
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for what it's worth...
[Read the article: Chris Matthews is right ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...the nyt newsroom dowd spoke of and greenwald discussed is the WASHINGTON BUREAU office -- a well-cossetted embassy within the green zone of the beltway.
And the colleagues she alluded to in her smarmy backhanded way of defending herself ("see? it wasn't just ME who was wrong -- my colleagues here thought the same things!") were drawn from the handful of folks left behind in dc at a time when the political world is out of town.
that is, they are either the oldest of the capital guard or the newest, rawest recruits; in either case, folks who have been judged not up to the task of actually, you know, covering the campaign. (not that campaign coverage is any great shake. but still.) and yes, they perform for each other in that painful fraternal way, trying to come up with proof that they are world-weary and have seen it all. they also perform for the dowdster, knowing that a Pundit is in their midst. their comments prove just how tired and empty the groupthink is, not to mention how tough it is for office chatter, even newspaper office chatter, to be genuinely amusing. comedy is not pretty, after all.
none of this is to undercut any of glenn's insights or contentions. indeed, it merely supports his larger point that beltway journalism is a pack-based know-nothing enterprise. but don't confuse the dc crowd with the nyt headquarters in new york.
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protest guantanamo -- wear orange
[Read the article: The U.S. military inflicts more damage on its own credibility]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]today (friday) has been set aside as a day to protest our continued breach of international law in the gulag we call guantanamo bay. remember to wear orange to show your opposition to this symbol of everything that is wrong with our military behavior.
also, if you can get a copy, read "five years of my life: an innocent man in guantanamo" (palgrave), an account by murnat kurnaz, a turkish-born german who was in pakistan in the months following 9/11 and picked up in the first sweeps by police, who sold him to the americans for $3,000. he was taken first to kandahar, and then to camp x-ray. anyone clinging to the fiction that what is done in our name at gitmo is legal, or done only to "the worst of the worst," needs to wake up. read this book. forward is by patti smith.
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complicity, thy name is democrat
[Read the article: What's at stake today in the Senate's FISA filibuster vote]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]point is, the dems have proven time and again they are kept by the same corporate patrons as the repubs are. circumstances being what they are, it's only the last few months that it's become obvious.
there is no justification for this retroactive immunity -- it's a complete capitulation to a corporatist state. obama and clinton should be held absolutely accountable for their behavior on this. leadership is showing up, and neither of them have done so. gee, THAT'S a nice little perk from a presidential campaign. you never have to, you know, actually lead.
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yes, it's all about the enabling...
[Read the article: War advocates like Anne-Marie Slaughter demand that you forget the past]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]the eminent ms. slaughter sure has a way with a convenient argument.
doesn't the military has a better take on incompetence in command? they REMOVE the bungler and replace him/her with someone who may not be smarter or as well thought of, but knows enough to TRY SOME OTHER PATH.
that's exactly why it's important to know who said what, or encouraged what, or believed what. so the same mistakes don't keep getting made. this isn't gotcha -- and by the way, anyone who uses that phrase tips his or her hand: s/he's all about the evading of responsibility.
i think it was marx who said history repeats itself, first as tragedy then as farce. while we could all use a little humor right about now, not at the expense of american and iraqi blood and treasure. no more.
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a glimpse of the neverending battle...
[Read the article: Tactics of the right-wing noise machine]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]there are those who think that once the bushites are removed, that somehow the fever will break and this nation will return to an embrace of reason instead of lunacy, science instead of no-knowthinghood, tolerance instead of tribes.
glenn reminds us here that the right wing hatemongers are always going to be here. indeed, they'd prefer a democrat in the white house, since it would give more credence to whatever conspiracy theory they have working on why their lives aren't working out.
that's the true wingers, not the intellectually dishonest carny barkers who merely play that crowd for the willing saps they are. what is absolutely beyond belief is how any of these folks get the slightest toehold into what passes for the mainstream dialogue. and that's where the truly criminal aiding and abetting from the media comes in.
keep fighting the fight, glenn. it's important.
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books like this CAN make a difference...
[Read the article: "Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]at the very least it puts the media a bit on the defensive, called out for their obsequious nature and pandering to corporate interests and republican bullies.
not that it will necessarily change anything, but every bit helps. and with other works like david brock's book on the media and mccain, there may be a cumulative, qualitative difference in the coverage.
if successful, that will probably mean is an evenhanded idiocy applied to both parties' candidates. but that, sadly, would be an improvement.