Letters to the Editor
CarolynC
Published Letters: 200 Editor's Choice: 6
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Great analysis, now what are the implications?
[Read the article: Journalism and its discontents]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]After reading Blumenthal's reflections on the state of contemporary journalism through the prism of Lippmann's analysis, it's hard not to despair. The near complete destruction of journalism circa 2007 is both the cause and effect of our rancid political culture.
Near the end, Blumenthal communicates a note of cautious optimism:
"But journalism may yet be revitalized, as part of a general reawakening of American democracy that discovers new forms of expression and forces new debate to achieve its ends."
But this can only occur if "we the people" demand it. Our political culture is critically ill. "The system" has been co-opted and subverted -- it will not self-correct. In my darker moments I fear it is too late. Our current course as a nation seems set; public inertia comes close to resembling rigor mortis. There are too few pockets of health and vibrancy left. The deterioration of the media is now near-complete; accurate news and reporting, the oxygen the body politic requires to survive, has been almost completely cut off, and many Americans are accepting, with little protest, their new role as subjects of a monolithic tyranny composed of corporations and political elites.
How then to transform contemporary journalism, how to breathe new life into a dying enterprise? I don't see much reason for optimism.
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Pantanal: The issue isn't whether or not motivated people can still find out what's happening
[Read the article: Journalism and its discontents]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Your suggestion proves the point that I and others are making, if we must all go to foreign sources, even rather easily accessible ones, to find out what's going on in our own country and around the world, it simply demonstrates that journalism in the U.S. has utterly failed.
Will enough people care enough about being informed to seek out foreign sources for their news? I doubt if they will in great numbers, and unless they do, voters and citizens will be making enormously important decisions based on little or no accurate, relevant information. This is a prescription for disaster for what's left of our democracy.
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This would be hysterically funny, if the movement weren't so dangerous
[Read the article: Abject stupidity defined]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When you are intellectually and morally bankrupt, as these folks so plainly are, when the leaders you've slavishly followed have failed utterly, what is there left to do but attack people who have exposed your true character?
They hate Glenn Greenwald because he has unmasked them, and no one has done it better. These bloggers are cheerleaders for an extremist movement that came to power and then proceeded to subvert the Constitution and begin an era of endless war.
Now many Americans have rejected them. In response, they have chosen to act more brazenly, with even more hubris. They are sinking deeper into their delusions of power and grandeur -- and are turning even more viciously on people who oppose them. They're a sorry bunch, but they're still capable of inflicting serious damage on this country. Even though they are stupid, they should not be underestimated.
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Syler1 -- some topics may be more interesting to you than this flap over an email
[Read the article: Follow-up on the Col. Steven Boylan e-mail exchange]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]but the implications of this type of behavior are huge. This email harassment/deception by Boylan is part of an aggressive strategy by the military to imtimidate journalists and influential bloggers. It's ugly and utterly undemocratic.
A hallmark of our democracy is a military that is scrupulously nonpartisan. The military serves the objectives of the democratically elected representatives of the people, whoever they may be. In an autocratic society, there is no distinction between those who make policy and those who carry it out. The military and the political leadership are one. Now we are seeing evidence that the line of distinction between the civilian and military branches of government are being blurred. This harassing email is further evidence of this erosion.
That our military -- like so many other aspects of our public life -- has been politicized by this administration is not surprising, but it is none the less extremely dangerous.
Boyland and Petraeus are on treacherous ground when they attempt to pervert their rightful roles and become political actors, serving the goals of this Republican administration. The military was reportedly unhappy when Clinton was elected -- most of the brass in the Pentagon preferred a Republican. But they grumbled, and then saluted. They respected their role. Now we have a new breed that is repeatedly crossing the line, advocating policy and attacking those who dissent. This is a mortal threat to our form of government, and this needs to be pointed out over and over until it stops, or we will all be living in a vastly different country than the one we knew.
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6stringer -- this is not about incompetence
[Read the article: Col. Boylan's denial]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You said, "If i acted with even a quarter of these people incompetence with my patients i would long have been fired already."
I don't think Boylan will be fired for his incompetence, because he is doing exactly what the Bush administration wants him to do -- attack dissent wherever he finds it, then deny responsbility when he is called out. It's a tactic, and the Bush administration has used it effectively. If you want evidence, read the newspapers and watch television. The media are frightened of the thugs in the White House. They do not investigate, they do not report. They are lapdogs, because they have been cowed into submission through just this type of intimidation. Now the administration is using this tactic against bloggers who oppose their policies. The are stalwart authoritarians and their goal is to silence dissent.