Letters to the Editor
RichEmery
Published Letters: 832 Editor's Choice: 191
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Give the devil his due
[Read the article: With DeLay's seat at risk, a Republican governor rides to the rescue]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You have to admire the sheer political skill of the Republicans, as long as you can suppress the urge to vomit. They sure know how to play all the angles in Texas, don't they?
Let's hope this little ploy doesn't succeed as planned. The best, and most ironic, outcome would be this: Nick Lampson not only wins direct election to fill Delay's remaining term beginning in January, but also wins election to the remaining two months of 2006. That way, he'd have a bit more seniority in the U.S. House!
Now THAT would be sweet. Wonder if Rick "Good Hair" Perry, as Molly Ivins calls him, has thought of that?
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Definition of terms
[Read the article: Politics? Nope, none here]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Here are two definitions, courtesy of the on-line Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
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STATESMAN -- noun
1 : one versed in the principles or art of government; especially : one actively engaged in conducting the business of a government or in shaping its policies
2 : one who exercises political leadership wisely and without narrow partisanship
POLITICIAN -- noun
1 : a person experienced in the art or science of government; especially : one actively engaged in conducting the business of a government
2 a : a person engaged in party politics as a profession b : a person primarily interested in political office for selfish or other narrow usually short-sighted reasons
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Now, oddly enough, the first definitions for these words are nearly identical. Dubya seems to meet the criteria to be called either a statesman or a politician (although one could argue at length over the word "actively" when considering his presidential management style).
So let's consider definition #2 to clear up any confusion. Hmmm -- wise leadership without partisanship, versus selfishness & short-sighted reasoning. Which COULD it be???
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Brain injuries versus mind control?
[Read the article: Last time we checked, Fox News came free with basic cable]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And where, you might ask, did the Pentagon find the $20 million planned for this new program?
Well, here's a program that may be CUT by $7 million, which represents over one-third of the needed funding. Reports started to circulate Tuesday after the Raleigh News & Observer broke this stunning story:
http://www.newsobserver.com/710/story/480210.html
Here are some excerpts from the story:
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"Brain injuries are so common among U.S. troops that they're called the signature injury of the Iraq war, but Congress is poised to cut military spending on researching and treating them.
House and Senate versions of the defense appropriation bill would chop funding for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center from $14 million to $7 million."
"The Pentagon asked only for $7 million and didn't respond properly when congressional staffers tried to find out whether it needed more money for the program, said Jenny Manley, a spokeswoman for the Senate appropriations committee."
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Seems like the Pentagon is perfectly fine with reductions in funding to research brain injuries suffered by members of our armed forces, and would rather spend that money (and more) on propaganda and mind CONTROL.
Revolting. How can these people, from Rumsfeld on down, look at themselves in the mirror?
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Short Attention Span Theatre
[Read the article: Mr. Snow, meet your boss]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I doubt I'm the only one to remember this recurring skit from earlier seasons of Saturday Night Live -- sure seems as though we're all caught in it, living in the "now" and unable to recall what just happened a week or two ago. Short attention span, or collective amnesia, or what?
Why is it the only part of our media apparently holding our "leaders" accountable for what they say, and have said in the past, is a FAKE NEWS SHOW? "The Daily Show" is filled with this sort of history, showing flip-flop after flip-flop, but our REAL media watchdogs act more like lapdogs, eagerly channeling the latest administration talking points to a complacent public.
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Just like Bush's mocking of Karla Faye Tucker!
[Read the article: Quote of the Day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]How anyone could continue to be fooled by this evil smirking clown, George W. Bush, literally amazes me. Have we forgotten how he mocked the already-executed Karla Faye Tucker? This man claims to be a CHRISTIAN, and real Christians actually BUY it! My GOD, if HE exemplifies Christian ideals and morals, then count me OUT.
(The following was copied from the Wikipedia entry on this incident.)
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In 1999, during the 2000 Republican Presidential primary race, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson interviewed Bush for Talk Magazine (September 1999, p. 106). Excerpt from this interview is quoted below:
In the weeks before the execution, Bush says, a number of protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Karla Faye Tucker. "Did you meet with any of them?" I ask. Bush whips around and stares at me. "No, I didn't meet with any of them," he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. "I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with Tucker, though. He asked her real difficult questions like, 'What would you say to Governor Bush?'" "What was her answer?" I wonder. "'Please,'" Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "'don't kill me.'"
I must look shocked — ridiculing the pleas of a condemned prisoner who has since been executed seems odd and cruel — because he immediately stops smirking.