Letters to the Editor
KateTex
Published Letters: 616 Editor's Choice: 4
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The hatred on this site is stunning
[Read the article: Argus Leader editor responds to RFK controversy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When I look at reader comments on the NYTimes site, I try to reassure myself by thinking, "Well, a lot of these sound like they were written by people too young to know better." That doesn't work so well here on salon, where the age curves upwards, but the hatred for Hillary Clinton and her supporters is so deep, you need industrial strength waders to navigate it.
My question is: what in the hell is wrong with you people? You don't support Obama so much as wish evil on Hillary Clinton and anything that touches her. It's a kind of madness. I have never seen anything like this in my life. And I hope to never again. I used to believe that there was sustenance to be found in people of intelligence, a bit more rationality than might be expected among the mob. But here's salon, and here's the mob, worse than anything I could possibly have imagined. And please don't try to claim that Hillary supporters are the other side of the coin. You people have your own strange currency, the sort with which souls are sold. All I can say is God help you.
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@Sarah
[Read the article: Argus Leader editor responds to RFK controversy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree that this country is in a mess and that the media are intent on turning politics into a blood sport with a horribly misogynistic twist. But here is where we part company. I cannot bring myself to reward Barack Obama for his part in turning this primary campaign into a disaster of apparently epic proportions.
As far as I can see, Obama has done absolutely nothing to counter the rampant misogyny. Instead, he has contributed to it. He has also set race relations in this country back by who knows how much in branding the Clintons as race mongerers, beginning in South Carolina - not to mention the tremendous injustice this has done to the Clintons. It's useless to protest that Obama hasn't been active in all the divisiveness: I've heard the speeches and sound bites and watched the YouTube videos. I've watched the dynamics unfold. I've watched someone not just compete for the nomination, but endeavor to destroy his opponent in the process.
I've watched someone dissemble, if not outright lie, on a number of occasions (and almost never be called to account for it). I've watched a candidate who seems content to let his opponent twist in the wind over and over again, offering only the most tepid assist and then only when things really get out of hand. I've also spent months now reading hateful messages from Obama supporters all over the Internet, and asked myself, "What does it say about a candidate that he seems to attract so many haters who style themselves progressives?"
I want no part of politics like this; I saw enough of it emanating from the far right. So, I'm sorry, this is not something I can vote for in good conscience. Where's the goodness? The integrity? The principles? The beliefs? The warmth and compassion? The demonstrated history of activism on behalf of others? The regard for achievements of others who have gone before, case in point, Bill Clinton?
I am left with an indelible impression of a candidate who goes far beyond the self regard and driving ambition requisite for any successful politician, who gives every appearance of being in it simply to win it, and nothing more. Strange how Hillary Clinton has been hung with this reputation, when it's her opponent who appears to deserve it, if anyone does.
In short, you cannot ask voters like me to abandon their own sense of honor and endorse a candidate whom they not only do not believe in, but have come to believe is working against just about everything they personally believe in. I actually find the whole Obama phenomenon frightening in the extreme at times, and can only believe an Obama presidency would drive us even further into the ditch.
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Fair is fair - and Obama is pandering
[Read the article: Obama and the Holocaust]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If Hillary Clinton is going to be pilloried every time she makes the slightest mistake in speaking about her history or about this campaign, then the same standard needs to be applied to B. Obama. That it isn't - and won't be - applied tells us just about all we need to know about this contest. The Fix Is In. And it has been in for the longest time. Obama must be cosseted at all costs. Hillary must be harried to death at all costs. Obama misspeaks and that's okay. Hillary misspeaks and she's an evil liar. Fair? Sure.
Additionally, Obama is a consummate panderer who is never called to account for this shameless practice. But let Hillary mention anything at all about how she can relate to whatever audience because of whatever in her history or experience, and all hell breaks loose. It's fine for Obama to take credit, however obliquely, for the liberation of Buchenwald. But just imagine the hubbub, the horror, if Hillary should mention that an ancestor helped free the slaves. Her blood would be all over the blogs in no time. The MSM bully boyz would once again rip her apart.
And some of you wonder why there's so much anger among Hillary's supporters?
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@webcelt
[Read the article: Obama and the Holocaust]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The point of Obama's remarks wasn't so much about the vets as about the continued self-glorification of Obama himself. Whatever the truth of his family history, this is what was so objectionable about his statements. The needs of vets can be made vivid and compelling in many ways. But Obama's way is almost always about putting him and his history and creds - true or not - first, with The Other always coming in a poor second. This isn't self in service of history, it's history in service of self. This is not a quality most of us want to see in a president.