Letters to the Editor
Jim White
Published Letters: 1094 Editor's Choice: 15
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the value of a single human being
[Read the article: The Padilla verdict]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For several days now, the old phrase "Truth, Justice and the American Way" has been going through my head as I stew on the lies, injustice and devastation wrought by Bush's policies. I sought a way of expressing my frustration with things and even did a little reading on the phrase. I found a very interesting essay from the Reagan era that still plays well: http://tinyurl.com/37vovm.
This passage from the movie sums it up better than I ever could have. The US today needs to return to standing for "truth, justice and the value of a single human being".
Such a stance would be in direct opposition to illegally invading and occupying countries, torture, suspension of habeas corpus, illegal eavesdropping, a politically charged Department of Justice, fraudulent elections, regressive taxation, a medical care system rigged to enrich only the insurance companies and deny care to those who need it most, etc.
Maybe, once these and other profound moral failures of our country are redressed, "the American Way" will again be synonomous with "the value of a single human being".
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Seize their language:The Surge has Failed!
[Read the article: The rigid pro-war ideology of the foreign policy community]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In this critical period leading up to the September report from Petraeus and Crocker, I think that it is important for us to hold our noses and employ the language and tactics that the neocons have been using on us.
The Op-Ed from the Seven Sergeants needs to be cited in every discussion between now and the report. It needs to be cited as "real", "serious" and unvarnished truth on what is really happening on the ground in Iraq. Further, and most importantly, it should be cited as evidence that, like the beginning of the occupation, the surge has failed. It would be a sign of moral and intellectual weakness to continue on this failed course of action.
As was suggested in the thread last night, we all need to send the op-ed to our Representatives and Senators, our friends and our local newspapers. In each case, we need to cite the evidence therein as proof that the surge has failed, withdrawal from Iraq should begin and our current Foreign Policy should be scrapped in favor of a policy in line with the original ideals upon which our country was founded.
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Supporting data from Rasmussen Reports
[Read the article: Why is the Democratic Congress so unpopular?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From today's release from Rasmussen Reports (http://tinyurl.com/ysxed2) we learn that:
voters name Government Ethics and Corruption as the most important issue of the season. The national telephone survey asked respondents to rank ten issues in terms of how they would impact voting behavior and 74% named government ethics and corruption as Very Important. [snip]...
a plurality still trust Democrats more on nine out of the ten issues tracked by Rasmussen Reports.
I think this fits nicely with the points Glenn is making. Congress is held in low esteem; voters are extremely concerned about ethics and corruption (as well as the war in Iraq) and yet Democrats are trusted more than Republicans to do something about on virtually all of the important issues facing our nation.
The gap between Democrats and Republicans narrowed in the period between the two most recent polls. I find it significant that the most prominent events in that period all could be argued to be Democratic capitulations.
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They aren't all giving up
[Read the article: Why is the Democratic Congress so unpopular?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I find it interesting that in the midst of reading these comments on Democratic capitulation, I got an email from the John Kerry campaign that contained the following:
This September we'll be attempting again to break the Republican roadblock on Iraq policy to get a new course.
All summer, our friends at Americans Against Escalation in Iraq have been organizing in swing districts and states across the country to put even more pressure on Republicans to do what is right and break with the President.
Now, next Tuesday August 28th, they and MoveOn.org will be holding events all around the United States to try to set the stage for the fights in September. These "End it in September" town halls and vigils will put even more pressure on Republicans, giving them lots to think about as they end their August recess in their home districts.
It is possible to find the vigil in your area by visiting http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=92
The Kerry campaign claims in the email that there is "mounting desperation" among the Republicans.
I hope that people actually start getting involved in some way, whether through the MoveOn vigils or in the September 15 demonstration that was discussed in the last thread. More information on September 15 can be found in my comments on Gordon's blog: http://achievingourcountry.blogspot.com/.
As more people get involved in taking real action, whether it is participating in an event, writing a letter to a Congresscritter or writing to the local newspaper, it becomes more and more difficult for the M$M and Congress to ignore the level of our discontent with the current policies.
Of course, all of the posturing and complaining do no good whatsoever unless they are followed up with informed votes in each election.