Letters to the Editor
nick ray
Published Letters: 60 Editor's Choice: 10
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What World Are We Living In?
[Read the article: All hail the king]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]While we can rightly condemn Bush/Cheney for the abandonment of principles while pursuing unlimited power,we should also ask what larger theme is being played out. An apt metaphor is the Hurricane Katrina- Global Warming realities. This administation is committed to the denial of these irresistable events; they attempt to describe and confirm their version of reality by simply asserting that their version is true and everyone else is either deluded or disloyal. The endless desire to preserve domination and control over world events is at the heart of the endless attempts to spin and explain their behavior. Yet reality has a way of intruding; the only question is how much pain and suffering we will suffer as our leaders pursue an agenda that was always doomed to failure. The new reality is that we live in an innterconnected and interdependent world. The sooner we take our place as a responsible global citizen the sooner we will start making decisions which reflect that new reality.
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What are we afraid of?
[Read the article: Supreme Court switches gears on Guantánamo]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In the mid 1970s I was involved in a discussion with my father about a political campaign to require safeguards for nuclear power plants to be built in CA. When the conversation ended in disagreement, the ony thing my father could say was to call me a communist. Born in 1913, that was the worst name he could call me. I was initially surprised, but concluded that his fear of confronting the power of the establishment was so great that he had to try to dismiss and demean me. It was a small symbol of what is happening on the Supreme Court and in the depths of the Bush administration: an attempt to enhance the power of the establishment. It is essentially a backward-looking effort to gain a measure of security by giving the president, and established power, total control. Why: in my judgment it is the only way people governed by fear can deal with the messy world we live in. Autocratic and heavy handed responses are the order of the day. The Supreme Court decisions are in essence saying: big daddy knows best. Rather than face the root causes of dissent, we get decisions enhancing the authoritarian solution; the government will decide how to deal with people it considers dangerous. All the secret decisions made by Bush and Cheney, and all the new Supreme Court members support this mindset: the govenment knows best. Now seems to be the perfect time to repeat that old bromide: "the price of freedom is eternal vigilence".
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What's a voter to do?
[Read the article: Joe Biden lets it all hang out]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Joe Biden's candidacy gives us an opportunity to measure, once again, what it means to have the skills to be president. Effective leaders need to have political skills (charisma's not a bad thing) but ultimately need to have a clear set of high values and the courage to stand by them. In addition it's necessary to have clearly defined goals as well. The reason: in times of dissent and opposing opinions, it is deeply held values and goals that will provide the inner strength to make sound and mature decisions. This is character, and it is character which is so sorely lacking in the current administration. Which of the candidates has it? This is the central question. I saw Sen. Biden totally cave in during the Thomas hearings. To me , he doesn't have it. Who does? None of the candidates seems to have real character outside of Ron Paul(R) and Dennis De Concini(D). Do either of them have a chance? Probably not. Character and experience seem to be the two ingredients we need more than ever, and which seem to be in very short supply.
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Snow Job 101
[Read the article: Rudy Giuliani, unscripted]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Impressive! Bush/Cheney have successfully infiltrated Guiliani's brain and convinced him that their craziness is reality. Global warming? Resource depletion? Breach of Constitutional principles?
Reckless spending? Infrastructure neglect? Health care reform?
Rudy is just as dumb as Bush & Co. Let's just hope the American people are smarter than Rudy; otherwise our reputation and our future just went further down the drain.
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Private Logic
[Read the article: Fred Hiatt defends the administration's mild, restrained secrecy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Don't you often wonder how a preposterous idea gains traction?
Or How an obvious lie is believed? Fred Hiatt, in particular, and the Bush administration in general, operate on the concept of private logic; that is an argument following a logical thought process but one based on a false premise. Sometimes we can spot the flawed premise. But Bush et al have convinced enough people, so far, that his premise is valid and that we should then stay the course. I believe it is very difficult in real life to stand up to generally accepted wisdom. Certainly it is for elected officials.
These letters are critical because they provide support to our leaders to confront the lies being fed to us. We need to be realistic in what we expect from the traditional powers and steadfast in our support of the truth and holding our leaders accountable. Now,more than ever, we see the validity of Jefferson's quote that the price of freedom is eternal vigilence.