Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 361 Editor's Choice: 12
-
Thanks GG, And No This Isn't Hard
[Read the article: War advocates like Anne-Marie Slaughter demand that you forget the past]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Glenn, thanks for those two links in the updates. They,in their own ways, put paid to the "I was right, even though things haven't turned out so well" defenses that so many of the Slate contributors make. And, channeling Brad DeLong, Why oh Why did they not have space for Scott Ritter or Tristero.
Blunderdog--
This isn't hard. The US is rotating out troops as they hit month 15. Simply don't rotate anybody back in. Leave it to God of War Petraeus to decide how to allocate the forces efficiently.
Sticking to that schedule will convey seriousness to the Iraqis, and they will respond.
What's tricky about this is that I strongly suspect that the rulers in the green zone are not terribly popular. It would be good to advance some political programs to fix that. The result of that will probably be a half-assed islamist government with limited reach beyond Baghdad, and a de facto blurring of the Iran-Iraq border.
http://burner.3cdn.net/20f4382dfab715f445_qvm6ibjk6.pdf
Provides a framework that makes more sense than any I've seen.
The other thing that is tricky is what to do with materiel.
I say concentrate, and then leave it--give it to whatever Iraqi government is in power, or if it's complete chaos, work out a deal with the Turks and the Kurds for maintaining that border,using the disposition of the armor as a bargaining chip.
The bases will probably be worthless without the equivalent of the US logistical tail. So don't worry about the empty Burger King.
-
Barring Somone Who Contributed Content?
[Read the article: Expel, expelling, expelled!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Can you imagine asking someone to provide an interview for a film and then not let him see it?
These people aren't just dishonest and ignorant. They're rude.
-
A Very Insightful Point
[Read the article: One of Instapundit's favorite blogs speaks on race]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What explains the media's Obama/Wright fixation while virtually ignoring McCain's embrace of people like Rod Parsley and John Hagee is the assumption that the controversial behavior of any one black person is easily attributed to black people generally, while white political leaders aren't held accountable for the views of others solely by virute of shared race.
Even if McCain's personal pastor of 20 years had engaged in misogyny, anti-semitism, and a deep misunderstanding of the Sunni shiite divide, this would not be held against him. Because it's obvious that he doesn't share those beliefs, and who would expect him to?
Likewise if Clinton's pastor turns out to be someone who is homophobic, and has denounced AIDS as God's vengeance on sodomites, that too would not be linked to her.
In fact, the press has a long history of not writing about what the racist, homophobic, money grubbing hucksters say. They're not going to attribute those traits to their white parishoners or endorsees.
But in Obama's case, you're either a good [epithet] or a bad [epithet]. Moreover, up to now he's been trying to pass as a good one, and now it is revealed that he is a bad one.
By include Wright on his list, instapunk is putting Obama there too. Not with good ones like Clarence Thomas, but one of the bad 'uns.
And that's all there is. Sheep and goats.
-
Bill Kristol Says Ignore Them
[Read the article: One of Instapundit's favorite blogs speaks on race]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In today's nepotism special, Bill Kristol's concern trolling pretty much says what Glenn does:
Digby, in a long post which is well worth the time to read, examines why these divisive racial and culture tactics from the Right are inevitable, and how ignoring them -- as some seem to want to do -- achieves nothing other than ensuring that they fester with no response.
(that's Glenn)
With respect to having a national conversation on race my recommendation is: Let's not, and say we did.
(That's neptotism^3)
I suspect he wasn't so happy seeing a story in yesterday's Week In Review that recounted the history of the Southern Strategy. It didn't quote Atwater, which I'll be reminding the Public Editor of, but it was a starting point for demonstrating the centrality of racism and voter suppression in the Republican campaign strategy.
-
mcjoan reports on another bit of McCain neglect
[Read the article: Journalists, McCain and the false Iran/al-Qaida link]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]McCain is currently campaigning illegally.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/24/124912/869/871/483223
He's opted into the campaign finance system, and can't opt out because there's no FEC to grant him permission to do so. You'd think this would be worth a mention in campaign finance articles about McCain's campaign, but, no.
In a TIME Swampland piece today, it goes unmentioned, and in a Michael Cooper (McC BBQ) story in the NYT last week, this was also not raised in an article about McCain's fundraising plans.
-
Kerry's Bank was Just as Full
[Read the article: Journalists, McCain and the false Iran/al-Qaida link]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Kurtz's defense of granting McCain foreign policy expertise regardless of his statements or actions is precisely true of John Kerry.
Kerry was not treated as if he were a foreign policy god, infallible in all respects, with a resume essentially identical to McCain's. Plus combat medals.