Letters to the Editor
Ben Sen
Published Letters: 541 Editor's Choice: 98
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Gritting Your Teeth And Smiling
[Read the article: The Oprah Winfrey show]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The problem with Obama isn't that he's black, or partially black, or not black enough. Oprah's support for the first serious African-American candidate is totally understandable--especially given how photogenic he is. It's great for American blacks--whose religious convictions have always struck me as a lot more sincere and real and "human" than the rascist hypocrisy of white fundamentalists.
I don't have big problems with his positions either. Yeah, I can nitpick, but he's headed in the right direction, which is enough for the campaign. He puts platitudes together well enough not to put his foot in his mouth. What the hell, I don't even hold his East Coast elite education against him, or the fact that he's from the Northern urban Mid-west where values still appear to have some meaning for people who want to live their own lives.
My problem with Obama is that he's a puppy and I don't think the job of President should be a trainees position. It takes more than gritting your teeth while smiling to convice me. Two years in the Senate with very little responsibility and an early career as a state legislator do not make solid presidential timber in a time when the right wing has taken over, and a deceitful war is sapping the nation's honor.
By the time he gets a cabinet in place that will report to him rather than their department chairmen the Republicans will figure out how to block all his nice intentions, and the Iranians and Israelis will turn him into another warmonger afraid of his own shadow. And no, the despised "Beltway Establishment" will not go away because he waves his magic wand at them and Glenn Greenwald is pleased.
Will I vote for him if his advocates prevail and he wins the nomination? Your damn right I will, but will he and his followers have the common sense and dignity to rally behind whoever else may get the nomination?
There cannot be doubt about it. It needs to be established NOW among those who are thinking long-term--and have had enough right wing Republican domination. Getting sucked into candidate partisanship is necessary at this stage, but naive in the end. The Bush/Rove coalition ain't going no place unless they are forced to do so and if you've had enough of them you will agree.
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Are Catholics This Dumb?
[Read the article: Are you there, God? It's me, Rudy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I know many Catholics who would take great umbrage with the premise of this article. Since the great meltdown in the 60's being a "devout Catholic" and agreeing with the hierarchy have not meant the same thing. That's when many of the best left. They aren't as concerned with abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, or Rudy's wives so much as whether the next priest assigned to their parish is a pedophile.
To the seasoned ear Bishop Tobin is another lackey saying what he has to say to move up the ladder. Whether even he believes it is doubtful. The church relies on public relations hacks to represent it. Hypocrasy has infested the church like cancer and the credibility of the hierarchy is gone to all but the most regressive and anachronistic--and they know it.
It doesn't take a PhD to know papal infallibility is a leftover from another era. The church has destroyed itself in this country by not relenting on celebacy and letting women be priests. Kennedy taught American Catholics more than Thomas Schaller knows.
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To Subscriber Renascent: A Lesson in Logic
[Read the article: The Oprah Winfrey show]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Renascent: Please don't ever change!
Renascent tells us if Obama isn't nominated he or she will vote Republican, which is usually the party of their choice. It figures. If that is even a remotely repeated response of Obama supporters little trust can be placed in his candidacy. He's attracting voters with little to no sense of the reality of the greater issues. Perhaps, Ranescent, you should give your hero's office a call, and ask what they think of your single-minded committment.
To be that self-indulgent, one suspects youth, or an ignorance that surpasses any experience the person may have. Or maybe it is how the black "racist" vote is showing up. Give me my black brother, or I'll give you more war, no health insurance, and put these homos back into the closet.
Renascent pronounces, but does not explain how they came to this conclusion. If they don't stop to think, but defend this position, I'm sure it will prove to be a lesson in logic and naivete not to be missed.
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AJ On Pammy 61
[Read the article: The Oprah Winfrey show]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]AJ:
To vociferously argue for Obama because "he" says he wouldn't have voted for the war is a cheap shot against Hillary. You only have his word for it and the fact that he has so miniscule a voting record nothing else can be pointed to.
That could be interpreted as "opportunist" on his part as much as you claim HRC for doing so. At the time it was claimed Saddam had WMD's and nothing was public that said otherwise that wasn't opinion. You can say the same thing for Obama's failure to show up for the vote on the Iranian Guard issue. He has built his campaign on it and now there are naive voters who think he is the only Democrat who will lead the country out of Iraq.
Even if it is correct it is one hell of a leap of faith at this point and not worth the partisanship it has generated. The Republicans started this war under false premises and any Democrat elected will have a mandate to end it. The question is who is the most likely to do so without making matters worse by repeating what happened in Viet Nam.
Calling Hillary "Bush/Cheney Lite" is hotheaded for no good reason. It's going to take a more reasonable and disciplined approach if the White House isn't going to fall into the hands of the Republicans again given the loyalty of the party.