Letters to the Editor
WeikuBoy
Published Letters: 487 Editor's Choice: 62
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Catch This
[Read the article: Yesterday's ruling on NSA warrantless eavesdropping]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As I recall, there was a similar problem in getting an abortion rights case before the court. The problem was that by the time a pregnant woman could get through the lower courts and up to the USSCt, the pregnancy would be years past, and the issue would be moot.* Eventually the court(s) realized the injustice created by this predicament; and the result was Roe v Wade, a 1973 USSCt decision concerning a pregnancy in the late 1960's.
It is possible that a USSCt eager to try to reclaim its legitimacy in the wake of the partisan travesty that was Bush v Gore just might use similar reasoning to do substantial justice.
[* I realize "mootness" and "standing" (and "ripeness") are discrete concepts; but if I remember correctly, as products of the "case or controversy" requirement in the U.S. Constitution that Glenn discussed they are closely related and sometimes confused.]
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From Kenneth Starr to Scooter Libby
[Read the article: The NYT's growing pro-war fan club]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]OT, but a good line occurred to me this morning:
In the 90's, the "Republicans" criminalized politics.
In the Bush-Cheney era, they've politicized crime.
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This Just In from Fort Cakewalk
[Read the article: Cindy Sheehan's wrong turn]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]To the Anonymous who wrote "Cindy Sheehan is a Kook," your claim that her son Casey "re-enlisted after his tour in Iraq was over" struck me as very unlikely. I remember from Thomas Rick's excellent book Fiasco that Casey died relatively early in the so-called "war" in one of the first engagements (if not the first) between Americans and al-Sadr's Shiite army. And sure enough, Wikipedia has the following:
"Near the end of his tour of duty, the U.S. invasion of Iraq began. Sheehan re-enlisted, knowing that his unit would be sent to Iraq. Sheehan's division, the First Cavalry Division, was sent to Iraq. On March 19, 2004, Sheehan's unit, C Battery, 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment arrived at FOB War Eagle in Sadr City. Just a few weeks later, on April 4, 2004, Sheehan was killed in action after volunteering as part of a Quick Reaction Force to rescue American troops." [See: Yahoo search for "Casey Sheehan" > Wikipedia.]
Fiasco contains a gripping account of the action which claimed Casey Sheehan. However, and with the usual caveats wrt Wikipedia, it appears he was in Iraq for barely two weeks. Probably not enough time for him to form a definite opinion one way or the other about Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL); and definitely not long enough to be asked to re-enlist.
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Rural Jurors
[Read the article: In the wonderland of ruins]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Then, alas, would come the inevitable next question. 'Every American we meet here says they don't like Bush. But if no Americans like Bush, why did he get reelected?' "
And you, Gary, being an informed person who is familiar with Salon's own reporting and has read WeikuBoy's letters to you on this very subject, were able to explain America's anti-democratic electoral system, which supersizes the votes of rural conservatives in the Bible Belt and lets them choose a U.S. government that neither reflects nor respects the wishes of the majority of Americans on every major issue from gun control to Iraq, and which actually overturned the 2000 election results (albeit with a righteous assist from Brother Jeb and the 5 Gops on the USSct). You explained this to them; right? High-five!
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Rural Jurors II
[Read the article: In the wonderland of ruins]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"But if no Americans like Bush, why did he get re-elected?"
And of course you went on to explain that after the 2000 "election" the incumbents lied to start a war and promptly labeled as traitors anyone who dared question any aspect of the Gop agenda, including the "re-election" of Bush-Cheney in '04 -- all to the incessant cheerleading of the corporate media, which never told Americans about the lies; right?
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The Highway Beautification Act
[Read the article: A Southern, and liberal, Lady]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wow. I'm barely old enough to remember LBJ as a scary face on TV talking gravely about "Our boys in Vee-yet Nayam" -- but I have just enough of a connection to the South to be able to really savor Sidney's piece (I can almost taste the bourbon, with water and a little ice), and to come away with a new appreciation for a Texas president who tried to do the right thing and who at least had the decency to quit when it all went terribly wrong.
There were so many amazing sentences: Her grandfather fought at Shiloh. He was the only Southern congressman to vote for an anti-lynching bill. The Mink Coat Mob. (I can't remember where I heard, or if it's just an urban myth, that passengers on a commercial flight leaving Dallas cheered the news that JFK was dead.) I can only hope the young 'uns will click on this piece and spend a few moments in a very, very different time and place.
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This Just In from Camp Cakewalk
[Read the article: It's finally time for Bush to answer questions about Libby]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm fascinated by the fact that every time Salon runs a piece on the travails of convicted felon Scooter Libby, Elephant & Friends (whose letters are eerily similar to the comments of certain wingnuts who appear on Sunday morning TV) show up to clog the thread with the same old tired and discredited Gop talking points. "Scooter" obviously has some very rich and powerful friends, or is keeping some very damaging secrets for them -- or both.
The only question for historians will be, did the order to out Ms. Plame come directly from Junior, or from Junior via Rove, or from Cheney via Junior via Ol' Dick Cakewalk himself?
Meanwhile, the passing this week of "Lady Bird" gave us a glimpse into the Bush-Cheney legacy. Those few who remember LBJ remember only a failed president who lied to start a war that turned out badly. Most don't remember him at all, or vaguely associate him with something distasteful. Thus Bush, who it is safe to say will not be on Mt. Rushmore and who took The Deified Saint Reagan down with him in the sands of Iraq (sorry, wingnuts).
And Osama bin-Forgotten and still at large, six years after 9/11, to their eternal infamy.