Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 20
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Logical Fallacy
[Read the article: America's unlikely defender]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bernard Henri-Levy makes an interesting contradiction in his interview.
He initially says that "No one has the right to take the life of another. No crime, no feeling of revenge, justifies that."
But later he seems to embrace the concept of "spreading democracy," saying that we "do have a dog in this fight."
While I understand that spreading democracy is a very noble idea in the abstract, imposing it forcefully on another country inevitably leads to collateral damage in human lives. Henri-Levy seems to believe that one man dying on death row is a moral abomination, but he glosses over the 10,000 or so that have died in Iraq in our attempt to "spread democracy."
If Levy knows a way to practically bring democracy to undemocratic countries through means other than military force and its resultant loss of innocent life, he didn't mention it in his interview, and as such his condescending attitude towards those that he would describe as "isolationist" rings a bit hollow. I'm not isolationist, I just don't think people should be involuntarily called upon to die for someone else's noble idea.
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College Was The Shark
[Read the article: Series wrap-up: "Alias"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have honestly never understood the critical conventional wisdom that "Alias" somehow "jumped the shark" around the second season, or that the loss of Sydney's domestic life was to the detriment of the show.
The scenes of Sydney in college were simply the silliest aspect of the series, a bit of vestigial plot leftover from its original origin as a "Felicity" spin-off. Who could possibly find nail biting tension in whether -- gasp! -- Sydney can finish her...term paper on time? Much less the boneheaded pursuits of her idiotic roomies. What the show did best, and frequently delivered on, was flashy visuals, kicky action scenes, and some nicely convoluted comic book story telling.
Really, the series was "X-Men" dressed up in James Bond duds, and _that_ was what was fun, not all the cliched blather about whether or not Sydney could balance her homelife with her career. I'm glad they realized that early on, otherwise the series really would have been a chore to sit through. As is, I'm sorry to have lost one of the last bits of intelligent fun to be had on broadcast TV. It was a good ride while it lasted.
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Empty Glasses
[Read the article: My Christian daughter says I'm going to hell]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Cary Tennis:
And apologies to atheists who feel they didn't get a fair shake. Atheists never get a fair shake. So what's new?
Wow. What a casual way to dismiss a person's belief system. I get the distinct impression -- and it's only an impression -- that you view atheism as a sort of rebellious, "stick it to the man" philosophy that is eventually tempered by the rigors of adulthood into something more profound and serious, which seems to explain why you would suggest that the father should suppress those beliefs in the larger "adult" context of raising his daughter.
This is not the case for myself, and I'm guessing for others: I am not an empty glass waiting to be filled with a belief I don't require. And while I don't buy into any false equivalency between atheism and religion, it seems unlikely that you would have offered the same advice if the father had been religious and the daughter an atheist (Would you have instead counciled the daughter to try and understand her father's symbolically rich and comforting belief system?).
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It's Her Policies
[Read the article: Gender lessons]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Look, Hillary Clinton could be female, male, or an alien from Mars. I still would prefer that she not win the nomination because I completely disagree with her votes on Iraq, Iran, and a whole host of other foreign policy issues. Not to mention her Tipper-like insistence on demonizing videogames and rather lukewarm support for other important cultural issues (as much as people tout her time as First Lady as being part of her vaunted "experience," that was the same administration that passed the odious Defense of Marriage Act).
I'm male, and for my generation, the fact that she's female is irrelevant. It's her votes and her policies that are her problem, not her gender.
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Words Cannot Express...
[Read the article: Obama says he supports FISA compromise]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...my repulsion at the deceit and cowardice demonstrated by the Democratic Party in this case.
I really, really wish these people would stop trying to protect me. I would feel much safer.
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Wait And See?
[Read the article: Obama says he supports FISA compromise]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If anyone here thinks Obama really intends to expend political capital to actually, truly attempt to remove immunity for the telecoms, then I've got a bridge to sell you. If the Democratic nominee for President -- in this year of all years -- had made it clear to Democratic leadership that he didn't approve of this bill, or telecom immunity, I highly doubt it would have ever come to a vote in a Democratically controlled legislative body. Remember, this bill was _dead_ -- even the Republicans had given up on it -- before the Democrats decided to bring it back to the floor.
Also, the idea that this is a good bill aside from telecom immunity is wishful thinking at best. Once this bill is law, any private company is allowed to break the law as long as the President says that it's okay to do so, and no investigation can be made into their subsequent lawbreaking. That's quite possibly even worse than immunity. As long as the Executive contracts out their lawbreaking to private firms, no one can ever be held accountable.
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@xufapemu
[Read the article: Obama says he supports FISA compromise]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you're posting on Salon, I assume you read the same articles as everyone else. In case not, reference 802(a) and 802(c):
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/19/telecom/index.html
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@xufapemu
[Read the article: Obama says he supports FISA compromise]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Except that language will never be stripped from the bill.
There will be a lot of show, separated votes, symbolic stands, but neither Obama nor anyone else in the Democratic leadership will actually do what they say because this bill is exactly what they want.
Otherwise, why bring the bill to the floor at all?