Letters to the Editor
Jim White
Published Letters: 1187 Editor's Choice: 15
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Garry Trudeau tried to point this out but probably made matters worse
[Read the article: The complete myth driving our Iraq "debate"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In the Doonesbury strip for May 7, 2007, Trudeau pointed out just how ridiculous the defunding argument is, and even showed the complicity of the press in making the argument:
http://www.arcamax.com/doonesbury/s-189725-212008
However, if one missed that Monday strip, the strips for the rest of the week probably reinforced the argument because they are stand-alone vignettes taking the satire even further. See, for example, the one from Wednesday, May 9:
http://www.arcamax.com/doonesbury/s-189727-652224
I think Trudeau overestimated the intelligence of the public on this issue, and played right into the hands of the Republicans. I'm guessing that the Wednesday strip, viewed by itself, probably made it onto more than a few refrigerator and office doors belonging to people still living in Bush's fantasy world. Sadly, even first-rate satire simply bounces off the huge wall erected around these lies. Sigh...
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After all, it worked so well in Afghanistan
[Read the article: Operation Iraqi Neighborhood Watch?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Employing all those trustworthy warlords on our side was probably the key ingredient in our capture of bin Laden...
That is, if we had actually caught him, they would have been the important part.
That is, if they hadn't helped him escape.
They did, however, provide us with a lot of prisoners for Gitmo.
Not that the prisoners they provided turned out to be of any strategic value.
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Farmgirl
[Read the article: Who killed the honeybees?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In "helping" the feral bees, he transferred a pathogen, most likely a microsporidian infection, from his domesticated bees to the wild ones. This event is anecdotal, but strong evidence for a transmissible pathogen building up in the domesticated colonies.
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Another quote from the Foreign Affairs article
[Read the article: Bush and the World Bank: Bloody but unbowed]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As found in his Wikipedia entry, there is this gem from the article you mentioned:
People driven by enmity or by a need to dominate will not respond to reason or goodwill. They will manipulate civilized rules for uncivilized ends.
Although from the context, he is talking about those "evil" operators in the world, doesn't this apply equally to the little cabal he was in at the time, the Vulcans? Doesn't it especially apply to Wolfowitz?
On the plus side, Wikipedia does suggest that his departure from the State Department stemmed from his frustration about lack of action on Darfur. Gosh, Bush talks about Darfur this week, then nominates Zoellick. Interesting.
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Update on the Darfur action
[Read the article: Bush and the World Bank: Bloody but unbowed]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In the second half of my post yesterday, I mentioned Zoellick's apparent advocacy for Darfur and the fact that Bush announced sanctions on Sudan just as he was preparing to nominate Zoellick for the World Bank post. The San Francisco Chronicle has an article this morning that makes it clear that these "sanctions" are merely symbolic: http://tinyurl.com/2g3rlt.
Sadly, we most likely will find that Zoellick's current status in the world press as an "acceptable" candidate to head the bank will be just as symbolic and that he will carry on much of the ideology he shares with Wolfowitz even though he comes in with more credentials in world finance.
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For Sale
[Read the article: Bush on Karl Rove and America's soul]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]One soul. Hardly ever used. We've been holding this little number in escrow since December, 2000, but it doesn't look like the previous owner will be using it any time soon.
Contact: SCOTUS
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Manhattanite
[Read the article: Bush on Karl Rove and America's soul]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The point about outrage came up on Greenwald's comment section today. He carefully pointed out that there are still people out there who are in need of seeing through all the lies. It is a wonderful public service that the folks at Salon are carrying out by carefully and meticulously pointing out each lie, while providing ample verifiable evidence. The task must seem daunting, but each little bit helps, and if you read carefully, you will find new people each day coming on board.
BTW I should have added to the For Sale post:
Only used on Sundays by a little old governor in Texas.
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Charges?
[Read the article: Right-wing noise machine: Plame not covert]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've been thinking for a while that Fitzgerald is in a bit of a conundrum because of the evidence he received in this case. He received much of Rove's email and I think it is entirely possible that in addition to the Plame evidence, he also has evidence on the US Attorney case. However, with the changes to the special prosecutor law (please, someone who understands the legal issues of the new law provide some insight) it's not clear how he can move this information to the proper investigative body. Note that the White House is still thumbing its nose at Leahy on this and seems to have "lost" the emails it sent to Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is careful and may be biding his time to make sure that his case doesn't compromise another.
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Real courage
[Read the article: Fred Thompson, "tough guy" and "folksy cultural conservative"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When I think of real courage, actors like Thompson and Reagan never even come into the picture. Instead, I think of people more like our own bebop-o, who have actually been in a war and have come back to testify to the absurdity of sacrificing patriotic soldiers for merely political aims.
McCain showed some of that courage once, but sadly has jettisoned it in pursuit, again, of politics.
Kerry had that courage, but we allowed the political machine to distort the reality.
Can we frame the 2008 campaign as the pursuit of real patriotism (truth, justice, equality and the rule of law) over the tyranny of politics?