Letters to the Editor
Holly McLachlan
Published Letters: 472 Editor's Choice: 3
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A "Parlor Fascist " as you once called them Bill? Politically Correct me if I'm wrong!
[Read the article: Various items]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...surely it must be clear that the indeterminacy of human motivation is a factor in all thought, and that anyone with even a modicum of self-reflection is aware of it. -- Timberman
Would that it were so, Smarty P. #2. Unfortunately I keep getting asked for linear textual assertions of direct proof of causality of AIPAC anti-Semitism narratives.
Again, I refer you to wingnut defense #1. They never "said" Iraq and 9/11 were connected. Ah cha cha cha...
I'm not surprised, but very saddened, to see the same linguistic nonsense all over our side of the fence.
Then again, Paul busted me with that fantastic mathematical formula for logical causality, so, you know, I'm secretly a Neo Con. -- WinSmithNot this decade you aren't. But if this sort of self-aggrandizing mendacity informs most of your interactions with your fellow man.... then you have a good chance of becoming one when you reach an age at which your personal circumstances make it attractive.
You had one worthy core argument today -- that writers should consider the potential effects of their words, the utility of their stated opinions to the arguments of bigots. The best responses to that one valid point were probably fortunato's and Paul Dirks. They largely rejected your off-loading of responsibility onto our shoulders, and they did so with grace.
But ondelette went one better. I'm very saddened that you ignored his discussion of David Duke's most vulnerable, most immediate targets in favor of intellectual name-dropping this evening. With your many references to David Duke, Sen. Lieberman, and the worst "tropes" of historic antisemitism, you have demonstrated a great willingness to veer off-topic (rightwing bias at ADL, remember?). But, you have neglected to respond to his letter. Not convenient, was it? Or just of little value in the quest for attention? -
Sure
[Read the article: Various items]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Care to rephrase in the form of something I can actually respond to? -- WinSmith
Yes.
Ondelette Permalink Saturday, October 6, 2007 02:33 PM, p. 23, right above an equally noteworthy response from fortunato.
... the notion that the invasion of Iraq was a "Jewish War," done by secret Israeli control over American government, expressed by one or two posters, is pure, uncut 100% anti-Semitic bullshit. -- WinSmith
You're putting false words in peoples' mouths again, while proclaiming yourself the infringed upon one.
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Afghanistan, where we should have been, with all our blood and treasure
[Read the article: The remaining GOP base -- the 30%'ers and the Broder/Ignatius pundit]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Of course, for years, the media in this country has reported on Afghanistan as filler. [...] For years, we get this assessment of the situation, written in terms of hearts and minds and drugs, and not in terms of regenerating a country torn by 35 years of war [...] But no, we have to spray 'cause that's what works (Republican style) in Colombia. Permanent War. Come down on the little guy, lose those hearts and minds. They're just little people hearts and minds anyway. Little people trying to grow crops in the "carpet of bombs" sown in their fields -- 4 million land mines with no maps.-- ondelette
It's enough to make you wonder who got the no-bid spraying contract.
I've never forgotten Usama bin Laden's quid pro quo murder of Ahmed Shah Masood 2 days before 9-11. It was obviously his pre-payment for shelter by the Taliban. People should bring it up more often.
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The Art of the Possible
[Read the article: What FISA capitulations are Democrats planning next?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You spy on mine; I spy on yours.
Glenn, you have a point that "I spy on mine" is worse, but I think you are underestimating the problem nonetheless. -- Mike Sulzer
I don't know that he's underestimating the potential for, or current extent, of this kind of government activity. But it's not as addressable as internal spying. We have laws on the books about that -- laws which have some cultural legitimacy since they were accepted & relied on for +25 years.
It will be interesting to see if the politically compromised Congressional leadership can actually remember how to logroll. It would be dandy if they succeeded in using this bill to regain some oversight on the Executive. I'm convinced Paul Dirks and tempus are right tho -- what they'll find mainly, is an administration that spent +4 years hiding their abject cluelessness behind the purdah wall of National Security.
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Ode to a Boiled Frog............... In a Tupperware Urn
[Read the article: Telecom amnesty would forever foreclose investigation of vital issues]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And One Other Position...Holly McL[achlan] should be in charge of enforcing general intellectual quality. -- -Mona-
Thanks. Today's letters pages were actually kind of distressing. The poetical old hippies who always say something readable have been here, the trolls have been here... but there has been such silence from the type of commenters who add data and on-topic meat to Glenn's subject.
The dead-lettering of the 4th amendment is not trivial, & not removed from the conduct of daily life. (I had a layover at the Phoenix airport last week. You know -- the public venue where crazy, middle-aged white women enjoy the same treatment that The Authorities have always meted out to epileptics of color. Somehow, the "mission creep" gets a little scary when it starts to including the likes of me. Ha.Ha.)
Why is Glenn so novel for caring? Is it that strange for a pragmatic, credentialed professional to be passionate about the Constitution? Is it only fodder for chat-room prattle like we languished in today?
This:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
is not a small thing. -
The 4th Amendment
[Read the article: The conservative vision of America, by National Review]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Has there ever been a political movement more antithetical to the political values they pompously espouse than the right-wing movement -- those "small government" Authoritarians -- epitomized by National Review Editors?-- Glenn Greenwald
Probably. But these ninnyhammers deserve your daily eviscerations.