Letters to the Editor
The Professor
Published Letters: 420 Editor's Choice: 26
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It's all in a name
[Read the article: Improvement in Iraq: Trust Joe Klein and his secret sources]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've always thought that 90% of Petraeus power to awe-inspire comes from his name. Sounds like a nice Roman general. That's always helpful when you're pushing your empire.
On the fantasy of 'routing al-Qaida,' wouldn't that be a good thing to imagine? Since that has become our stated reason for being there (du jour), we could then claim victory and go home. Of course, some will say that they just scuttled across the border into Iran and Syria, so .... Mission Continues.
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I don't know...
[Read the article: Quote of the Day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That kind of quote, and the whole hatred for the NYFD for Giuliani, could lose its power if it is built up too much. People would just come to accept (as will surely be drilled into them by the MSM) that the NYFD just has some union-organized "anti-boss" hysteria going on. The point will be far more powerful if played down for now, but brought out strategically late in the campaign season, after Giuliani has staked everything on his 9/11 rep.
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I understand now
[Read the article: The president and the peach man]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you look at what Bush says before and after the phrase, "in other words," they are always strangely similar, which is not what that expression is usually used for (eg. "I have a pair of peaches. In other words, I have two peaches."). The second phrasing is usually just *slightly* simpler. I think what he is doing is taking a statement that has been given to him, which he has had difficulty understanding without having it re-phrased, and then assumed everyone else will need it dumbed down just as he did. So he always presents both versions, linked with 'in other words.' He is a complete imbecile. In other words, he is kinda stupid.
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Yes, anonymous
[Read the article: Memorial Day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't think they are dying for my freedom, either. Because this war is *increasing* terrorism (by most accounts), and increases in the number of terrorists and terrorism in turn prompts more roll-backs in civil liberties in the US, I could argue that my freedom is being erroded by this war. War-->hatred of America -->terrorism --> curtailment of liberties--> loss of freedom.
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@ anonymous
[Read the article: Inside the Creation Museum]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The adam and eve creation story is also the creation story of the Jews and Muslims, so yes, people here are mocking those as well. However, they aren't so much mocking the myth so much as mocking the notion that the myth is literally true, which is absolutely mockable. If someone created a museum about the Iroquois myth about turtles (or whatever), it probably wouldn't be as mockable because there wouldn't be an attempt to get others to believe in the literal truth of the myth, but simply to respect the values it teaches. Also, it is quite a different act to mock the powerful than to mock the marginalized - creationists are running the damn country right now.
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A problem?
[Read the article: The great right-wing fraud to repudiate George W. Bush]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As long as all the current republican contenders for the throne continue to ape Bush, I only see an upside to saying he's not a real conservative. That can only have the effect of peeling away voters who think of themselves as 'real' conservatives. I understand the argument behind saying that high-corporatism, endless empire-building, police states, reckless deficits, etc. go against a certain brand of conservatism. As long as McCain et al support those same goals, they can all also be labeled "not real conservatives." Let the 'real conservative voters' stay home and sit on their hands during the next election.
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"What do you think will suck about the iPhone?"
[Read the article: iPhone doomsters: Cracked screen, broken keyboard?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It won't hold up to being stepped on by a bull elephant, unlike those good old Timex watches.
Responding to Alan: I won't buy an iPhone for those reasons, but there are plenty of phone-only devices still on the market, so one can't fault iPhone for not being one. I could imagine my kids really wanting one, though, because they do want something that can do everything except help them be productive, responsible, citizens. The question is simply, will the iPhone easily do what it claims to do, and if it does, it will do well.
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Marriage irony
[Read the article: Mitt Romney, father of gay marriage?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It is true that many churches do 'marry' (perform the marriage ritual) same-sex couples, and within the domain of the church recognize the couple as married. It's just THE STATE that won't recognize those marriages. So, on the grounds that same-sex marriage offends certian religious sensibilites, the nation won't recognize them. The upshot: same-sex marriage only happens in church. Kinda weird.
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Varia
[Read the article: Opus]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]1) The "preaching to the choir" posters may not know that Opus now runs in many sunday comics sections, not just Salon, and that choir isn 't totally fine with gay parenting;
2) To someone who objected to the "Dinkle will grow up to be an unlovable loser" jest: it's a reference to another running character in Tom the Dancing Bug named Dinkle;
3) There is no need to read the strip as saying all men are bad parents. I read it as being a critique of the generalization "all children need a mother and a father," by posing *one* exmaple of a father many would not like to have. It is in no way an attack on fathering generally to say that not all fathers are good influences on children.
Signed,
One father who tries every day not to be like his father
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Sigh
[Read the article: Polling '08: Good news and bad news for Clinton]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Every time I start to warm up to Clinton, polls like these remind me why she must be defeated. Yes, there are all kinds of problems with poll numbers at this time, but the results line up with all the 'zeitgeist' data I see around me. Letters to the editor of my small-town newspaper, biased media coverage, online chatter, my own gut: all point to the conclusion that Clinton would lose and Obama could win. It is unfair that Clinton is hated by 50% of the country, but it seems to be an unchangeable fact of the political landscape.