Letters to the Editor
Sindvik
Published Letters: 20 Editor's Choice: 2
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GG Will Rescue Our MSM (at least the pieces worth rescuing)
[Read the article: Response from ABC News re: the Saddam-anthrax reports]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"I am a recent reader of your articles and I must say you are truly remarkable. Thanks for doing what you do and taking the time to really explain and teach about the principles of credibility. Thanks for holding the media accountable not in a partisan way but in a way to make them understand the role they play in this thing called Democracy!!"
My thoughts exactly!
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Plenty of missing pieces...
[Read the article: The Bill Moyers documentary on our failed and barren press]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Perhaps 90 minutes was insufficient to fully explore the failure of our mass media? Some interesting topics to explore in the future:
- the Administration's motive behind all the lies and distortions. Did I hear oil mentioned even once?
- the ongoing consolidation of the media and the conversion of news reporting from public service to profit center.
- the incredible success of the echo chamber. The world's first profitable, self-sustaining propaganda machine.
- the devolution of American's self image from 'world's defender of democracy' to empire.
Noam Chomsky explained all this 15 years ago!
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Learning to Decode the "News"
[Read the article: Improvement in Iraq: Trust Joe Klein and his secret sources]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have read every one of Glenn's columns for the past year or so. Prior to that, if anyone had asked me if I 'understood' the MSM news I read, I would have answered with an emphatic YES. Alas, I would have been very wrong.
I wonder what level of sophistication is required on the part of the public to avoid capture?
What if the occupation of Iraq had gone well and we now had a nice client state with huge oil reserves? Would the public even care that they had been lied to? Would the Democrats then have been forced to use the same techiniques (not that there isn't some of that already)?
We live in pivotal times.
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The Cost of Oil
[Read the article: If it smells like peak oil, it probably is]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Prior to the build up for war with Iraq, oil was selling for about $28 per barrel. As stated, the market now seems to be at a $70 per barrel plateau. Suppose the occupation of Iraq had succeeded and we now had an additional 3-4 million barrels per day on the market. That could easily drive today's price per barrel down $10. The US imports more than 12 million barrels per day. That would have produced a savings of at least $120 million per day. Or $3.8 trillion per year. And on top of this, the price of energy cascades through almost every aspect of an industrialized economy.
Just food for thought.
-sindvik
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Capitulation on FISA
[Read the article: The strong and tough Democrats]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]While the Democrats in Congress certainly are less than perfect, we should not forget to put their behaviour in context.
Due to the changing demographics of oil production, America cannot long sustain its global economic empire without controlling mid-East oil - we import 13 million barrels of oil every single day. The current government and much of the public will tolerate a significant dimunition of civil liberties to mitigate fear of blow-back from our violent attempts at economic domination.
Democrats, Republicans and MSM rely heavily on corporate support. Is it surprising the corporations vote (with $$$) their interests? This is certaily not a conspiracy - just a predictable result of unregulated capitalism.
Steve
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Who Should Participate?
[Read the article: The foreign policy community]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Quoting Glenn's excellent article: "...but instead on the ground that he committed the sin of actually discussing with the American people what our foreign policy would be."
Excuse me? Perhaps when half the adult American population can point to France on an outline of Europe there would be grounds for participation? Until then, the world's complexities force the American public into choosing personalities. Seems to me that virtually every politician, senior government official and most MSM pundits already know this.
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The Never Ending Loop
[Read the article: America under surveillance]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]- As domestic oil supplies are exhausted, production of domestic oil declines. (30 years and counting)
- The U.S. imports 12-13 million barrels of oil each day.
- The changing global oil production demographics leave the Middle East with an increasing share of global production – now at about 30% and slowly increasing.
- Iraq has the 2nd largest reserves of high quality, accessible (cheap) oil of any country. Iran is the 2nd largest oil exporter.
- The economic sanctions against Iraq fail to force Saddam from office.
- Re-starting Iraqi oil production with Saddam in power would be intolerable to the Bush administration. Hence, Saddam must go!
- The Bush administration lies about the reasons for invading Iraq. ‘Spreading democracy’ works for Americans just like ‘white man’s burden’ worked for the British 150 years ago.
- The U.S. invasion of Iraq, a lightly populated, impoverished country is a cakewalk, of course.
- The occupation of Iraq is incompetent and ideological in the extreme.
- The failed occupation exposes U.S. intentions and creates a backlash in the Muslim world leading to the expansion of Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups and the radicalization of Iran.
- Fear of terrorist attacks is deftly used by the Bush administration to enhance Presidential power, sometimes in violation of the Constitution and treaties like the Geneva Conventions.
- Congress is unwilling to stand up to the Presidential fear mongering (Military Commissions Act, the Patriot Act and ‘FISA enhancements’ to name three).
- These enhanced Presidential powers, now legitimized by Congress, prove difficult to overturn and provide a further measure of confidence for continued pursuit of existing foreign policies.
- In 2012 a huge scandal erupts when it is discovered that information gathered from government spying is used for personal, political and commercial purposes.
- A grass roots movement gains strength and forces many elected officials from office. The public demands a return to what was put in place in 1976 as a result of Nixon-era abuses.