Letters to the Editor
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Published Letters: 1438 Editor's Choice: 20
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Lying propaganda should be illegal.
[Read the article: The agenda of our pro-war pundit class]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The alleged improved perception of this war among Americans and its disappearance as a critical political issue is purely a figment of the active imagination of the Beltway pundit class
It's not 'imagination'.
They're just lying.
It's what Brooks and Beinart are paid to do. Lie.
We've seen this before. They lie because that's what fascists do. That's how we can tell they're fascists:
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the State."
- Josef Goebbels
Brooks and Beinart are Goebbels wannabes.
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nabalzbbfr
[Read the article: The agenda of our pro-war pundit class]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Unlike the type of waterboarding which is torture and a war crime,
Not true. It's still torture because it involves cruel coercion. Extreme duress and threat is the whole point of doing it. Lose five points.
the CIA variety does **NOT** involve the subject ingesting any amount of water into his respiratory system.
Red herring. Lose five points.
Rather the subject's face is covered by cellophane or some other waterproof material before the water is poured on the subject.
Not true. We've seen footage to the contrary, never as you describe. Lose five points.
The effect is purely psychological -
Not true. The victim can't breathe. It's not just in his head. Lose five points.
Psychological torture is still torture. Lose another five points.
there is absolutely no risk of physical harm to the subject.
Yeah, right. Absolutely nobody has been killed by this. In fact, nobody's even been inconvenienced. Meaning the cover-up has gone flawlessly. Lose five points.
I don't see any liberal blogs publishing any retractions of their previous categorical statements about this. Talk about hypocrisy!
You don't lie well, neocon, no matter how much practice you get.
Next.
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FUNME2
[Read the article: The agenda of our pro-war pundit class]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We are so fortunate to reside in this new world island of democracy and plenty.
Corporatism isn't 'democracy'. And you need to look at the poverty and foreclosure statistics.
What country you from, wingnut?
Again, please respond to nabalzbbfr...
He got blown out of the water in my last post, arms flailing in the course of his trajectory. Look up, here he comes.
Next.
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It's not what you think.
[Read the article: Why you'll find few Web clips of Led Zeppelin's reunion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Led Zeppelin is probably unique in the industry in that they have total control over their music. Meaning that Jimmy Page has total control, to protect the band, and to protect the music, and he does not go second-class on anything. Plant, Bonham, and Jones have always counted on him for that. And they exercise that control, sometimes just to prove they can.
Back in the day, even top bands like the Stones and the Beatles were basically treated as hired hands, and got a few percent of the proceeds. Acts were handled by managers who had control over basically everything. Page changed all that. He learned the business, always knew what he wanted, and still knows how to say "no". His band is not an employee of the management, and unlike most people in the western world is no minion of some corporation. The company managers are not even his business partners. The band does not get a few percent of the revenues, and the company everything else. The company performs contractually-obligated services, and gets a fee and a percentage. And not a large percentage.
Atlantic told Page he couldn't put out an album with no name. Page sent Richard Cole to show them the fine print. That's why the fourth album has no name, and no text to obscure the cover art. Page thought it gave the album a certain mystical purity. Don't you agree?
Page believes that real fans will appreciate his iron-clad policy of preventing the artistic voice of himself and his friends from being cheapened in any way. They have their pride. That means no bootlegs, and no promotional gimmicks. Don't blame Warner. They're the enforcers, and they're answerable.
Sure, they could loosen up and allow some promotional gimmicks and maybe make more money, like most groups do. But they're not like most groups, and can't really be swayed by a few more millions here and there, because they've been swimming in money since their first album, and they have other things they can do. They did think it would be great to do this reunion, but, as usual, they do things strictly on their own terms.
If you don't like it, and if you don't really believe in the band, that's okay. Others do. It's not about you, or the critics, and it's not about the money.
It was never about anything but the music.