Letters to the Editor
Northern Perspective
Published Letters: 71 Editor's Choice: 4
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It's a branding issue
[Read the article: To Damascus with Nancy Pelosi]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Joe summed it up well.
But a more comprehensive look at why the Republicans should just file for moral bankruptcy can be found in Michael Wolff's article "Caught in the Spin Cycle" (Vanity Fair, April 2007 issue, the same one featuring "The Sopranos" and their victims...oh, wait...I just got the joke. Funny, Graydon Carter.)
Anyway, it establishes the Republican Party failures in corporate marketing terms by laying out its only function as "the first great conservative message apparatus, the model for the Republican media machine and for the party's ascendency..."
Wolff outlines how the Libby prosecution revealed the fundamental truth "that the message machine itself was, in fact, responsible for this war. It wasn't the intelligence people, nor the military, but the messengers, those geniuses, who were to blame."
The Republican corporation is beginning to spiral into Chapter 11.
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Especially when PR is the weapon of choice
[Read the article: National journalists believe you should trust them]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As Glenn notes, the corporate media have only themselves to blame when "Trust us" isn't enough:
"And that's why stories which rely exclusively on placing virtually blind faith in the judgment of such organizations are likely to be disregarded (except by those whose pre-existing political agenda is advanced by the story)."
As I've indicated elsewhere on Salon, Michael Wolff's excellent article in April's issue of Vanity Fair magazine goes into some detail, laying out the history of the Republican message machine. Basically, war is just another marketing challenge to a CEO-styled Executive branch. And winning it, requires nothing more than a revamped branding campaign.
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They waved Iraqi flags today - we've won
[Read the article: John McCain's Iraq problem]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The "lesson of Viet Nam" includes the agreement that says it ended when the American public wanted it over. It wasn't just a bunch of long-haired hippies and John Kerry.
But how do you contend with that nightmare rhetorical sleight-of-hand: "Who lost Iraq?" If the western coalition leaves - at any point before a "Republican" says it's okay - it'll be the Democrats who lost it. Whether or not 68% of the public want the forces out. So, as ever, the only way not to be accused of "losing" is to stay until everyone is dead. And, what's the new strategy - Charge of the Light Brigade?
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why.
Their's but to do and die
As for McCain? For God's sake, America, get over him! He's certainly not that into you. Only in self-serving money-driven party politics would "moving on" from his differences (so many, so deeply personal and so fundamentally ethical) with Bush be construed as anything other than egregious cynicism of the most appalling and dishonourable type. He demonstrates nothing but contempt for our hearts and minds.
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There IS another brother
[Read the article: "Brothers"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As a respected senior leader in the Senate, emminence gris of the Party and counsellor to a Democratic president - if there were something, wouldn't Ted Kennedy have have brought it to light?
Bill Clinton constantly referenced JFK - including that famous photograph of their meeting at the White House - and counted Jacqueline Kennedy among his friends. Having assumed all the levers of power, wouldn't he have pursued it? (Or Jimmy Carter, for that matter - a self-proclaimed man of honour and integrity - particularly at a time when so many of the alleged participants were still readily available to him).
Was the next generation of the Kennedy family (among them, several aggressive activists, lawyers, politicians )completely satisfied...or, with children of their own, encouraged to accept the 'received wisdom'?
I've always wondered how it was that Teddy Kennedy was left to age gracefully into a full, fruitful life.
Was a deal made to "just let it go"?
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Someone politically engaged
[Read the article: Rosie's view]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'd suggest Randi Rhodes. Another "loudmouth", with a provocative manner, committed to truth-telling, great biography (including active military service), scared of nothing, beholden to nobody, blue-collar straight-talk appeal, edgy and aggressive. Not a stand-up comic, but funny nonetheless.
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Who's right
[Read the article: "Sopranos" wrap-up: Uncomfortably numb]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Heather says Tony concludes the episode by bellowing "I get it!" (thus permitting an interesting expedition into Samuel Beckett territory). However AP (see story link to the right) reports that he said, "I did it!". And gives a rather convincing explication that retrofits a coherent psychological profile of Tony's character extending from the first year, ie. to a perfectly Shakespearean tragic resolution.
As it affects how I view everything that's ever happened or WILL happen - in the Sopranos and, well, just life in general (let alone shake my last remaining shred of faith in mainstream media and its ability to see the objective truth and help us maintain western democracy) - what the hell did he say?
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Rather than impeachment
[Read the article: All hail the king]
[Read more letters about this article: Here](as devoutly wished for as that might be), I'd like to see the Democrats and real Republicans tear a page out of the Rove playbook and go over the heads of this woeful administration directly to the American people.
No more collegial blackslapping in the corridors of wealth, privilege and power. No more faux bipartisanship. Build an alternative, better bully pulpit. Use it to say (more in regret than anger) that it's clear the Executive Branch has now become dysfunctional. Make it clear that to cooperate further with them is to put the Constitution itself in danger. Clear enough for an eighth-grade civics class, explain exactly why they're deserving of impeachment - without coating it in the smarmy sludge of self-serving politico-speak - what rules have been broken, what ethical lines crossed, what rights infringed upon, etc.
You'll quote Jefferson and Paine. Evoke a new enlightenment, the rise of 'The Real America' when these miscreants and criminals are gone and someone sane is in the White House again. Reference Jefferson and Paine. And quote Ben Franklin: "A Republic - if you can keep it." The TV spots - directed by Ken Burns, music by Aaron Copeland - will be great! After that, you'll see volunteers in every hamlet ready to hand out torches and pitchforks.
Then, instead of enduring the national trauma of impeachment, we can just move forward like they're already gone.