Letters to the Editor
Retired Military Patriot
Published Letters: 2270 Editor's Choice: 11
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Validate Glenn's Position
[Read the article: Everyone we fight in Iraq is now "al-Qaida"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If Glenn is right, this is very significant and Salon owes it to America to get coverage beyond Salon readers. I suggest Salon send it to the New York Times, Washington Post, other major papers, the wires and TV media and ask them to reply to Salon confirming or refuting his position. Salon should run all replies and also list those who have not replied. Then, Glenn on his book tour can tell viewers/listeners the results. The media asked for a response should be given a short deadline and told that America will be told about those who do not meet the deadline. If more time is needed, the media should be required to ask for it so that can be noted in the listing. Of course the question should also be asked at the White House and DOD press briefings.
Secretary of Defense Gates should also be asked to reply. He seems to be a man of integrity something very rare in the Bush administration. This would verify or nullify that assumption.
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Glad I used "seems"
[Read the article: Everyone we fight in Iraq is now "al-Qaida"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]--Paul Rosenberg
Thanks for the enlightenment. I'm glad I used the qualifier "seems" when talking about Gates and integrity. Since there is such a lack of integrity in the Attention Deficit Administration of Spoiled Brats, I was foolish to try and be optimistic about anyone selected by Darth Cheney. Your insights give all the more reason to get more visibility, my major point, so that this media distortion can be stopped as quickly as possible.
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Why I Love Reality Shows Like SYTYCD
[Read the article: I Like to Watch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I totally agree that the third season of 20 finalists are the best ever and you could see the judges’ pain in having to choose even the first two dancers of 19 to be eliminated. The first guy eliminated was the dancer judge Mary thought was the best of the lot. Especially appealing are the street dancers who have had no formal dance training and then have to dance a style that they are completely unfamiliar with. The amount of learning that has to happen in just a few days is mind-boggling. While we only get a peek at their practice, their spirit at the end of their TV performance is heart warming. The excitement they experienced of diving into a foreign culture and finding out they could do more than they ever expected of themselves is palpitating.
What the best reality shows do is show humans under intense pressure find something in themselves that even they weren’t sure was there. Yes, passion is essential, but it is not enough if the individual doesn’t have the guts and ability to evaluate their own performance and why they possess that passion. Reality shows are replete with people who have high self-esteem in an ability that is sorely lacking. I have a hard time laughing at someone so insecure that they have to blind themselves to that extent. It is painful watching American Inventor judges tell someone who has hijacked his and even his family’s lives with blind passion for an invention that is plainly woeful.
Harsh critics of reality shows should look within themselves like these dancers do and ask themselves why they believe they are so much better than real people undergoing real life in these shows. Sure there are a few impostors who are only looking for publicity or making fun of others. Regardless of what they thought going in, few do not find the reality experience less than eye opening. Many find it life changing.
I can’t think of a better way to spend my TV time watching lives change before my eyes. My favorite show is Extreme Makeover Home Edition because it gives me an opportunity every Sunday, even in re-runs, to cry with real joy.
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Voices Against MSM
[Read the article: Interview with Helen Thomas]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Desert Sun…
“I think it's a strength of democracy that says ‘this system is free, and understands that such freedom entails risk of abuse precisely because it holds freedom to be the principal point of operation, and does not advocate the tyrannous suppression of thought and voice.’"
Thanks for reminding us that when we rightfully get very upset about the Attention Deficit Administration of Spoiled Brats abuse of power, that we, the citizens, give them that power until we rein it in. Just because there are too many voters who let parochial psyche and religious morality issues cloud their decisions when watching boob tube ads or in the ballot box, does not mean that power has irrevocably been given to the dark side. Our history shows that voters do recognize when our government is off kilter and do respond. I sense that we are not too despondent to correct this imbalance in 2008 and it is journalists like Helen Thomas and bloggers like Glenn that alert us to do that.
When Karen M listed many fine female journalists, she also reminded us of the danger of generalization. It is convenient to use MSM when lumping our angry thoughts about how much our journalism has been degraded due to corporate influence and lazy journalism. This generalization is dangerous because it can cause us to neglect many fine male and female journalists who are upholding the importance of their voices in our American democracy.
Yes 9/11 did silence too many MSM voices, but they did not die in their sleep. When we keep condemning them as a collective group, we are not encouraging them to increase the volume of their individual voices again. We are guilty of the same good and evil argument that we so detest when abused by the ADASBers. Many MSM voices in both TV and print have alerted us to these abuses and most Salon readers are very aware of who they are, so I will not list any examples. I would challenge all of us to not only squawk about unprofessional journalists, but also sing the praises of those who are proudly carrying out the highest ideals of their most vital profession.