Letters to the Editor
3reddogs
Published Letters: 186 Editor's Choice: 43
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Coincidence?
[Read the article: A document dispute forced Miers' withdrawal? Don't believe it]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Interesting that Bush chose to make this announcement on a day when the news might otherwise have been filled with stories about the indictments of Rove, Libby, et al. (Not that he's ever manipulated the news to deflect attention away from a negative story about his administration.)
Kudos to Tim Grieve for reporting on this totally transparent exit strategy on Monday. (I'd send kudos to Charles Krauthammer for laying it all out last week but then I'd have to shoot myself.)
I fear we're all going to look back on this and decide that Harriet Miers would have been infinitely preferable to whoever Bush chooses as her replacement. Here's hoping "adam" is right and Bush's petulant inner child will take over and he'll nominate an unquestionably qualified and well-respected MODERATE instead.
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A Different Take on Spousal Notification
[Read the article: A Scalia by any other name]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It seems to me that the "logic" espoused by ranndino ("... but there is absolutely nothing wrong with requiring this decision to be made by the two people who produced the child in the first place. When the child is born the father usually feels that it's his as much as the mother. As a man I would be extremely angry if my wife made the decision to abort OUR child on her own without consulting me.") has a major flaw, one that Judge Alito seems to share. Even without the results of a recent DNA study a few months back that revealed that over 20% of the children in a marriage weren't fathered by their mother's spouse, shouldn't it be pretty obvious to everyone over the age of 12 that there'll always be babies who are conceived outside of the marriage, either as a result of an affair, a 1-night stand or rape? By all means lets do legislate that every woman who conceives a child outside of her marriage must notify her husband of her wish to terminate her pregnancy even if her husband isn't the baby's father. That's bound to put a lot of spice into those marriages! And what percentage of children, I wonder, are conceived in a loveless marriage where the wife and children are all victims of physical and/or sexual abuse. By all means lets do legislate that every one of these women must also notify their abusive spouse that they're going to terminate their pregnancy rather than raise another child to be a victim of his abuse. So what if that husband violently retaliates as long as we all get to preserve some ridiculous notion of what marriage in America is or should be.
Show me a judge who adjudicates spousal notification and I'll show you someone who's either criminally naive and/or stupid, or perhaps he's just perfectly willing to put a small group of women in harms way in pursuit of some lofty principle or maybe, just maybe, he doesn't really have all that much respect for women.
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Spousal Notification Part II
[Read the article: A Scalia by any other name]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Although being accused by ranndino of basing my argument on ignorance is probably a compliment, at least I'm in pretty good company since the Supreme court struck down the spousal notice provision that Alito was perfectly willing to uphold. It seems to me that the circumstances under which the spousal notification should or shouldn't take place is fairly irrelevant. Alito's dissent argued that spousal notification was constitutional, and did not place a significant burden on women. Alito reasoned, "[t]he Pennsylvania legislature could have rationally believed that some married women are initially inclined to obtain an abortion without their husbands' knowledge because of perceived problems--such as economic constraints, future plans, or the husbands' previously expressed opposition--that may be obviated by discussion prior to the abortion." Sorry, but that's as wrongheaded and naive as asserting, as ranndino does, that married couples should just "sit down and talk about things" because "that is the most reasonable path to pursue". Well call ME crazy, but just because it's the REASONABLE path to pursue sure doesn't make it the right path for every pair of people trapped in a bad marriage. ranndino is more than welcome to interpret my point of view as being some declaration that I think "infidelity is a good excuse to not notify the husband ... Let the couple keep living a lie so that we don't disturb the family peace", but, truth to tell, I think that marital infidelity is simply a fact of life and I don't think the courts or any state or federal legislature has the right to expect or force a woman to confess her infidelity to her spouse before she can terminate her pregnancy.
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Biden's Weakness - Part II
[Read the article: Mixing messages on Alito]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Well put, johnalive! (" Biden has consistently been a source of weakness in the Democratic party by undermining its role as the opposition party. I hope people remember that if [he] runs for president.") Biden has already declared that he's in the 2008 presidential race so let's hope he decides not to try to retain his Senate seat (a seat he's held since 1972!). Even if the Dems win back the Senate in the 2006 mid-term elections we'll need stronger men than Biden in 2008.
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Great tactic
[Read the article: Democrats to Bush: Rule out Libby pardon now]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]How can this be anything but a win-win situation for the Democrats? If Bush refuses to rule out a pardon he comes off looking like the weasel that he is. If he does agree to rule out a pardon then we'll have the tasty prospect of Scooter's trial (and we'll hear all about how the White House is inhabited by a whole pack of weasels). And if Bush agrees to rule out a pardon and then reneges, then maybe even his die-hard supporters and the MSM will stop making excuses and looking the other way. The only dark cloud? Scooter doesn't get a pardon but he decides to fall on his sword (plead guilty)like a good little weasel, thereby depriving us all of opportunity to see Dick Cheney take the witness stand.