Letters to the Editor
SueNJ97
Published Letters: 220 Editor's Choice: 5
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Discussion earlier about who should pick the nominee
[Read the article: Tucker Carlson unintentionally reveals the role of the American press]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]People in the party or not?
I am not "in the party". I am an Independent, and have remained so. I could have decided to switch my 'affiliation' to Democrat months before the primary in my state and voted in teh Democratic primary, but I didn't. Why? I am not a Democrat. I am not a Republican. I have issues with both parties. A few decades ago I might have found a home somewhere, but I am that most reviled of all things, a centrist. I am fiscally conservative and socially liberal and I love the fact that the only President in recent years who actually had the cahones to deliver some fiscal sanity - Bill Clinton - is now derided by many in his own party as a traitor.
I have accepted the fact that neither party will deliver anything but more Debt to this country. Neither party will find a way to actually pay for what it wants to do. However, the Republicans will spend and refuse to pay for things I don't want - and blame the Democrats. The Democrats would at least be likely to spend and refuse to pay for things I am more likely to approve of. And they are less likely to appoint Federal Judges like Scalia et al. But, that still doesn't mean I'm a Democrat. I have no home. People like me are reviled by party regulars as, in fact, a Republican, simply because I think we should be able to pay for what we spend. I have no business helping to pick their nominee.
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Not surprised by him, or the response
[Read the article: The tragic fall of Eliot Spitzer]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I just don't get surprised by stuff anymore. Maybe that's bad. And, as some people have pointed out, the people who go through life acting as if they are the moral arbitors of our times are often, well, just not.
A few issues here. Do I think prostitution is the type of stuff our Federal Law enforcement officials should be spending their time on? Probably not - I'm also not thrilled with them sending lots of pot smokers to jail. However, Eliot Spitzer apparently thought it was a crime, at least for the women involved, he was quite happy to throw them in jail. Also, he was quite happy to use things like consensual affairs to threaten the Wall Street people he went after. Those, as far as I know, aren't even illegal as long as everyone is of age. But, he went after them for their personal lives in ways that he thought would hurt their careers, and, he was happy to do it. People celebrated him for it, because they hate those greedy Wall Street guys. Then, it was OK. Now, it's his personal life and we ought to stay out of it.
Quite frankly, once again, I'm not surprised, it just depends whose personal life we are looking at and whether he's a Democrat, or which Democrat, and whether we like him or her or not. Not the actual situation and, apparently, Eliot Spitzer thought this was a crime - and sent other people to jail for it. Willingly, happily and bragged about it. But now, oh, my, geez, he's been done wrong, Except, he doesn't even deny that he did it. He just apologized for it.
Have there been other hypocrites before him that have gotten away with it? Yes. Will there be others after him? Yes. Will I be surprised by any of it? Probably not.
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@Xrandadu Hutman
[Read the article: Obama camp targets Clinton experience claims]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I had a very strange experience on Sunday, as someone who will vote for either Democrat and isn't particularly 'thrilled' by either one, but not really upset or worried by either one. I'm bringing this up because it actually doesn't jive with something you were talking about before, but I can't believe it's the norm. Sometimes I wish we could do this by private message.
I sat in a kitchen with eight people who supported the two different democrats, plus two people who were undecided about voting for a Democrat or McCain. The 4 Obama supporters, all white liberal women in their 40s, told me it was extremely important to elect a black, now, to show that we are not racist, after the horror of the Bush years. They said would have felt that way even if the other candidate was NOT Hillary, btw, although they didn't like her, but couldn't explain why, and couldn't tell me when another woman candidate would come along. They, in fact, agreed that another one probably wouldn't any time soon, at least not on the Democratic side and they didn't think they could vote for a Republican.
I asked about the vote on the war - that didn't matter to them. I asked about the Clinton fatigue - that didn't matter to them. I asked about the litany of other things other people have said they dislike about Clinton - that didn't matter. I just thought it was extremely odd that I would find that in all 4 of them and I have to believe it's not the average. They didn't seem to care about anything except appearing not to be racist. The 4 Clinton supporters pointed to specific policies they liked, mostly the health care proposals and some of the economic proposals.