Letters to the Editor
Ben Sen
Published Letters: 608 Editor's Choice: 98
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Stop the Crusade
[Read the article: The never-ending war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The scariest part is that the flaks are actually calling this a "strategy," as if playing upon people's fears in this way is a sign of intelligence on Bush's part! This is what we have been reduced to in an America where paranoia has taken over.
I thought Bush's "slip" very soon after 9/11 of calling the war on terrorism a "crusade," was more indicative of the mentality of his administration than anything I've heard since. It is, after all, how someone with a truly regressive mentality thinks. The world to a reactionary is not anything we create in a new way. The only lessons are the lessons of the past because they are the basis for creating fear in the hearts of the innocent, and those too confused and isolated to think otherwise.
These are dark days. It is useless to point toward the right, however, and attach blame. That is what they expect and wish: as much conflict and animosity as possible. The dialogue is with those who are starting to wake-up, and those alienated Democrats who may now see the error of withholding themselves from the electoral process. It doesn't work, my friends. That's how we got Bush for a second term. No candidate is ever going to be "perfect," and it is time to give up the childish insistence that politics be something other than it is.
It is time for those of a more liberal persuasion to bury the hatchet and start to practice solidarity. The conservatives and reactionaries have done it basically since Viet Nam and look at the power they have accumulated. It doesn't matter who the next candidate is: it is time to vote Democratic--boring as it sounds.
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Sisyphus Not Coherent
[Read the article: Run over in the middle of the road]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sisyphus brings up an important topic, (the Falacy of Moderation, posted 9/13)but I'm not sure I agree with him. Everybody knows Clinton is the exponent of centrism, and Rove of creating ideological polarity. Does Sisyphus really understand what he is saying?
I remember after the early days of the Viet Nam anti-war movement, when those of us who advocated non-violence were burned out--the new generation sounded like Sisyphus. They wanted it all to end now, and they didn't care any longer about the means. They wanted confrontation and polarity with the "establishment." They took the moral high ground, and the old timers were just wimps.
Unfortunately, they became what it meant to be "anti-war," in America--and they became the focus for the rallying cry of the right that has now controlled this country for the better part of forty years. So, Sisypus, I am suspicion of someone who argues for "the Falacy of Moderation." I'll take Clinton's path over Rove's each and every day of the week--even if it is in the hands of someone who ostensively comes from my side of the political spectrum.
A self-rightous "I'm more pure than you," liberal anti-war advocate is just as deluded as a simple minded militarist in my view. The flip side of the same coin. They are the same type--hotheads, stamping their feet to get their own way, and equally dangerous.
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The Roving Paranoid
[Read the article: Bush's brain found lacking]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't see reference here to the fear mongering that was really all Rove did, obscuring it in fancy language. He didn't care about issues other that those that played on the most reactionary elements in the electorate i.e. those who think homosexuals, foreigners, immigrants, muslims, and ultimately non-whites are the enemy and by voting Republican one is making the best bet those "elements" won't take over.
He sent out the "code" in his brusque demeanor and the "he got the answers" image carefully cultivated by the conservative press that was in the acendency at the time he came on the stage and made him the hero of the right. I don't buy the "genius" label either, and I applaud that the Democrats, for the most part do not partake in the same sort of pandering that got Bush into power, and unfortunately has now created a mess that will take a generation to correct.