Letters to the Editor
WeikuBoy
Published Letters: 487 Editor's Choice: 62
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Excellent Analysis, Glenn
[Read the article: Demonizing fellow Democrats]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It is kind of pathetic, however, that it has become so difficult to fight corporate power in America that We the People are giddy over the possibility that our views concerning the most important issue of our time might actually prevail -- that a Democrat might actually win a Democratic primary (in a blue state). And yes, the mainstream media's shock and horror at the prospect of real democracy taking place in America is totally disgusting. On the other hand, I've become so accustomed to election day "surprises" in recent years, that I can practically already hear smarmy pontificators like CNN's Bill Schneider gleefully asserting that Lieberman won after all because by golly even some Democrats agree that America shouldn't just surrender to the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11.
Katherine Harris hasn't been spotted in Connecticut recently, has she?
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Thanks, Patrick
[Read the article: Getting beyond our airport security obsession]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For your parcel of sanilty, in a world quickly being spun out of control.
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Thanks, Patrick
[Read the article: Getting beyond our airport security obsession]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For your parcel of SANITY in a world quickly being spun out of control.
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Let's Play Softball
[Read the article: Is the U.K. better than the U.S. at stopping terror?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't know why Mark Benjamin is crediting British (or Pakistani) law enforcement. On Thursday's 'Hardball' Chris Matthews repeatedly claimed that this bust was the result of Bush-Cheney's warrantless wiretapping program.
With America's ace reporters on the case, is it really any wonder that half of the U.S. believes WMD were found in Iraq?
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Let's Play Softball
[Read the article: Dishonesty by the right on terrorists and eavesdropping]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Anyone watching Thursday's 'Hardball' with an uncritical eye would have been left with a clear impression that there might have been another 9/11 had Bush-Cheney not had the courage to ignore the law and the constitution in favor of warrantless wiretapping inside the U.S. Just as a shocking number of Americans believe that Saddam was responsible for 9/11 and that WMD were found in Iraq, and that Bush-Cheney are strong on terror when (five years after 9/11) they are no longer even looking for bin-Laden, etc.
It's really amazing, that just when I think the so-called republicans cannot possibly sink any lower in their shrill insistence that Failure is Victory and Isolation is Strength -- that America becomes stronger as the number and vehemence of its enemies grows -- they can still surprise me. They just might get their war against Syria and Iran, after all.
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The Truth about Spain
[Read the article: Is the U.K. better than the U.S. at stopping terror?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A lie: The Spanish people were enthusiastic members of the coation of the willing, until "the terrorists" (who were apparently on leave from Iraq) made the people lose heart on the eve of the election and vote out of office a popular conservative government.
The truth: The Spanish people from the beginning opposed Spain's participation in the Iraq War, and at the first opportunity they voted Spain's conservative government out of office. The Madrid train bombing on the eve of the election did not change the results, which were consistent with the pre-bombing polls, except that their own inept attempt to blame the bombing on Basque separatists sealed the conservatives' fate.
The truth: The Italian people firmly opposed Italy's participation in Bush-Cheney's idiocy; and they, too, voted out of office Italy's conservatives at the earliest opportunity, and are now in the process of withdrawing from Iraq (and may already be gone). In Italy, as in Spain, democracy (eventually) made government policy reflect the will of the people. Right-wing disinformation notwithstanding, "the terrorists" had nothing to do with it.
Iraq had no connection to 9/11 and no WMD; and the world's Christian powers will never be able to impose a legitimate government on the Muslims. The people of the world -- including the Spanish and Italians, and a half-million or more in New York -- tried to tell Bush-Cheney exactly that, in massive demonstrations prior to the U.S. invasion. The real question is not why democracy has worked in Spain and Italy, but rather why it has not worked in the U.S., where a single horrific terrorist attack has allowed a right-wing clique to repeal the republic and ignore the law. And get away with it (thus far).
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The Bestest Week Ever
[Read the article: Wait, was Karl Rove in Boulder this week?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Earlier this week 'Countdown' with Keith Olbermann ran a segment that juxtaposed the Bush-Cheney terror alerts since 9/11 with the real news events that were unfavorable to the White House and that in each case were thereby suppressed. It was the finest piece of journalism I've seen in recent years, and I am disappointed that to my knowledge it was not mentioned in Salon. I now am convinced that the so-called war on terror is a complete crock, designed for the sole purpose of defeating the political opponents of the so-called republicans. The corporate media has assisted this ongoing charade by leading cheers for the Christofascists and ignoring actual news in favor of lurid crime stories involving young white (preferably blonde) females. Osama bin-Laden may or may not exist; but the "war on terror" has about as much to do with him as Jon Benet has to do with real news.
Oceania is at war with Eurasia. Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia.
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TV Today
[Read the article: TV's golden age]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]TV and movies have become unwatchable, thanks to corporate greed in the form of relentlessly intrusive advertising. As a result, our television- and movie-watching experiences have converged around the DVD, a truly wonderful medium, as ideal for watching back-to-back episodes of serial dramas as for sitcoms and feature films. This article really should be titled, "DVD's Golden Age", corporate greed not yet having found a way to screw it up. Or perhaps, "The Golden Age of TiVo and DVD."
Heather -- who week in and week out is the best writer at Salon -- got me thinking about the best films I've seen in the past year (say, 'Munich' and 'Syriana') and how much better still each might be in a multi-part "television" (read: TiVo/DVD) format. There will always be a place in our world (thanks to Netflix) for tiny film jewels such as 'The Syrian Bride' and 'Cavite'; but for now nothing can top 'The Wire'. At home. On DVD/TiVo.