Letters to the Editor
Reilly
Published Letters: 178
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State your intentions, Sir!
[Read the article: Nepotistic tough guys and their coddling parents]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I hope, sir, that your intention here was not - even tangentially - to impugn the character of that paragon of Victorian morality and exemplar of virtue, the right good Gertrude Himmelfarb.
If that were to be the case, sir, I should not hesitate for an instant to call you out as a bounder and a cad, and thrash you repeatedly about the head and shoulders.
Or have my father contract it out to someone of a lower social order.
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An Anecdote from the Federalist Society
[Read the article: Rudy Giuliani's messianic paranoia]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have a friend whose husband was nominated by Bush and confirmed by the Senate and sits as a circiut court judge.
They are both members of the Federalist Society, and no doubt I will hear the details of the Bush and Giuliani appearances as they have attended the annual event in the past.
My friend and I have had many short political conversations over the years, always at odds with each other, and I'm used to the fact that there is not much meat on the bones of her arguments. But when she speaks specifically about matters she has gleaned via the Federalist Society the arguments have a completely different tone and quality. One example:
A couple of years ago, after having been at a Federalist Society meeting, she informed me that a court had ruled to acquit a man who had donated money to some group which, it was later found, had ties to a terrorist organization.
The court had ruled that the man had absolutely no knowledge of those ties and although the government didn't dispute his lack of knowledge or lack of bad intent, they were appealing the decision on the grounds that ignorance of the law didn't absolve him from the crime.
The fact that the government was insisting that this man be found guilty under one of the very harsh post-9/11 terrorism laws despite their agreement that his actions weren't intended to aid terroism was surprising in itself.
Even more surprising was that this case had been the predominant topic at the Fedealist Society meeting because, she informed me, if this case wasn't overturned on appeal, if this man was acquitted because of ignorance of the law, we would never be able to try anyone again for murder in this country.
When I laughed she asserted it again and added that anyone who committed murder could claim that they were ignorant of the law and would have to be acquitted. I told her it was childish to pretend that anyone but a mentally disabled person could successfully argue that they didn't know murder was illegal, to which she lost patience and informed me that the Federalist Society knew the law and that this would be the outcome and beyond that once it was done it couldn't be undone - it would change the law forever.
So, the fact that Rudy Giuliani, a man who makes hyperbolic leaps over reason and judgement to land squarely on extremist paranoid apocalyptic fantasies, would be welcomed by the Federalist Society is only fitting. No doubt they have found their soul-mate.
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Straying from Klein to Brian Williams
[Read the article: Time magazine's FISA fiasco shows how Beltway reporters mislead the country]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A common trait of these mainstream 'journalists' is the inability to admit their mistakes/intentional misleadings.
Brian Williams issued a 'clarification' of his "marriage under attack" remark which you highlighted the other day. It reads more as an indictment of the criticism he got than a clarification.
"Others took it upon themselves to decide that I was somehow attacking gay marriage. The simple fact is that nothing could have been further from my mind, as many others easily understood.", says the infallible anchor.
Klein: Even if I grossly mischaracterized the bill it's "obscure and unimportant".
Williams: Even if I employed a phrase that has a common usage and a specific connotation, it's your fault for having understood it in that context.
Dismissing legitimate criticism is now one of the canans of mainstream 'journalism'.
By the way, for a very good deconstruction and analysis of the Williams statement go to:
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2007/11/williams-responds-to-complaints-about.html
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Joe Klein Reveals the Core of His Professional Technique
[Read the article: Bad stenographers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Read and Research? - I Haven't the Time!
Expertise? - That's No Forte of Mine.
I Just Scribble Down 'Facts',
Gleaned from GOP Hacks;
That's the Method to Which I'm InKleined.
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@Luminous Re: Limerick
[Read the article: Bad stenographers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks, I'm flattered.
Perhaps you'll like one I wrote a while back about former AG Gonzales.
Alberto Gonzales Realizes Why People Would Assume That Bush's Nickname for Him Refers to the Weak Corleone Brother, but Would Like to Issue a Clarification on Its' True Origin.
We Have Similar Traits - I Will Say So;
We're Both Dumb and As Pliant As Playdoh.
But that Came from My Boss,
Who Sprayed Me with White Sauce;
Then Stepped Back and Exclaimed, "You're Al Fredo!"