Letters to the Editor
heyjude
Published Letters: 397 Editor's Choice: 42
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They don't call it the FIRST Amendment for nothing ...
[Read the article: Number of the Day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Let me count the ways this is disgusting:
1. A commentary on the Senate's total disregard for free speech;
2. A completely hypocritical disregard of the SwiftBoating of John Kerry and the slanderous advertising against John McCain in the 2000 primary, and the hideous distortion of Max Cleland ... and so many more such antics ... that characterized the Rovian campaign strategies;
3. A ridiculous disregard of the actual PURPOSE of the U.S. Congress, which is not to spent its time passing meaningless commentary on American freedoms, but to actually INSURE American freedoms.
I would not vote for anyone, of either party, currently serving in the U.S. Senate. It's more than time for a change in party; it's time for a change in reprepsentative government of both parties.
Why bother to have a government if this is how it's going to be. We might as well annoint a Dictator and truly become our "enemy".
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Re Anonymous response to HeyJudy
[Read the article: Number of the Day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Excuse me, Anonymous. The MoveOn ad contained information that had already been discussed in the run-up to the testimony and that actually did come out in the testimony and that came out in other official reports. What was said in that hearing was no surprise and nothing was said that substantively controverted the information in the ad.
I frankly did not support the ad at the time because I saw this bruhaha coming and figured the Republicans would use it indefinitely to obscure the discussion that SHOULD be taking place, about why we remain in this war and how we are going to emerge intact with some semblance of international and national security left.
And, excuse me, again. There ARE people to vote for who are not currently serving in the U.S. Congress or Senate. Even in YOUR party. What are you thinking? I have been voting since 1964 and I have never sat out an election yet.
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Police State
[Read the article: Taser nation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I live and work in a University community. Two years ago, I was among a group of about 70 people who quietly marched towards the campus, where President Bush was speaking, to protest the war in Iraq. We held signs, all of them within the bounds of good taste, and we did not chant or shout or create any disturbance, just marched quietly through town and to the campus, where we were prevented, by campus security, from getting anywhere near the central commons where the president was to speak. Only those who had been vetted in advance were allowed there, most of them wearing red, white and blue and carrying pro-Bush and pro-war signs and banners. We were shunted to an area -- shade and grass there so we were not uncomfortable -- well out of sight and earshot of the actual event. That was disturbing, in a free country on a public university campus. But more disturbing was the fact that there were armed guards carrying large, visible weapons, patrolling the rooftops of the buildings surrounding us, and keeping an eye on us. And most disturbing was the fact that, when the event -- which we could not hear except for the cheering of the carefully assembled crowd -- was over, the attendees departed the event by a route that took them right past our area. They threw things at us, shouted obscenities, and had a bullhorn through which they shouted "Traitors!" and other things far more offensive. No one made any effort to restrain their rage or hatred. But I am quite sure, had any one of us made a move, or started shouting, or in any way appeared to be trying to break free from our "free speech zone", we would have been "handled" by the guys on the rooftops.
It is alarming to me that this kind of thing has happened again and again and the media never mentions it in the coverage of these staged events. I believe that is how dictatorships operate; it is not how I was taught that people live and behave in a democracy.
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Losing their minds is more like it
[Read the article: Losing ground on Iraq?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When will the Democrats learn that NOTHING they do will stop the Republicans from doing everything in their power to smear Democrats as "anti-troops", "soft on terrorists", "anti-military..." Haven't we learned ANYTHING in the last few elections? Who cares what the Republicans do? If Democrats stopped pussyfooting around them and reacting to every little thing, they would show themselves to be the crass and hypocritical deceivers that they are.
It doesn't matter what you do, Democrats. You will have to fight smear tactics with strategy and intelligent, compelling vision for the future. JUST FOR GOD'S SAKE DO WHAT'S RIGHT and stop assuming it even matters what the Republicans say. It doesn't matter. The people are the voters, and the people are not Republican political strategists; they are the citizens of the United States who expect to be represented by those whom they elect. Repesent us. It's very clear what the people want.
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Revising is the Administration "way forward"
[Read the article: Invading Iraq, revisited and then revised]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I really thought (hoped)Gates would be the one person in this corrupt administration to keep on saying what he means and meaning what he says. But it looks like they've gotten to him, too. So, whom can we trust? Apparently absolutely no one who is currently reporting to President Bush.
Or maybe there's still hope for Admiral Fallon. It appears that his strategy is to say nothing to nobody. Maybe one day he'll surface and just blurt out the real story. Or fire the General ("he who must not be named" for fear of Republican retribution) and demand some accountability from the top or threaten to quit himself. That would be refreshing.