Letters to the Editor
luckycat
Published Letters: 180 Editor's Choice: 6
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Pride and poll results
[Read the article: Large number of Americans favor violent attacks against civilians]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The actual poll questions and answers relating to who was resonsible for 9/11 are on page 91 and 92 of the report which is accessable at http://pewresearch.org/assets/pdf/muslim-americans.pdf
Do you believe that groups of Arabs carried out the attacks against the United States on September 11 2001, or don’t you believe this?
40 Believe
28 Do not believe
32 DK/Refused
IF DON’T BELIEVE GROUPS OF ARABS RESPONSIBLE FOR 9/11 (Q.H3=2), ASK:
Q.H3a Who do you think might have been responsible for the attacks of 9/11? [RECORD VERBATIM
RESPONSE; IF DK OR REFUSE TO ANSWER, DO NOT PROBE]
BASED ON TOTAL18:
18 Do not believe in Q.H3 and Don’t know in Q.H3a
7 U.S. government conspiracy/President Bush
1 Israel/Jews
1 Others/Non-Muslims
1 Crazy/misguided people
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A response to Shooter
[Read the article: Attacks on civilians, torture and lawless detentions]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The list of 20th Century Genocides is depressingly long. The list of perpetrators includes the following governments/leaders: China, Turkey, Germany/Hitler, Russia/Stalin, Japan, Cambodia, Rwanda, Serbia/Milosivic, Burundi, Guatemala, Ethiopia, and Iraq/Hussein. Shooter, I challenge you to find any religious commonality among the perpetrators of these genocides (other than the fact that none appear perpetrated by Jewish folks). To argue that Muslims are somehow responsible for genocides seem a foolish statement at best.
With respect to senseless bombings, shootints, etc. here in our country that make the news, we have random school and workplace shootings (none of which have been perpetrated by Muslims), Oaklahoma City (again not a Muslim), Waco (again not Muslims), the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics (not a Muslim), the Unibomer (not a Muslim), the folks who killed Kennedy, Kennedy, and King and shot Regan, and the list goes on. Indeed, out of all of the bomings, shootings, and significant violant acts in the US that have greatly impacted us here at home, only the two World Trade Center bombings were perpetrated by non-American Muslims. While I'm in no way attempting to minimize the 9/11 attacks, arguing that Muslims are responsible for all of the bombings and shootings in the world seems a gross overstatment.
I would also point out the resistence/insurgency movements responsible for killing innocents in the name of politics in non-Muslim countries including the IRA, the folks in Spain (the name of which I can't recall of the top of my head, the FARC in Columbia, the Shining Path in Peru, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, the resistence/insurgency in Guatamala, and the list goes on. None of these resistence/insurgency groups are Muslim. Again, to suggest that only Muslims employ terrorist tactics in support of political movements seems absurd.
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Death begets death
[Read the article: Memorial Day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The deaths of almost 3000 on 9/11 justifies the deaths of another 3500 since then??? All I see is 7500 dead Americans and the shattered lives of their parents and children.
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Teaching our kids
[Read the article: Al-Qaida does it, too]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Harry Potter saga contains the best criticism and discussion of the type of "They're torturing people than we should to" argument I have seen in recent years. For those of not immersed in the story, Lord Voldemort is bad -- really, really bad. He tortures and kills innocents folks just to create fear among his followers -- he is the ultimate evil terrorist. During Lord Voldemort's heyday (years prior to the beginning of the current story), an otherwise mediocre bureaucrat rises to power by advocating the same type of harsh tactics as those used by the enemy. The new and strong leader suspended trials, engaged in torture, and did not worry about guilt or innocence (if you were suspected, you were thrown in prison and tortured). The protagonists of the books, Harry Potter and his mentor, Professor Dumbledore, promote the idea that engaging in evil for the purpose of doing good fails miserably. Too bad our nation's media elite have missed the message -- perhaps they should spend more time reading to their kids.
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Weight has no bearing on parenting
[Read the article: Big momma's house]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As the child of a fat father (now in his late 60s) and the grandchild of an obese grandmother (now a healthy but overweight 87), I am perfectly justified in saying that weight has no bearing on parenting ability. My dad is a terrific. I couldn't ask for a better grandma. My wonderful mother who never weighed more than 125 lbs in her life died of cancer at 45, leaving small children behind to be raised by her very fat mother and fat husband. They did a great job, and three of the four of us kids have managed to avoid the obese label (at least to date).
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Test votes
[Read the article: Various matters]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Another odd media change in recent months -- the rise of the use of the term "test vote" to describe a cloture voted to end a filibuster. I don't believe that I ever heard that term while the Republicans controlled the Senate. Moreover, if I recall correctly, every time the Democrats sought to use the filibuster to block some legislation (which they were too cowardly to do too often), the media presented it as a filibuster and echoed Republican claims that Democrats were supressing the will of the people and that they should let the legislation go forward for a straight up or down vote. I don't believe I ever heard a successful filibuster referred to as failure of a test vote. Has anyone ever looked into where this "test vote" thing came from?
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Saintzak is right
[Read the article: Cummins: "My professional reputation has already been slandered"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There really does seem to be an astounding lack of experience, professionalism and competence in the Bush Administration. I have nothing against ambitious folks in their 20s and early 30s, but really, as a group, they just don't have enought work experience to run a country. Moreover, the Bush Administration and DOJ seem to favor staffers with far less than stellar educational backgrounds and work experience, but the right ideological beliefs. If you can't find enough well qualified, experienced folks with the ideological beliefs you want, a rational person would rethink the ideology. Not the Bush Administration -- they just go for incompetence.