Letters to the Editor
Ben Sen
Published Letters: 541 Editor's Choice: 98
-
The Assholes in My Generation Won
[Read the article: We'll go no more a-Rove-ing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You gotta hand it to him. Here was a guy who knew how to work the crowd. Completely unscrupulous--just they way they like 'em.
I've known the folks who fell into his trap all my life. I knew them in high school when they told me to shut up because I used big words. I knew them in college when their answer to the problems in South East Asia was "bomb the mother fuckers." I've known them since when they forgot to vote, or choose to look the other way when it's time to vote against another budget that makes the military America's number one priorty--year after year after year.
The motto is "win at all cost." The slogan is "don't listen to anyone who disagrees." Democracy is a game like any other. The winner takes all the spoils and if the loser doesn't like it that's tough shit. If they catch you cheating once in awhile, that's the way it goes. Otherwise you're not really trying. It's all the sentimental claptrap attacted to a guy with a program that stems from pure self-interest that lacks any sense of responsibility for anything greater. The assholes in my generation won.
That's who led this country for the past six years. That's who got past the voters, the critics, the opposition, the media, the smart rats at the universities, the folks who say they favor civil liberties--equality--and the right to privacy and personal responsibility. Rove did an end run around all of them--found an America that was forgotten--and gave them a voice and a champion.
He was so powerful that today it is uncertain if a woman or black man can be elected to the presidency of the United States. Millions of otherwise distinguised and moderate folks aren't sure it's possible--not in the America Karl Rove created. That's what you call a legacy.
If the candidates forget about Rove in '08 they take a great risk. If you look Medusa in the eye she turns you to stone. If you look at her in the a "reflection" you can cut off her head. Let's hope our hero is someone who thinks about what they are doing to others, remembers to sharpen their sword, and does not miss.
-
Bombs Pay Dividends in the US
[Read the article: Bush's tangled arms deal]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not sure Gary isn't being more "high minded," than the situation calls for. The question may be asked: to what extent is American foreign policy determined by the military "defense" industry?
Regardless of what happens in any other way--the administration wins by maintaining what is basically a war economy. Liberals, neo-liberals, and the well intentioned may have scruples but if the last six years have taught anything it's that Bush/Cheney don't.
The nation still has no idea the role oil played in the war, aside from the oil bill waiting to be approved, but the pattern is set. The neo-con agenda is premised on self-interest--and what is more self-interested than keeping the factories in this country turning out bombs, tanks and planes, employing thousands of loyal militarists, and helping with the balance of payments?
After all, who really cares what havoc is caused elsewhere as long as there is plenty of gas for the SUV, a Smith and Wesson under the front seat, and a world who knows who's boss.
-
Time for a Career Change for Mr. Shrum
[Read the article: Feeling the Shrum love]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Shrum is starting to sound like Dick Morris--he gets his jollies biting the hands that once fed him. (I won't be surprised if he learned at the masters knee.) It's a measure of how little respect there is for politics and politicians in this country that he isn't selling toaster ovens instead of candidates for office.
-
The Culture of Hypocrisy
[Read the article: The GOP's crowded closet]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When you think about it, it isn't strange at all. The Republican party is the party of wealth and elitism. That's what attracts many people to it who aren't wealthy or share any interest other than status.
If you have enough money in America you can be pretty much anything you want or bang pretty much anybody you please. The one thing more important than anything else is money, so if sex orientation gets in the way, it goes into the closet--a tradition as fine as making "china" in England--who've taught the world so much about the art of buggery and power.
I have a gay Republican relative. It's the only thing he ever had in common with his father, a rare expression of his roots--even if his father never knew the truth about him. It provides him with attention in his crowd--a stand that shows he is different at least in some way. It has nothing to do with politics or what party better represents his interests. There is no discussion--that isn't the point when it's the gesture that counts.
They once asked Hans Kung, the German theologian why he thought there were so many gays in the Catholic priesthood. Aside from the fact that it is a tradition that probably goes back to the time of Christ, he said it was the hypocrisy itself that makes it attractive. What better cover could you ask for? I think the same thing goes for politicians.
The only folks naive enough not to get it are the fundies who think the "book" has something to do with it instead of the phobics who manipulate it for their own purposes. I pity them--but not enough to pretend I'm on the same team. They've done more than enough damage at this point in time--and if more decent people--regardless of whether they identify themselves as Republicans, Democrats, or Independents don't send them a message soon in an election--the culture of hypocrisy will be strengthened rather than weakened.