Letters to the Editor
softdog
Published Letters: 186 Editor's Choice: 8
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Criticize Joan the editor, not Joan the woman
[Read the article: Keith Olbermann apologizes for his Clinton remark]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wow. I may have issues with Salon right now, but I'm repulsed by the willingness of some to stoop to sexism in their attacks on Joan. (Just as I favor Obama, but am enraged by the open sexism and demonization of Clinton, which is no better than the demonization and vapid insults against Obama.)
My criticism of Salon arises from a frustration of someone who has the skill and talent to know better, and is doing a bad job. Someone who is getting the feedback to improve, and is ignoring it.
I'm also irritated by insightful critiques of Salon or the Media or the process as a whole which then devolve into "and that's why Clinton/Obama should quit right now and his/her followers are fools". It's like the first balanced paragraph came from a different person.
In a blog about something else, someone wrote they realized feminists were ignoring valid, if angry, criticism because they were used to the flood of invalid and angry criticism. The blogger wasn't making an excuse, just talking about how such habits develop. I feel like every time someone attacks Joan's gender it renders anything which might elevate the dialog moot. Just as the overly broad statement "X can't win the election" immediately turns me off of whatever argument for Y you might have.
Because the valid criticism about Salon being to sensationalist and obsessed with the horse race is surrounded with sexist cheap shots, I guess Joan doesn't see it.
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No excuse Joan - You Have Crossed a Line
[Read the article: Why Jeremiah Wright is so wrong]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Once again Joan has to backtrack after she leaves out a major fact in her eagerness to post something which fits her election narrative.
UPDATE:A reader notes, and I agree, that I should have said that Obama agrees with me that the problem in Wright's view is "that the possibility of redemption, the evidence that America can and has and will change for the better, is never considered." He's right, and so I added that after publication.
Oh bullshit.
If this were something negative about a Clinton supporter, you can bet Joan would have led with the anything which mitigates the issue.
Beyond that, Joan comes off as, I hate to say it, racist - the type of white person depicted in Stuff White People Like. I don't really like that blog because it's only about Latte Liberal Hipocrits, but this fits the profile:
As Wright described it to Moyers, America would seem to be all about dispossessing the Indians, enslaving blacks, interning the Japanese and now killing Iraqis. He said nothing about Americans who fought any of that (and nothing about white ethnic groups who also faced WASP prejudice).
God damnit, you did not just try use the "Irish were oppressed too!" argument to pretend Wright doesn't have a point! Give me a fucking break. A transitory and long gone discrimination justifies none of your bullshit. Especially as the Irish became White by screwing over the blacks. You aren't even fully Irish.
It is even greater bullshit to imply that Wright can't criticize America unless he includes white suffering.
There's something called the White Liberal Bingo card - http://pics.livejournal.com/ktempest/pic/0001r05g - and you Joan, have covered many squares in your obsession with demonizing Wright.
You essentially say the problems Wright talks about are the ancient past and don't matter anymore. No, that's true for the Irish in America, but not other groups.
Did you not notice the verdict which was handed in a non-jury trial this last week Joan? Are you that damn blind?
And it's transparently obvious why you need to demonize him:
a) it hurts Obama and you are a Clinton advocate who refuses to admit it.
b) you are determined to argue sexism is worse than racism.
I have lost all patience with you, Joan. You have been blinded by the biases you claim not to have and now you are just flat out offensive.
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Joan Walsh is no different than Karl Rove
[Read the article: Why Jeremiah Wright is so wrong]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And Joan, what the hell is up with this comment: Wright preaches a deadly kind of "blame America" politics that many on the left have tried to move away from since the 70s.
Have you not been paying attention to the attacks on war and Bush critics for the last 8 years Joan? Do you not even read Glenn Greenwald's blog? Have you never looked at This Modern World?
CAN YOU NOT UNDERSTAND YOU ARE PARROTING THE WORST RIGHT WING BULLSHIT WHEN YOU REDUCE SOMEONE'S ARGUMENTS TO "BLAME AMERICA"? Jesus why not call him a traitor as well.
WTF, Joan? You sound like Republican - a very insulated Republican who has decided to ignore all history which tarnishes your ability to be right.
Who has to split tiny hairs in order to demonize a black man:
Wright could probably have gotten away with "God damn Bush" for the bloody Iraq war if he wanted to, or "God damn Truman" for bombing the Japanese at the end of World War II, or even "God damn the American government!" for its many mistakes. But "God damn America" - that's sweeping.
Oh, good god. Joan. Here's a tip - read Martin Luther King's Two Americas speech. Check into the status of all that missing land use money we owe Native Americans. Just look at your goddamn self in the mirror Joan, and ask yourself how you could have written this.
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Here's the latest
[Read the article: Why Jeremiah Wright is so wrong]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Quote from Wright's NAACP speech, from the Detriot Free Press:
"The NAACP has an incomparable record. It has the longest list of achievements in the history of this country as being the undisputed champion in the fight against discrimination... Throughout its 99-year history, the NAACP has been built by people of all races, all nationalities and all faiths on one primary premise, which is that all men and women are created equal. The nation's oldest civil rights organization has changed America's history."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080427/NEWS01/80427056
But I'm sure he said something which can be excerpted and framed as OMG AMERICAHATER! And we'll hear alll about it, over and over.