Letters to the Editor
jfriesne
Published Letters: 108 Editor's Choice: 19
-
Challengers
[Read the article: Confessions of an Ohio poll worker, Part 2]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The concept of "Official Challengers" seems really creepy and un-democratic (small-d) to me. I don't want any third parties hanging around the polling precinct accusing people of trying to vote fraudulently -- it's intimidating. If there is clear evidence of fraud going on, it should be the poll workers' prerogative to deal with it. If not, then the regular rules should be followed, and anyone who is not able to follow them (lost ID, wrong precinct, whatever) should be allowed to vote provisionally. There is no harm in letting someone vote provisionally, since their eligibility will be checked later on anyway. Conversely, intimidating someone into not voting by accusing them of a crime or telling them they are ineligible is potentially very damaging and certainly not in the spirit of a democracy.
-Jeremy
-
God
[Read the article: Season of bragging]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Clearly God has been intervening in our foreign policy -- Mr. Bush has mentioned as much on several occasions. What's also clear, though, is that He has it in for us... otherwise He wouldn't keep giving Mr. Bush such terrible advice.
-Jeremy
ps To the people slagging Mr. Keillor for daring to talk about modesty in a published column -- you all are really pathetic. Don't you have anything better to do than spout pointless hatred? Keillor is a writer, publishing is what writers do. If you don't like his schtick, read something else.
-
Acknowledging reality isn't a disorder -- the refusal to do so is
[Read the article: Post-traumatic futility disorder]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Disillusionment with being asked to fight and die for no reason sound like a pretty normal response to me. The real psychological problems can be found in our leaders, who continue to sacrifice other peoples' lives in a futile attempt to salvage their own egos and reputations. There is nothing more to be gained in Iraq, but they can't or won't admit that to themselves, so nothing significant will be done until enough soldiers have died that the public demands a withdrawal.
-Jeremy
-
advice?
[Read the article: Seven rules for reading the paper]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I want to look cool while reading the newspaper, but I'm invariably derailed by newspaper malfunction -- at some point, my newspaper will get a perverse little crease in its central fold, causing the next page to refuse to turn. At that point I have to put the newspaper down on the table and violently hammer the crease back out, which always looks dorky. Is there a better way to handle this?
Also, does anyone know the URL of that Austrian woman's web site? She sounds hot.
Thanks,
Jeremy
-
Re: peak oil
[Read the article: Gates to Kennedy: Bush knows best]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]i_ween,
It's nice to think that the President's "long view" might be based on some secret plan for handling oil scarcity... but if that were the case, you'd think he'd be doing more to wean his country off of its oil addiction before the crisis hits (instead of actively opposing fuel economy increases, ignoring renewable energy, lobbying for increased oil drilling, etc).
No, I'm afraid the President's long-term plans include a lot about his "legacy", and not very much about the future of the American public.
Jeremy
-
Anant Raut is a hero and a patriot
[Read the article: Why I defend "terrorists"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Anant Raut is a hero and a patriot. Defending our freedom means just that, defending our freedom -- from all who would take it from us, our own government included.
-
Her position makes sense
[Read the article: What Hillary won't say about Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If somebody I trusted told me my house was on fire, and I called 911 to have it put out, only to later find out that there was no fire after all, did I make a mistake? Yes -- but my mistake was in trusting the an untrustworthy person, not in making the phone call.
That is what Hillary is saying, and if you are willing to assume that she believed Bush before the Iraq War (or at least was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt), it's a perfectly valid and logical position.
Of course, that may not matter to voters if it comes across as too quibbling or technical... or if they decide that trusting Bush's word showed poor judgement.
-Jeremy
-
iPod ought to be a perfectly good backup device
[Read the article: Steve Jobs' iTunes dance]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There's nothing unreasonable about expecting to use your iPod as a music backup device. After all, an iPod is nothing more than an external hard drive plus some extra display and playback circuitry. It's only the unworkable legal system that keeps Apple (or their major competitors) from allowing it to be used as such.
-
What's the replacement?
[Read the article: McCain and the "tar baby"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't mind giving up the phrase "tar baby", but I'll need a good replacement. Is "can of worms" good enough?
-
Mike Pace
[Read the article: Beyond the Multiplex]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Hi Mikes,
You seem quite fixated on what various criminals have done to some American citizens. Terrible crimes indeed, but what do they have to do with the US government torturing people? Are you saying that the US government is allowed to commit any crime that anyone else, anywhere, has done?
Perhaps you think that the people the US government tortures are the same people who behead Americans. Hint: in most cases, they aren't. And even if they were, torturing and murdering them would still be an atrocity and a crime, if the words "American justice" retain any meaning at all.
-Jeremy
-
Why the vitriol?
[Read the article: Getting blown up, again and again]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not sure why so many posters are so upset with this program -- if the people who underwent the therapy say it helped them, then it works. Nobody is forcing anybody to use it. If you think it's crap, then by all means don't use it yourself, but who are you to tell the people who benefited from this therapy that they are wrong?
-Jeremy
-
Torture causes terrorism
[Read the article: The CIA's latest "ghost detainee"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Torture "works" only to justify further acts of terrorism against the USA in the eyes of the world. We are engaged in a war of ideologies, not of weapons, and every time the world has trouble telling the difference between Al Quaeda and the US government, Al Quaeda wins that much more legitimacy. Al Quaeda can't survive without the world's support, so we need to stop giving the world reasons to support them.
-Jeremy