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just john

Published Letters: 66
Editor's Choice: 1

Thursday, April 19, 2007 07:38 AM

Haven't you been paying attention?

It's the same reason behind abortion bans, the War on (some other) Drugs and laws against suicide: The Government owns your body!

They just graciously allow you to use it for a while.

Saturday, April 21, 2007 12:44 PM

AFOSI?

Air Force Office of Special Investigations? Neat! When I was in the Air Force, I worked in the HQ of AFOSI at Bolling AFB in the 80s.

Most of the mission was busting druggies and gays within the Air Force. What your guy is describing doesn't sound like the way the OSI does things. I'm just saying ...

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 08:46 AM

Heck, this shows we're half the way out!

Thanks to Hiatt, we've already completed part one of "Declare victory and leave."

Thursday, May 3, 2007 06:58 AM

I've been wondering about the converse

I've been wondering if the congressional investigations could piggyback onto the DOJ ones. I mean, could the Senate committee simply subpoena the DOJ investigators' papers, etc. as they were generated?

Tuesday, May 15, 2007 12:27 PM

For future reference, remember this:

We now have an example of how Alberto Gonzales feels an Attorney General should be treated.

Good to know, next time he complains about being questioned.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007 12:39 PM

Maybe it's just 'cuz I'm getting older

But I can never pass up a good buffet.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007 10:15 AM

I second the "It's not phony spin" motion

It's actual spin.

But what's being spun is phony, as the content of spin often is.

Thursday, August 9, 2007 08:27 AM
Original article: Fatal enhancement

I'm guessing this isn't cause-and-effect

My guess is that the set of issues that might get a woman to decide to have surgery might overlap the set of issues that might get a woman to commit suicide.

And just a hunch, but I doubt many women have had the surgery and only afterwards started contemplating the other action.

Thursday, August 23, 2007 10:17 AM

Some tries

Open Cheney's Vault! Vote Democratic

2008: Accountability Moment

Vote Dem or you'll NEVER know!

Thursday, August 23, 2007 10:24 AM

and ...

Why Does GOP Want Government-Run Churches?

OverSIGHT, not OverLOOKED

Thursday, August 23, 2007 10:28 AM

and ..

YOU CAN'T AFFORD ANY MORE REPUBLICANS

HELP! ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM! HELP!

Monday, August 27, 2007 07:26 AM

Gonzales in Iraq?

My first reaction, when I heard of the resignation, was, "Isn't he supposed to be in Iraq?"

So, until he speaks in a couple minutes and shatters this dream, I have this fantasy: Gonzales, having finally witnessed what this Administration has wrought in Iraq, denounces Bush and tells us THAT's why he's quitting.

Monday, August 27, 2007 11:54 AM
Original article: Why did Gonzales resign?

Another reason why now

Jon Stewart? Stephen Colbert? Dan Froomkin?

All on break.

Monday, November 12, 2007 11:02 AM
Original article: Got skirt?

It's a flashback to my childhood, 45 years ago

Sounds like what my older sisters would say to each other when discussing which blouse to wear to a party. IE: Do you have the skirt to match that?

Tuesday, December 11, 2007 11:10 AM

condescending cliche update

I know it's nigh irresistible for writers to show how far they are above us proles by making asides about pro wrestling.

But the "World Wrestling Federation" hasn't been named that for well over half a decade.

Monday, January 28, 2008 03:06 PM
Original article: Hot off "The Wire"

At the episode's end, I figured out what Marlo is about.

To paraphrase from Season One, he's not here about the dope, he's here about the bodies.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 09:51 AM
Original article: The lost "Profit"

I second that!

I just bought season one of Dexter and watched it over two days. It kept reminding me of Profit.

I have the DVDs, and one thing I noticed was that the character Jim Profit was trying to convey to the rest of the company was like a classic clip-art drawing of plucky enterprise personified.

They should revive this as a musical.

Saturday, April 5, 2008 09:42 AM

Speaking of Carson, does the book mention THIS?

Something I noticed about George W. Bush in early 2001 is that much of his on-camera persona and mannerisms seemed to be based on Johnny Carson. I have to suspect his handlers had noticed a resemblance, and trained him to play it up, because people still missed Johnny.

Monday, April 7, 2008 08:16 AM

It's not just a campaign; it's an industry!

I wrote a few years ago that it's in states' interests to host hard-fought primaries.

The candidates raised, what, sixty million dollars in February? Think of all the local businesses that goes to! Normally, only Iowa and New Hampshire get this sort of economic stimulus.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 11:31 AM
Original article: Iraq: The ten commandments

Good, but I'd been hoping for more general rules.

Don't get me wrong; I agree with all of this.

But when you posted it as Ten Commandments, and started with such a good first commandment, that works in all instances, I was hoping for a set of principles that could work everywhere. But #2 started giving that away by specifying terrorism. A simple "D not exaggerate threats" would have worked better. And then you get to things -- "Talk to Iran" -- that, while being wise now, might not come into play in some future encounter with, say, Venezuela.

So I guess I fell for the premise a bit too hard. Perhaps another time?

Monday, May 12, 2008 07:05 AM

So ... What's next?

As a member of the boomer generation, I've noticed something that worries me.

One thing that the big innovations in pop music -- jazz, rock and hip-hop -- had in common was that the establishment started out by saying "That stuff isn't music!" Not that it was bad music, but that it wasn't music at all.

Then, eventually, the establishment caved in and accepted it.

So where's the new not-music, now? As a middle-aged guy, this worries me.

My big hope is that today's kids have something truly amazing, and they're just really good at hiding it from us oldsters.

Monday, May 12, 2008 07:13 AM

PS to my "What's Next?"

I hit "Publish" too soon.

What I meant to say was that, as a middle-aged guy, everything new I hear sounds like music (often lame music; after hearing Slipknot touted a couple years back, I bought Iowa and fell asleep while listening to this allegedly fierce music) and that worries me.

Monday, June 9, 2008 05:17 PM

Re: "... any ads ... critical of ... cable industries ..."

Some satellite service is running ads which make lots of fun of cable TV in general. In it, either Ed Begley Jr. or somebody who looks just like him sits at the head of a meeting table.

The reason I bring this half-remembered ad up is that it would count as applicable to Glenn's letter. I don't have Comcast, but other readers who do have Comcast might know if these ads are running.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008 10:30 AM

Needless?

Re: "Needless to say, if you don't believe humans are the cause of global warming, you're not going to believe that humans are the solution to global warming."

Huh?

Do you say "Needless to say" because even you know that that assertion makes no sense?

For instance, as something like a converse to that, I tend to believe that humans are the primary cause of global warming, but I suspect that humans will NOT solve it. (It may well "solve" us!)

In a broad understanding of the term "science," logic is also a science. And you don't seem to be on logic's side, here. Must you also be stopped?

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