Letters to the Editor
karrsic
Published Letters: 466 Editor's Choice: 6
-
HRH
[Read the article: Michael Mukasey's tearful lies]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Where does that put me?
Put that way, I'd say reasonably skeptical.
But when you roll out the "evidence" in the form I described above, i.e., coincidences that may or may not be true, unanswered questions treated as something concrete, etc., well, then you lose me. And well, when you start lumping me and many others here way smarter than me -- while I appreciate the company -- into the realms of the deaf, dumb, and blind, than I aoum further lost to your POV.
Though, I must say, for the most part, I read what you have to say. FWIW.
-
Victors write history
[Read the article: Megan McArdle and Dan Drezner's defense of the media]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Whether consciously or not, the establishment has made this simple calculation:
As is frequently pointed out by historians and other scholars, the types of aggressive wars that McArdle, Drezner and their fellow establishment mavens support inevitably lead to exactly the sort of war crimes and pervasive government lawbreaking...
+
But the people who caused and enabled that to happen are -- understandably so -- desperate to avoid acknowledging what they've done.
=
I also agree that the notion that Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham you heard this morning putting forward, that Americans would prefer to win...(Cokie Roberts)
-
Mukasey's favorite color
[Read the article: Lee Hamilton denies Michael Mukasey's claim about 9/11]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Press' reaction:
Listen, everyone knows Mukasey's a good guy. He loves our country; he was on the verge of tears when he gave that speech, for goodness sakes. He had a momentary slip-up when he said the origin of the call was in Afghanistan, when he meant the origin was in the US. That was a simple mistake. He's a great, great man. I get teared up just thinking about him. I bet he has a musky odor and grills a mean steak. Mmmm, steak. Rare, red and bloody on the inside. Mmmm.
By the way, he called me a few minutes ago and said his speech was "off-the-record." So really, I can't talk about it anymore.
-
You got that right
[Read the article: McCain's misguided role model on deficit reduction]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]and the government is the least efficient way to spend your money
So stop spending it in Iraq! McCain, why are you a Military and Industrial Socialist.
-
Vapidity of MSM
[Read the article: Responsibility for the last seven years]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Perhaps you all have covered this here or in another thread already, but I'm not sure I've ever seen anything so clearly illustrate the vacuous nature of the MSM as the video below.
This was highlighted the other day on Salon's Broadstreet regarding the "pregnant man" story. Regardless of what one thinks of the particular issue, the adolescent treatment of the issue is astonishing. IMO.
http://tinyurl.com/54sdsz
-
Like any animal that attacks in packs
[Read the article: John Yoo: Spearhead or scapegoat?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]it's natural to go after the weakest in the herd. Not that I agree with the tactic, it's just natural. The weakest hopefully spills the beans, to mix a metaphor.
-
e-man is important
[Read the article: John Yoo: Spearhead or scapegoat?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]there is a faction of the population that is exactly like the enemy they promote torturing and killing. e-man is part of that faction. It is important to keep these un-American, anti-Constitutional zealots front and center. these traitors represent the death of any "moral authority" we might have once had to act against aggression and unjust regimes. I say if we ever had the authority at all. as long as e-man and his facton rule this country, we are them.
-
wow
[Read the article: Bateman: What will Rummy's book title be?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]that's really, really, unfunny.
-
No there there
[Read the article: Interview with Aaron Brown on NYT "military analyst" story]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]IMO, the Democracy Now video is painful to watch, particularly the FAIR interview of Brown. Those interviewers embody the 'non-serious' stereotype of those that are anti-war; Brown's snark was justified.
Greenwald's interview was not that engaging (to me) because he mostly agreed on the broad issues and on the particulars, he merely defended what he did on his program to the best of his recollection.
I would encourage a follow-up interview (in-person, if possible) to see if Brown would be willing to amplify his criticism of MSM, w/o feeling he needed to defend his own practice.
The guys seems pretty legit to me, and blows away the vacuous MSM personalities we're dealing with today.
Points left not addressed in all this include:
- it doesn't matter if the expert analysts are military v. non-military, or pro-war v. anti-war, but rather pro-admin v. anti-admin. (Glenn touches on this, but FAIR never got it)
- it doesn't matter if they're (only) talking about tactics. It's legitimate to ask whether pro-admin v. anti-admin "expert" analysts will even discuss tactics and strategy differently. The surge discussion, for example, could have happened in 2003! Further, by using anti-admin experts, you also balance the pro meta-messages that Glenn points out aired with regularity, even on Brown's program.
- Brown says it's not surprising and acceptable that the pentagon would brief only pro-admin retired military. Why? This should be challenged.
- I agree with Brown that whether the war is right and should continue, etc., are separate questions and should not be conflated with tactical discussions. But that doesn't mean that the former should never be aired at all!
- I would love to see some sort of follow-up on whether the Pentagon broke anti-propaganda laws
-
@bilzim
[Read the article: Interview with Aaron Brown on NYT "military analyst" story]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]but even w/r/t using retired generals for strategy war/tactics, there's no necessity in using "Pentagon-approved" or pro-administration retired generals.
-
@tool
[Read the article: Interview with Aaron Brown on NYT "military analyst" story]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It may interest you to know that the Constitution was not created by an "Invisible Hand." In truth, neither were writing, history, journalism, fiction, non-fiction, singing, chanting, or rapping. Not that I would expect you to get that. Think of it this way, your blathering is not created by an "Invisible Hand." Tool.
-
OT: States secret privilege abuse
[Read the article: Interview with Aaron Brown on NYT "military analyst" story]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]EFF Call to action as legislation is pending to stop abuse.
http://www.eff.org/action/stop-state-secrets-privilege-abuse