Letters to the Editor
EMStoveken
Published Letters: 391 Editor's Choice: 44
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@bearpaw
[Read the article: Nagourney: "At least one scenario where Clinton could win"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Maybe if they get upset enough about the merely suggestive nature of their precious primary votes, they will realize the same problem we have with the general.
It's not my job to make people feel good about our quadrennial national kabuki theatre. The fact is that the electorate is so easily manipulated by the nonsensical ravings of media, is so easily dazzled by overtly manipulative TV ads, is so adverse to free thought and outside the box solutions that they deserve the process they have.
Not long ago, I felt pretty good about the Democratic slate of candidates. I liked the line up of straw men babbling on the Republican side.
Somehow in the last 6 months we have managed to create the perverse spectacle we have before us today. We are wired into a survival trip now. Ironic, since we have long cast aside those who were best suited to ensuring the party's survival.
Of course, I do realize that the superdelegates are only human and subject to the same crass manipulation as the rest of the public; but at this stage in the game, when the instruction manual lies in tatters at our feet, the gameboard is stained with spilt grape juice and our little cousins are stupidly choking on the shiny plastic pieces, I have to at least pretend that these assholes will be able to concoct a meaningful plan. That plan needs to select the stronger candidate, pair them with a rock solid VP and construct a forward-thinking platform which can be acted upon from inauguration day.
This absurdist pipedream is the only thing that stops me from becoming a cynical asshole.
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Can we bring our people home now?
[Read the article: "We have been told to fight the Americans"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The key statement in this article is the one that states that members of the Iraqi parliament loyal to Al-Sadr walked out.
EARTH to NEOCONS -- The free elections in Iraq did nothing but create a parliament which is a microcosm of the sectarian rifts that are causing this entire mess.
There will be no political progress in Iraq until the civil war that we allowed to happen is allowed to play itself out. The same forces that are firing guns and rockets in the streets are butting heads in the halls of the Iraqi parliament!
Until someone "wins" there will ne no real movement.
And this sucks. I know that unmitigated civil war will lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands if not millions of innocents. It will radicalize generations of Iraqi and has an outcome that is, at best unpredictable. And it's pretty much guaranteed that whoever "wins" will not be real thrilled with the US.
Unmitigated civil war would be a disaster for the United States.
Guess what, us staying there will have results surprisingly similar to unmitigated civil war. It will just take many many more years and will allow our enemies to continue to paint us as the great satanic invading/occupying force.
Our continued occupation would be a disaster for the United States.
Never forget. Iraq is not a nation. It is an odd little shape on a map drawn by Churchill and Co. in the wake of WWII. There is no Iraqi National Identity that is not superceded by the centuries-old cultural identities which are clashing in the streets of Baghdad as I write this.
The next politician to rationally address this issue has my vote. The party that backs that candidate has my loyalty.
Ready.
Set.
GO!
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Thanks Oresta
[Read the article: "We have been told to fight the Americans"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is why I should not post before coffee . . .