Letters to the Editor
pistolera
Published Letters: 6
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11 bathrooms
[Read the article: I saw John Edwards in the shampoo aisle]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As siraluce and others have pointed out, John Edwards is completely out of touch with the middle class. His new home has 11 bathrooms-- ELEVEN!
I don't know how so many Democrats, including supposed progressives, are comfortable making excuses for this outlandish materialism. All the rationalizations here read like pure partisan stupidity, as if there really is an "us" and "them" and we must defend our own no matter what morally repugnant behavior they display-- and yes, owning a home with eleven bathrooms makes you morally bankrupt in my book.
And guess what? The conservatives are right to point to Al Gore's hypocrisy of owning a Tennessee mansion while ordaining himself the arbiter of environmentalism. It is bullshit and so is Edwards' empty rhetoric. The conservatives' intentions are ugly and they are exceedingly immoral and disgusting, but they are correct in pointing to hypocrisy among the rich Democrats.
Yes, all the other candidates are rich, too, and I'm sure I'll end up voting for some seven to eleven bathroom owning asshole come November 2008. But come on! Why defend this? Why set our standards so low? Why eleven bathrooms?
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I gotta have my Fix!
[Read the article: Goodbye to the Fix, for now]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It really sucks that you canceled The Fix. Aside from scanning the covers of celebrity magazines at the grocery store, I basically have no idea what goes on in celebrity culture; I rely 100% on my daily Fix. At work each day I steal a couple minutes around noon to check which celebrity went to rehab, went down on someone in an elevator, made their racism or homophobia public in strange ways, etc. Now I will be completely left out of the loop.
That, and how will Patricia what's-her-name grasp at straws to go on random tirades about marijuana legalization in the letters section?
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The Tonya Harding Option
[Read the article: The GOP attack plan for Hillary Clinton]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not as concerned with the GOP attack plan as I am about Hillary's. This from Jake Tapper of ABC News today:
I just spoke with a Democratic Party official, who asked for anonymity so as to speak candidly, who said we in the media are all missing the point of this Democratic fight.
The delegate math is difficult for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, the official said. But it's not a question of CAN she achieve it. Of course she can, the official said.
The question is -- what will Clinton have to do in order to achieve it?
What will she have to do to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, in order to eke out her improbable victory?
She will have to "break his back," the official said. She will have to destroy Obama, make Obama completely unacceptable.
"Her securing the nomination is certainly possible - but it will require exercising the 'Tonya Harding option,'" the official said. "Is that really what we Democrats want?"
The Tonya Harding Option -- the first time I've heard it put that way.
It implies that Clinton is so set on ensuring that Obama doesn't get the nomination, not only is she willing to take extra-ruthless steps, but in the end neither she nor Obama win the gold.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/03/dnc-official-cl.html
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The Fox News thing
[Read the article: Michelle Obama on "ignorant" America]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My main problem with Joan's post is that by watching Fox News and allowing their inane (and dare I say, desperate) rhetoric to dictate her subject matter, she lowers our level of discourse to that of a second-rate cable news outlet. As a regular Salon reader who probably has much in common with other readers here (left-leaning, interested in politics and culture), to me this indicates that Joan is a poor judge of her own audience. This is what most letters seem to be pointing to; it's not that we cannot hear any criticism of Obama, but that this particular "issue" is so very inconsequential in a time when the presumed Democratic nominee is likely to wipe the floor with McCain.
And yes, to the folks who actually watch Fox News and take it seriously, this may be an issue. But Joan, we know that without needing to be told. We understand that there are people who will parse every word because they have different beliefs and want to see their candidate win. We instinctively know this is happening on Fox and through Rush Limbaugh and other right wing radio, but Salon doesn't need to be the place where we discuss their talking points with any kind of seriousness.
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A more interesting recent poll
[Read the article: Americans more ready for a black president than a woman?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you are interested in polls (and let's face it-- they are all pretty tiring by now), the one described in this article uses the candidates' actual names. It also questions who is more in touch with "American values," rather than the more theoretical, polarizing questions of race and gender that Joan concerns herself with here.
http://www.slate.com/id/2175496/
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Shameful, Salon-- just shameful
[Read the article: What should Obama do about Rev. Jeremiah Wright?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I stopped reading these letters when cythera45 referred to Obama as the "black rage candidate." This is what you are pandering to with repeated trash like this, Joan Walsh-- the scared little whities inside your moronic readership (which is probably less than 5% of your total readership, proving once again that Joan does not understand her audience).
This literally makes me ill.
Bye-bye, Salon-- for reals.