Letters to the Editor
futhark
Published Letters: 249 Editor's Choice: 22
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The One Republican Who HAS Repudiated Neoconservatism
[Read the article: Why the Republicans don't like their candidates]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, Anonymous is correct. Dr. Ron Paul is "none of the above", being the only Republican candidate to not only reject all of the Bush Administrations fiascoes, but to have opposed them from the very outset. You name it: invasion of Iraq, illegal snooping, exploding deficits, disrespecting the Constitution, "no child left behind"...Rep. Dr. Paul has been there to eloquently speak against these monstrosities and the transition of our Constitutional republic into the new Soviet Union.
His percentage of followers is still small, not surprising when he has been eclipsed by the media and depends on funding raised almost exclusively from small donors. However, his message is getting out. The libertarian wing of the Republican Party is supportive and he is attracting a lot of independent voters.
Whether or not the mainstream of the Republican Party can be convinced that neoconism is taking their party on a suicide run remains to be seen. If they can start to accept a reality that exists beyond the twisted logic, prejudices, and narrow perspective defined by their strident propagandists, there may be some hope they can once again serve as an anchor for the ship of state instead of a crazily spinning propeller driving it onto the reef.
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The Most Serious People In The World
[Read the article: Joe Klein and Beltway seriousness]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The most serious people in the world are those of us who have objected to and fought the Bush Administration's aggression, insults, and power grabs from the day W. was appointed President by the Supreme Court in the aftermath of the 2000 non-election. We are fed up, frustrated, and mad-as-hell, now that every bad thing we feared and warned about the Bush Administration has come true.
The cumulation of all these issues and actions, be it the non-existent WMDs, the lying about warrantless wiretapping, the assault on Constitutional rights, the soaring deficit, the blatant corruption, the smarmy self-righteous pontifications about gay marriage, or any of the other turd-bombs these assholes have laid on the American people and the world, points in one direction and one direction only-->IMPEACH and REMOVE FROM OFFICE!
SERIOUSLY, what in the name of all that is SACRED, is holding back those whom we have entrusted with fulfilling their legal responsibility to remove these incompetent and criminal jerks from office?
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Placating the American (GOP, Democratic, Progressive, Conservative, Libertarian) base
[Read the article: Placating the GOP base or protecting the workplace?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you hadn't noticed it yet, a huge majority of Americans, coming from across the entire political spectrum, are opposed to the entry of illegal aliens into the United States. the myth promulgated by articles like this one is that intolerance for massive illegal immigration is a defining characteristic of gun-totin' redneck Republicans. Not so! And for very good reasons, which boil down to three major issues: the depression of wages and opportunities for native-born and legal immigrant Americans, the additional strain and expense illegals put on schools, hospitals, police, and other social services, and the problems we all face due to higher population density: water, food, pollution, and wilderness and resource protection.
The only people benefiting from the current arrangement, aside from the illegals themselves, are the corporations, George W. Bush's "base". President Bush keeps warning about a labor shortage if the illegal immigration flood is staunched. Most working Americans would welcome this as an opportunity for wage increases and promotion.
Salon writers need to recognize that the objection to illegal immigration characterizes their mostly Democratic readers just as much as it characterizes redneck Republicans.
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Unregulated Surveillance Is An Essential Part Of The Neocon Program
[Read the article: America under surveillance]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As one of the "anonymous" posters here noted, if you don't do anything wrong, you will have nothing to worry about if the police read your emails and listen to your conversations. The point, of course, is what constitutes "wrong"? Is eating falafel wrong? Is putting an "Impeach Bush" bumper sticker on your car wrong? Is belonging to a group of peace activists or a church like the Society of Friends (Quakers), who profess nonviolence as a tenant of faith, wrong?
Most people do what they have to do to steer clear of trouble. No one wants the hassle of being busted by the police and being prosecuted in court or even being ostracized by neighbors. It's so much easier to just go along with social norms. The disciplining of society can be accomplished without the messiness of widespread arrests and tedious, expensive punishments. Everyone knows that if they behave in such a way as to invite trouble, they are liable to encounter it.
So, we end up with a hard-working, brainwashed, orthodox society like I remember from the 1950's, when anyone who marched to the tune of a different drummer, cut his hair the wrong way, or wore the wrong color of pants was subjected to ridicule and suspicion.
This works great for the economic and political elite, because an insecure and fearful population is easier to influence and direct with propaganda via mainstream media outlets. The social and political paradigms are narrowed. Ideas such as "19 box-cutter wielding Islamic fanatics were solely responsible for 9/11" are easier to have accepted when people know that expressions of doubt may be "wrong".
In the Eighteenth Century a group of upper middle class and gentry decided that a better form of government could be achieved if the governed could be critical of and demand change from those entrusted with power. That vision is our political heritage, which we are losing to the degree we accept that the powerful have the right to monitor and investigate the governed without oversight or regulation.