Letters to the Editor
Rob H.
Published Letters: 122 Editor's Choice: 30
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Coughlin
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks to you, King, for pointing out the malarkey about Coughlin's spit-shine, military discipline . The offensive line had eleven frickin' false-start penalties. And that 54 yard FG attempt in OT should have at least been a 49 yard attempt. But no, there was another damn false-start penalty. And this offensive line has been drawing loads of penalties all season long. So where is the discipline?
And while I'm at it, let's go back to the end of the Giants-Vikings game. Vikes are up by three after a last minute FG but the Giants get a gift when the kickoff goes out of bounds. There are 10 seconds on the clock; enough time for a quick shot to the sideline and a FG attempt. Am I witnessing shades of the infamous Cowboy-Giants game? Hell no. Mr. Discipline runs a play that calls for a bunch of laterals. Doesn't work. End of game. Really, what the hell was he thinking? There's a reason you have Plaxico Burress. In case Drill Sgt. Coughlin hasn't noticed, he's tall, for one thing, and has shown ability to bring down passes.
Coughlin's discipline is the most overrated bunch of crap. He can fine everyone he likes for showing up five minutes late, but the reality is that his team still makes stupid penalties (they had 16 yesterday--the most for a Giants team since the Rutherford B. Hayes administration, I believe) and he still makes stupid calls. And I almost hate to make the analogy, but, in this case, Coughlin's military discipline is about as effective as Bush's military intelligence.
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Framing, framing, framing...
[Read the article: The Democrats' disarray, the Republicans' delight]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's disturbing to read pieces such as this in Salon. Since when did the discussion of different ideas about how to get out of Iraq become tantamount to being in disarray?
Representative Murtha outlined a plan. Senator Feingold outlined a plan. Senator Kerry outlined a plan. Senator Lieberman favors the current plan. Okay, we have Democrats offering different plans with different timetables. But is this really a glaring example of Democratic disarray?
Hardly. It's called democracy -- and quite frankly -- I want my leaders debating different options. Because we're not talking about competing theories on how to play Blackjack, we're discussing how to get out of an extremely difficult and messy situaton in Iraq. And Democrats didn't create this mess. Bush did. But at least there are Democrats offering up plans on how to extricate ourselves. Are these plans too measured? Too hasty? Gee, let's debate them and come to a conclusion.
While I certainly recognize that politics play a role in this debate, it's disheartening to see the War Room reporting on this issue in this fashion. Because it's all about framing, isn't it? I look at this debate and I don't see disarray, I see legislators trying to get hold of a runaway train. And there are going to be conflicting opinions on how to go about it.
So yes, maybe this whole issue does give the press ammunition. But I'd like to think that maybe Salon and the War Room wouldn't be joining them on the firing range.