Letters to the Editor
Martin Gifford
Published Letters: 159
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Democrats failed to counter Bush's conflation of 9/11 and now they live with the consequences
[Read the article: Fun and games with terrorist threats]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Democrats could have looked good by responding in a low key professional manner to 9/11.
That would have made the Republicans look like hysterical fools, and worse, like evil manipulators.
Now that Democrats have allowed Bush to exaggerate and prioritise the terrorist threat, Dems are suffering the consequences.
The "Democrats are weak on terror" meme is easily convertible to "Republicans are letting terrorists set the agenda and remove our liberties".
Democrats fear that if a nuke goes off, they will be blamed. But they can preempt that by establishing a public discourse on exactly that issue and making the people choose liberty over fear:
"Even if a nuke goes off, it's not worth sacrificing our long-term liberty and changing America. If we say that 9/11 changed everything, we are giving too much power to a few crazy terrorists."
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To Kitt: Politicians are People Persons
[Read the article: Today]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Kitt asked: "...does being fabulously wealthy help one to sleep at night when they have proven by their own pen to be doing their job with... incompetence or lack of honesty...?"
Politicians like to be liked. They are people persons. The telcos employ excellent public relations people who know how to get liked and get others to feel liked.
So competence and honesty are not on their radars. It's about getting strokes from important people.
The electoral system encourages people persons to apply for government, and being a people person gets you elected.
The system is for people persons, not good managers.
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The Hyenas Think they are Heroes.
[Read the article: Today]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Che Pasa asked: "...why do you think it is that The People in Washington have the morals of hyenas?"
They don't think they are immoral.
They think they are pragmatic.
They think what's good for America is good for the world.
They think they need to wiretap for security, and believe it as only being about patterns of phonecalls etc.
They think Congress weakens America.
Not many people wake up in the morning thinking, "Hm, what evil thing will I do today.
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War Hater Votes for McCain after hearing McAuliffe's response
[Read the article: Conceding John McCain's "toughness" on national security]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]After I read the Terry McAuliffe quote in Glenn's article, I sat back and just looked at my feeling response, which was...
"Gee, the Democrats seem to be afraid of this issue. Maybe they are weak on national security. Maybe politicians on both sides are aware of some threat they haven't told us about, and it might be safer to go for the guy who's going to take the tough pre-emptive option. Maybe I should vote McCain."
And I despise war!
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9/11 - the day the Neocons grabbed their opportunity to change everything after a long build up
[Read the article: Amnesty Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Neither Obama nor Clinton voted on final passage."
So much for the great black hope and the great female hope!
True Democrats should do what the Neocons did: plan and implement a takeover of government.
The alternative is to continue having an alternation between a Right-wing president (Democrat) and an Extreme Right-wing president (Republican).
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It will be interesting how (or if) the TV news presents Telecom Amnesty Day
[Read the article: Amnesty Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And what the response of the people will be.
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What if the Dems are playing rope-a-dope on this?
[Read the article: CNN's John Roberts helps out Mike McConnell]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bush said he would delay his trip to Africa this weekend to work on the immunity bill. This brings it into media focus. And now Bush looks desperate. And by saying the terrorists will get us, he's hanging himself, because security shouldn't be so fragile 6 years after 9/11.
Now consider this: Harry Reid sent Bush a letter that said,
"[Democrats] stand ready to negotiate a final bill... there is no crisis that should lead you to cancel your trip to Africa... I regret your reckless attempt to manufacture a crisis over the reauthorization of foreign surveillance laws... Instead of needlessly frightening the country, you should work with Congress in a calm, constructive way to provide our intelligence professionals with all needed tools while respecting the privacy of law-abiding Americans."
Reid’s words and actions have been so extremely contradictory that it seems like he’s toying with someone. Instead of that someone being the public (as we have suspected, it could be Bush!
Reid seems to be playing good cop/bad cop on this issue - a classic psychological torture tactic. He says he won't pass an immunity bill, then passes it, then the House doesn't pass it, and then Reid attacks Bush. Now Bush looks dependent on the Democrats.
So what if the Dems have been playing rope-a-dope on this? The Senate is playing the nice guy and the House is playing the mean guy. Even Nancy Pelosi is strongly saying no to the immunity bill.
And Reid gets to look good all ways: first to the telecoms and Bush, then to Dem voters, then to the rightwingers, then to the media... So he builds power to cook Bush.
What do you think?
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BTW, every time you read Bush saying, “America is in danger terrorist attacks,” just change that to “I am in danger of legal attacks.”
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@ donnaquixote: The Real Story, One Day
[Read the article: CNN's John Roberts helps out Mike McConnell]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]donnaquixote wrote: "I hope to live long enough to read the real story behind this saga."
I hope we both do. It's fascinating isn't it? Unless it is a brilliant strategy, the Dems are sacrificing the long term for the short term. The Reps too.
When the real story behind this saga eventually comes out, the Dems and the Reps will look bad and go to their graves with guilty consciences. It's never worth sacrificing the long term for the short term.
But maybe there is a special threat out there that all the politicians know about but we don't?
I mean why is the media for it? Why is EVERY Rep for it? It's just too strange.
Yeah, I hope to hear the real story one day too.
One day, we'll be looking back on these weird days, and the next generation will ask us:
"What was it like during the Bush Presidency?"