Letters to the Editor
Alan Bennett
Published Letters: 237 Editor's Choice: 8
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Anything But Correct
[Read the article: National journalists believe you should trust them]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am surprised you are engaging these type of people. They have blurred the division between news and entertainment (you recall that film containg inaccuracies about the Clinton Administration and the war on terror). And you know what a cock-up the Note turned out to be. I applaud your willingness to engage. Inspite of sterling work done by many journalists the collective, as a whole, lost most of its credibility during the Clinton years for its attack mode and during the GWB years for its lapdog mode. I never watch the evening news. I believe I am still a well informed person. I rely on BBC World and CBC Newsworld. And Salon plus the blogospehere.
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The Art of the Possible
[Read the article: Do Dems now share equal blame with Bush for Iraq? No]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Elements on both the right and the left have this purist approach to politics that make them sound noble, honest and trustworthy. They stand for something. Yet, when actually engaged in getting the votes for each bill representatives have to take account of the voters back home, an election two years away or sooner and the importuning lobbyists (and not all are corporatists). In the end this is what democracy is about. It is a messy business. Without the votes to avoid the veto the Democrats gave way. But there are three more bills coming up in the summer and public opinion against the war is closer to 70%. At some time Congress will have the votes to shut down Bush. But it is one slow step at a time. Until Democrats take the White House this President will not give way. He is simply incapable of the intergrity, honesty, humility and magnanimity that is required to apologise to the American people for his collosal blunder.
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Matthews the Superficial
[Read the article: Chris Matthews gets it wrong -- again]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Chris Matthews simply confirms our worst impressions of the punditry: loud mouthed, ignorant, power worshipper, fawning clown and a hypocrite. Add to that the strawmen and women Fineman, Mitchell, Borger - who wont get invited if they don't play along. You get a toxic mix of dishonest journalism, vicious character asssinations and a strange attack of Clintonitis. This particular ailment render Matthews incoherent, his voice is distorted, his emotional outbursts overcome him. It is a pathetic display of a blind hatred of all things Clinton.
Now switch the discussion to Guiliani. Suddenly the man becomes rational, admiring, hero-worshipping and disdainful of his personal indiscretions - generous, in fact, in seeing no evil. He sweeps away any criticism of Guliani.
Don't waste time with him. Do what I do. Find another channel.
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Shades of Colonialism
[Read the article: After everything we did for them]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Glenn: to have to recall Lugard and Kipling after all these years. I read history and spent a lot of time on both men. Thanks for the reminder. It is quite extraordinary how Blair changed: he came to office a breath of fresh air and leaves behind the stale odour of reactionary politics. I regret to say that I was captivated by his fluent speech (contrasted with that of the Decider) and his oratory. Shows I have forgotten the value of scepticism. I really wanted Blair to succeed. Alas, he succumbed to all the vanities. Pity.
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Plame's Status
[Read the article: Right-wing noise machine: Plame not covert]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I see very little point in calling the Right Wing to account. They lie, make up so-called facts and have no shame. They are in a word deceitful.
What I do not understand is why the CIA cannot make a straight forward statement saying Ms Plame was covert. Finding refuge in the law and regulations is fine if she remained in office. But she left they could have said so. It is laughable to hear things like: the CIA cannot admit to having spies. Please! Mr Fitzgerald should also have said so in court. All the legal dancing is fine when dealing with open minds. But when you have liars and distorters like Glenn Reynolds, Novak and the Boosey Bafflers: Genova and wife you have no time to play footsy with the rules.
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Winnowing the Candidates
[Read the article: In New Hampshire, the Democrats play a little rougher]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You will not get a serious discussion for two reasons: too many contenders each given too little time and you can rely on Wolf to ask a stupid question like the one about killing Osama.
I don't see why Gravel is there. He may think he is cute but he is not going anywhere. As for Dennis: sure he has his followers. But he is going nowhere, too. The remaining 6 candidates will have more time to set out their positions and question their opponents.
As for the moderation. I would like to ask Wolf whether he reads all the stuff about a topic before he sounds off on tv. The question about HRC not reading a brief in full shows how ignorant Wolf is about the practical problems of dealing with the paper dump that takes place everyday on the Hill.
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The Left and HRC
[Read the article: Will the real Hillary please stand up?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am reading this from afar and I shake my head in some bewilderment. The anger and hatred towards HRC from the left is qualitatively the same as from the right. What is it about American politics that you want some pure soul who does your bidding? Do you want a tough smart leader who learns how to compromise to get things done or do want someone so pure that half your country will be against anything he/she does.
Anyone going for the highest elective office in the world has to be very ambitious and tough and will have to punch and counter punch to get there. It is amazing to see such animosity towards a woman. What must lie there in the background if a black man become a candidate for that office?
The vitroil in some of the comments is stunning.