Letters to the Editor
Jim White
Published Letters: 1094 Editor's Choice: 15
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Call for Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings
[Read the article: Chris Floyd for Glenn Greenwald: People get ready -- one shoe away from war with Iran]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks for the post, RMP. MoveOn is certainly doing a good thing on this.
Leading in the way he has on other issues this week, Chris Dodd already has come out with a statement on the Iran sanctions, that states, in part:
"The aggressive actions taken today by the Administration absent any corresponding diplomatic action is exactly what we all should have known was coming when we considered our vote on the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment, and smacks, frankly, of a dangerous step toward armed confrontation with Iran.
In the vein of the suggestion by MoveOn that we pressure Congress on this issue, I would like to suggest a specific pressure point. Because these sanctions have been imposed unilaterally and by the State and Treasury Departments without Congressional input, I think that we need to pressure the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to hold hearings on this matter. The Chair is Senator Joe Biden, and his Washington phone number is 202-224-5042. Please join me in calling or emailing (http://biden.senate.gov/contact/emailjoe.cfm) Senator Biden's office to request that emergency hearings be called as soon as possible to force Secretary Rice to disclose just what diplomatic efforts have been put forth prior to implementing these sanctions. Further, the hearings should force the Administration to explain why the Iranian peace overture in the spring of 2003 was rebuffed.
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The missing link
[Read the article: Chris Floyd for Glenn Greenwald: People get ready -- one shoe away from war with Iran]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think Chris was linking to this article he wrote about a base in Iraq near the Iran border:
http://tinyurl.com/2pjxrx
I agree that this looks like a good candidate for an "incident".
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Just call the post
[Read the article: Chris Floyd for Glenn Greenwald: People get ready -- one shoe away from war with Iran]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]War of the Worlds III
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Speaking truth to power
[Read the article: Chris Floyd for Glenn Greenwald: Dissent or disgrace]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Chris,
Thanks for putting into stark relief just where we stand today. Clearly, what has been missing in the public discourse today (outside of the progressive blogoshere, that is) has been the willingness to take a stand and point out the hijacking of the moral authority and the legal structure of our country. Given the extreme tools now in the hands of the Busheviks and warpervs (absence of habeas corpus, warrrentless wiretapping, torture, politicization of the DOJ and more), one literally is forced to do a cost/benefit analysis before speaking up.
However, I would point out that, even in minute amounts, some effect of the efforts by the netroots in the past two weeks is leaking out into the general press. Note that today's editorial in the Washington Post supporting the sanctions against Iran is forced to mention the "second-tier Democratic presidential candidates" who have come out against the sanctions. Also, Chris Dodd is the guest Sunday on Meet the Press. If his statements there are anything like what he delivered on the Senate floor this morning (http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/4106), then the general public is in for an earful of what it has been so sorely missing.
It is simply essential that the message gets out to the general public. I'm not entirely sure how we do it, but I think the past couple of weeks have represented a real start. I think a key part of it is to move beyond our comfort zones. We simply have to speak up in venues beyond our blogs. Recent polls have shown that the majority of Americans reject retroactive immunity and warrantless wiretapping, so any messages we get out on this issue have a high probability of gaining traction.
As you said, it is now up to us. It has taken years to descend to this level. We should not expect to be able to recover from the damage overnight.
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Okay
[Read the article: Chris Floyd for Glenn Greenwald: Dissent or disgrace]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'll go march tomorrow, too. I'll keep doing the other things, too, like making calls and writing letters.
My idea on the "Just ice, please" boycott of soft drinks until we get justice in the US didn't seem to get enough traction, though. It does seem we need to focus our efforts somehow and there simply isn't an obvious route to achieving our goals.
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It looks like he's done this before
[Read the article: A bizarre, unsolicited e-mail from Gen. Petraeus' spokesman ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I realize I'm coming very late to this party, but I don't think anyone has mentioned an interesting email discussion between Boylan and Kevin Drum of Political Animal. There is a very long discussion of it on Rachel Maddow's web site here: http://www.airamerica.com/maddow/node/2799#comment-27394
In this case, it appears that Drum received an email from Boylan only a few hours after putting up a blog post titled "GENERAL PETRAEUS'S PR BLITZKRIEG". Drum's September archive with both the original post and his email exchange with Boylan is here: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/monthly/2007_09.php
The discussion on Maddow's site (by Hart Williams) has a wonderful tidbit:
Given his evident unfamiliarity with the English language, it seems apparent why Col. Boylan lets his deputies make the statements. Frankly, the quality of the Colonel's prose is shameful for a P.R. officer.
Williams also presents an interesting argument for Boylan's actions in selective leaking in the Beauchamp case and attacking Drum (and by my extension, now Greenwald) is very likely authorized by at least Petraeus if not also Bush.
As Boylan says, this is interesting.
Glenn should request Kevin Drum to forward the emails for header analysis and mention this incident when he reports his own interactions with Boylan to those authorities recommended by RMP.
OT to Kitt (and Arne): I had the pleasure earlier this week of attending a live performance by Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and Edgar Meyer. Keep an eye out if their tour comes your way.