Letters to the Editor
Cocktailhag
Published Letters: 483
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Taliking Sense
[Read the article: War advocates like Anne-Marie Slaughter demand that you forget the past]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Iokannan in the Well...
Thank you, for pointing to the holes in the swiss cheese, and sparing me the "hard work."
There is a difference, and it is a profound one, between those who spout propanganda that is lavishly funded by those who seek to advance their own interests over those of the people at large, and those who seek to reclaim an acceptable future for the world, whether or not such an outcome will personally benefit them.
Righties, and those besotted by their "success," fail to see the difference. On some level, they don't see the difference in motivation between a biologist working on a tiny stipend or grant, and a monopoly reaping billion dollar profits. Both are "in it for the money." One is more successful. Well, knock me over with a feather.
Thomas Jefferson spoke of the dangers of wealth, grown so large, that it would threaten democracy. He knew what we all know and what the Supreme Court, in Buckley vs. Valeo, failed to grasp and left us where we are today. Rich people, having any conceivable needs and wants satisfied beyond their wildest dreams, will use their excess to buy the government, cement their power, and silence everyone else.
No amount of superior inteligence or ideas can change that fact, so abundantly in evidence today, nor can the tactical failures of progressives, so outnumbered in dollars and the "votes" that they produce.
Someone bought us our silence, and lo and behold, they had enough left over for a megaphone for themselves.
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Some Say....
[Read the article: Various items]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Whether we have the press we deserve is completely beside the point; choices have been made at the top of the media to provide enormous resources for the "coverage" of, say, Britney Spears, while newsrooms covering such atrocities as Iraq and our slide into totalitarianism literally beg for crumbs.
Were these priorities reversed, I'm certain that the public would take notice. After all, from a purely soap-opera perspective, Bush, with his comic-book fantasies and barely supressed violent streak, is utterly fascinating, and a modicum of honest coverage of him would have all of America glued to the television in mesmerized horror.
The violence and horror of Iraq would surely outdo the most extremely graphic video game, and perhaps peel away the younger set from such mindless entertainment, if only because it is real. The utter horror of American policies toward detainees is much more interesting than any episode of "24," and people other than Antonin Scalia would surely be drawn to that continuing atrocity for the right reasons.
The only people who think Americans "want" mindless trash rather than anything of substance are the same people who tell us that Iraq has "dropped off the radar screen" and warrantless wiretapping is "complicated."
Americans will pay attention to quality, and quantity, in coverage, whenever the media provide it.
They've chosen their priorites, and told us they're ours.
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Viva la Difference
[Read the article: Various items]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Mrmaps.... The reason that Iran, a Shiite theocracy, does not train Sunnis, is because they consider them heretics. That, and they like the Shia government we installed just fine, and would only lose power and influence by destabilizing it. In short, Iran is one of the real winners of this war, having had a longtime enemy, Saddam Hussein and his secular Sunni government, destroyed, and gained a friendly Shiite government next door.
Amadejinidad (sp?), who recently had a lovely tete a tete with our puppet government in Iraq, may be crazy, but not crazy enough to train or equip Sunni terrorists.
It ain't rocket science; demanding "proof" of this elementary information is rather like demanding "proof" that the Pope is, indeed, Catholic.
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The Six Deadly Sins
[Read the article: Various items]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Tominwindsor, did you see the interview with Hagee in NYT magazine today? Not only did he call to mind Dick Cheney in his beligerent refusal to answer many of the shallow, softball questions, but his picture showed that he is a moral relativist as well.
To put it delicately, in addition to being an arrogant, eliminationist authoritarian, the man is enormously obese. Isn't gluttony a sin? Maybe his God accepts signing statements with KFC grease spots on them.
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Their Lips are Moving
[Read the article: Various items]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Mrmaps,
Admittedly, lacking any documented information, given the lack of transparency of both the Iranian government and "AQI," which is obviously and overbroad and deliberately manipulative term for Sunni insurgents, it is difficult to know who their "supporters," if in fact they have or need any, are.
But, given the unbroken record of the neocons, it is both reasonable and pragmatic to accept that whatever they say is probably the opposite of the truth. They are, for better or worse, the quientessential lala-land Republicans, and to believe what they say about the weather would be a dumb idea, unless you like to get wet. The surest way to spot a lie is that it came from the thin, bloodless lips of, say, William Kristol. Or, lately, John McCain. They are not the reality-based community, as they've told us.
Further, any lawyer would, when surrounded by liars with obvious incentives to cover up their crimes, ignore the statements and examine the motives.
Blinded by their initial fervor and delusion, the neocons belatedly recognize their blunder and desperately want to cover up the fact that, oops, they lost the war and boosted Iran to boot. What's a chickenhawk to do? Well, if your respect for human life is nil and your desire to maintain your undeserved credibility is urgent, you quickly turn around and declare that Iran is the new Al Queda. It worked with Iraq, and after all you're pretty much out of any better ideas.
I'm sure one of our more erudite and reference-rich commenters might help you out (Sysprog, where are you?) but I'm just offering friendly advice.
As in court, once a liar, always a liar.
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4000
[Read the article: One of Instapundit's favorite blogs speaks on race]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]OT but depressing....
Now 4000 thousand American servicemen have been killed in Iraq.
Are we "winning?"
What does that mean?
Bush has Osama beat by 1000?