Letters to the Editor
Ron Smith
Published Letters: 175 Editor's Choice: 11
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My letter to David Broder and a reflection
[Read the article: A genuine political sea change?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, I too, see something changing out there in the public domain. Glenn's observations and his reporting are appreciated here in Virginia.
Today I wrote David Broder a short letter. Here it is.
D. Broder,
What a pathetic article you wrote comparing "I don't recall" Gonzalez with
Harry Reid. One is a criminal who uses U.S. Attorneys as agents of the Republican
Party. If the attorneys don't cooperate, they are fired.
This story and the 101 acts of malfeasance by the Bush Administration don't interest
a toady like you. You have to be a Republican loyal to W, our disgraceful president.
The Washington Post has gone to the dogs and YOU, just an incompetent old dog
punching the clock.
Name
Address
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George Tenet and Richard Clarke
[Read the article: George Tenet on the staircase with the neocons]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Today I picked up Tenet's book, "At the Center of the Storm". Going to the index, I looked for any reference to Richard Clarke because the two men had dealt so differently with George Bush. Clarke, intelligence advisor to Bush on 9/11, was not in the index.
Recall that when Bush asked Clarke if Saddam had anything to do with 9/11, Clarke was emphatic. "No, Mr. President, we were attacked by al Qaeda!"
Clarke never got to hang around very long in the Bush Administration. Speaking truth to power can get you fired in this group of characters.
Viewing the "60 Minutes" interview of George Tenet I got the distinct impression that Tenet was a regretful man who had toadied up to a lesser man, George Bush. Now even Tenet understood that his Presidential Freedom Medal had bought his silence for a few years. It is interesting that he is of Greek ancestry. They of all people understand this form of tragedy that a man bought is a man disgraced.
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Gary Did a Good Interview
[Read the article: Bush's favorite historian]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The purpose of the interview was served. We learned a good bit about Alistair Horne.
I looked for a sense of Horne's personal culpability in the Iraq debacle and didn't find it. He blames Tony Blair, the Labor Party guy. But aren't our historians with a "Sir" in front of their name better able to weigh the benefits and liabilities of going to war?
Horne offers one positive alternative to invasion that many supported, use special forces to attack al Qaeda where found. Horne correctly decrys the disbanding of the Iraqi Army in May 2003 and provides an 1814 analogy. But Horne tips his hand when offering a solution to the mess we are in. "Bring in the Indian divisions", he says and pay them.
Geez, didn't an earlier British historian have the wonderful idea of bringing the Hessians to America in the 1770's? The Iraqi's are Arabs and they HATE outsiders as occupiers.
So Mr. Horne we must leave Iraq for al Qaeda is our enemy. As long as we remain there, we recruit new and committed soldiers for our enemy.
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568 posts at Salon
[Read the article: Bush's favorite historian]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Now who spends all this time posting and is not paid for it?
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At least one poet was invited.
[Read the article: The impertinent prince]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A lady poet shared with Salon her reasons for turning the Bush invitation down. Sorry, I've forgotten the poet's name.
Her reasons were related to the President's "war of choice", among other things. Looks like those low poll numbers are earned.
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Juan Cole has it right
[Read the article: Paul Wolfowitz's fatal weakness]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Besides being a bully, Wolfowitz has something else in common with these boys- Cheney, Rove, Kristol, Feith, Delay, Gingrich, Perle, Guiliani, O'Reilly. None of them served in our military. Their leader, G.W. Bush, never left the USA during the Vietnam War. And yes, he did get his TEETH FIXED at an Air Base in Alabama at which he never reported for duty. These are the "macho boys".
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The Wicked Wolfie is Dead
[Read the article: All hail the king]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Heh! Heh! The wicked wolfie is dead!
Now on to Gonzalez... Any Attorney General who says "I don't recall" 50+ times to a congressional committee, deserves to walk the plank. These guys are criminals and they are IN CHARGE? No damn way, not in the USA.
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Thank You, Ann Bauer, for the Love and the Truth
[Read the article: Psych meds drove my son crazy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]To AKA Smith, I believe that the book you may have read was "Your Drug May Be Your Problem", 1999, by Peter Breggin, M.D. and David Cohen, Ph.D. It tells how to taper off drugs and lists some side-effects of them. Remember that most, if not all, of these psychiatric drugs are addictive. Going off too quickly will give you a rebound effect that your psychiatrist may misinterpret.
My hobby is mental health. I went back to college and received a bachelor's degree with 40 hours of psychology at the age of 56. The next day I got married for the first time. When folks asked why I waited so long, I tell them that I was crazy, only a slight exaggeration.
Two other books provide useful background to our discussion here. They are:
"Toxic Psychiatry", 1991, by Peter Breggin, M.D., and "Prozac Backlash", 2000, by Joseph Glenmullen, M.D. These authors will back up what AKA Smith, Ann Bauer, and many others here have written.
I had my last panic attack about 15 years ago.
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Keep the Heat On
[Read the article: Why Bush hasn't been impeached]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Both Bush and Cheney deserve to be impeached.
While this sounds great, conviction is another matter. Too many Republicans in the Senate will keep us from the 2/3 majority. The solution is just to gather more evidence on crimes with congressional hearings. Then get rid of the Republicans that have turned a blind eye to these crimes in 2008.