Letters to the Editor
thelastnamechosen
Published Letters: 283
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You wanna have a serious conversation? Talk to Spitzer's wife.
[Read the article: Misadventures in logical reasoning -- and lessons learned from the Spitzer scandal]
[Read more letters about this article: Here][Voiceover]
Next Thursday...The television event of the year. Barbara Walters and the wife of Elliot Spitzer...A very special Barbara Walters interview.
[Very fast montage of images licensed from one of HBO's many hooker shows]
[Excerpt from interview]
Barbara Walters: Here is a picture of the high priced prostitute your husband was sleeping with. What do you think?
[Quick cut to the wife of Elliot Spitzer's face slow motion-no audio]
[Voiceover]
An intimate conversation you won't want to miss.
[Excerpt from interview]
Barbara Walters: What is the most amount of money your husband spent on you in one day?
[Excerpt from interview]
Barbara Walters: Did you ever listen in on your husbands phone conversations?
[Voiceover]
Next Thursday...Barbara Walters.
[Quick fade]
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Holy Blood Holy Fail
[Read the article: High-level right-wing discourse]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Mona Charen needs to have a talk with the family housekeeper, because I have serious doubts of the purity of her bloodline. I'm thinking some hispanic or asian has managed to find its way in. No wonder she is so confused.
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Insert witty subject
[Read the article: House Democrats reject telecom amnesty, warrantless surveillance]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why isn't the location of server they reside on at the receiving end the key? Like with websites that can be viewed (received) from anywhere in the world.
That would certainly infuse a serious amount of cash into the US based hosting industry.
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A corked bat or a hollow point
[Read the article: House Democrats reject telecom amnesty, warrantless surveillance]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=511168
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Come on...He wasn't that bad in Waiting
[Read the article: House Democrats reject telecom amnesty, warrantless surveillance]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...membership in the planet’s most despised class.
Black, republican, lesbian, muslim, pro choice, pro sex, global warming deniers?
Who are klan members and drive an SUV?
Who are also Dane Cook fans?
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Do Americans Care About Terrorism?
[Read the article: Time magazine invents facts to claim that Americans support Bush's domestic spying abuses]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Pity America's poor opponents of terrorism. In recent weeks, the papers have been full of stories of suicide bombers in Pakistan, continued terror attacks in Iraq and the increasing influence of radical elements in the Middle East. On Thursday, the State department released a report documenting Iran's plans to acquire nuclear weapons. And to judge from the reaction in the country, nobody cares.
A quick tally of the terrorists attacks in the United States since 9/11 suggests that the majority of Americans are ready to trade their constitutional right to criticize and condemn terrorists and terrorism itself, in exchange for the decreased likelihood of being attacked. Polling consistently supports that conclusion, and Congress has largely behaved accordingly, granting strict anonymity at the highest classification level to all members of the government who are fighting terrorism.
Opponents of terrorism are in a state of despair. "People don't realize how damaging it is to a democratic society when people are afraid to publicly speak out against terrorism," says Mike French, national security counsel at the Protect America Union.
Or do they? Bill Meetsoch, a fireman from Cincinnati who wishes to remain anonymous because he fears terrorist reprisals for speaking out, sums up the feelings of Americans. "I have nothing to gain from speaking against terrorism and everything to lose. Why paint a target on my chest?"
These sentiments were echoed by a Congressman who would only speak off the record because they are not officially authorized to speak on this topic. "This isn't complicated people. Get to work on time, come home, bring your Mom dinner, watch TV and then go to bed. Lather rinse repeat. And most of all, mind your own business. Oh yeah, and also buy stuff and get scared when we raise the threat level."
For now, however, opponents of terrorism will have to continue to argue that the danger lies not in how terrorist attacks are being used now, but how they might be used in the future. "We must speak out against terrorism now. Ignoring the situation won't make it go away, it will only get worse." says the PAU's French. So far, that argument hasn't convinced the people.
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Gordon
[Read the article: Time magazine invents facts to claim that Americans support Bush's domestic spying abuses]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks. Although to be fair, I have no qualms about stealing other peoples good lines and ideas and that post was no exception.
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Call me back on a secure line
[Read the article: Time magazine invents facts to claim that Americans support Bush's domestic spying abuses]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Is it possible to get people's real opinions on whether they approve of the government listening to their phone conversations in poll conducted over the telephone?
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Oops
[Read the article: Time magazine invents facts to claim that Americans support Bush's domestic spying abuses]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"a poll"
must preview
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Black Guy Asks Nation For Change
[Read the article: Obama's faith in the reasoning abilities of the American public]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]CHICAGO—According to witnesses, a loud black man approached a crowd of some 4,000 strangers in downtown Chicago Tuesday and made repeated demands for change.
....
"I told him I'd give him some if I saw him later, even though I probably won't," Moser said. "Very nice man, though."
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/black_guy_asks_nation_for_change
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Lie Down With Dogs
[Read the article: McCain's repeated "slips of the tongue" on Iran and al-Qaida]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Jane Harmen Urged NYT Reporter against Running Warrantless Wiretapping Story
“You should not be talking about that here,” she scolded me in a whisper. “They don’t even know about that,” she said, gesturing to her aides, who were now looking on at the conversation with obvious befuddlement. “The Times did the right thing by not publishing that story,” she continued.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/key_dem_urged_nyt_reporter_aga.php
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Anonymous Sources
[Read the article: The worst, sleaziest press corps possible]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I would like to see reporters use a numbering system, each reporter would have their own system, that uniquely identified anonymous sources. For example:
Anonymous source 14627 says "blah blah blah."
This way, judgments can be made by the reader without compromising the sources identity. I also think this would naturally limit the excessive use of anonymous sources. I get the feeling a lot of this crap is generated by the same 20 sources.
I would also like to see reporters ask sources under what conditions can the source be reveled, so historical gaps can be filled as people die or they retire.
This would go a long way to eliminating much of the crap without throwing out the baby.
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The revenge of the spell checker
[Read the article: The worst, sleaziest press corps possible]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Or we could reveal them.
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Shooter
[Read the article: The Obama passport snooping and the unchecked surveillance state]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I rarely agree with you, even when I agree with you, because you tend to view everything through the lens of the partisan gotcha game. With that out of the way, I offer two aphorisms.
On Bargins: Government services are the supermarket club cards of the surveillance state.
On Cause and Effect: Government ownership of the infrastructure does not lead to a surveillance state. The surveillance state leads to government ownership of the infrastructure.