Letters to the Editor
Nita Martin
Published Letters: 271 Editor's Choice: 62
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Since the dawn of time...
[Read the article: The flip-flop that wasn't]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]there have been two ways to get ahead in any venue, from high school to business to politics.
1. Excel all by your very own self.
2. Trash, subvert, and otherwise demean and destroy those who do excel, thereby removing them from the competition. And your path.
The second strategy seems to have become the new American Way. We've come to expect it in our own lives, particularly in the workplace. (And right down to the tacky and surreal doings of homocidal cheerleader moms)
But to see it become the order of the day when something as crucial as the best leadership for the most powerful nation in the world is at stake has been truly demoralizing.
And to see "the Straighttalk Express" reduced to "I know you are, but what am I?" tactics is so very pathetic. And desperate.
Thus far, the debates have been dumbed down to the tastes of an audience of limited interest and attention span, and a thirst for the cheap shot.
And the campaign rhetoric has become a negative domain, with very little attempt by the candidates to provide an accurate snapshot of themselves. If we don't return to the notion that "merit is as merit does" soon...well...may the best liar, dissembler and saboteur win.
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And yet...
[Read the article: Another departure from Justice]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We still have Alberto Gonzales
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Give them an inch....
[Read the article: The flip-flop that wasn't]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Clinton is a seasoned politician. She should know better than to say something that could be plucked out of context on the level that her "working" comment could.
Shame on her for setting herself up. On the other hand...did she??? If anyone can tell me EXACTLY where she stands on Iraq, I would really appreciate the illumination.
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They would not listen...they're not listening still...
[Read the article: Hey, Dems: Run against Bush -- and toughen up -- or lose in '08]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Perhaps they never will". (Consider this the long Scary Scary Night of the Democratic Party)
It's long past time to wake up from this nightmare.
During the 2004 elections, I campaigned as a surrogate for John Kerry and was told repeatedly, even smacked down now and then, for saying ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT GEORGE BUSH. You're campaigning FOR Kerry, not AGAINST Bush, we were all told. This, despite the fact that in our minds, there was no question...we sacrificed our income and our comfort for one reason...to see that George Bush was NOT RE-ELECTED. You could have substituted Homer Simpson for Kerry, and we (or at least, I)would have campaigned just as hard. Sad, but necessary.
Because then, and now, it was and is about George Bush and the "more of the same" his party will visit upon us if they retain the White House. Particularly now that they have created a virtual fascist state in place of our democracy.
If anybody doubts the wisdom of our convictions then, you have only to look at the horrific and almost irrepairable damage Bush has done. Damage we were predicting and depicting years ago. We were dying to shake Kerry and tell him what we thought...stop taking the punches and hit back. Hard. But somewhere, some highly paid, not-so-competent strategist was calling the shots to play dead. The orders to campaign strictly on Kerry's resume were uniformly enforced, from the daily talking points to the oversight by our young, politically inexperienced and naive road handlers. And we all know how it ended.
All you have to do is listen to the Dems and watch the way they still respond to the extreme right's finger-wagging rants to see that they didn't learn a thing in 2004.
Democrats need to get over their fear of being criticized by their opponents...and their enemies. They need to believe that they can speak up, especially when it is a FACT that an overwhelming majority of Americans WANT them to speak up, and will support them when they do.
I am firmly supportive of everyone on the Democratic roster. They are all intelligent, competent, reliable and honorable people, in my opinion. I have my favorite, but after the primaries, I will work like crazy to get the winner elected.
However, unless the Democrats stop listening to their inner compromise and start doing some serious truth-telling about the practices and policies of the other side, we are going to have a too-close-for-comfort race. Because voters are too lazy, in the main, to do any reseach or think for themselves. Case in point "flip flop". And then, we will have to worry about where the next Katherine Harris will pop up, and who is on the Supreme Court.
Note to Democrats: Save us. Stop pussyfooting around the devastation this administration has wrought, and the prospect of more to come for years. The elephant in the room won't disappear just because you persist in campaigning as though it's really just all about you.
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I would hate to be a conspiracy theorist....
[Read the article: Gonzales' shame]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But the fact that the guys who have been hanging on by their fingernails and refusing to budge, like barnacles on the ship of state, are now turning loose, has me unsettled.
Why now?
In my darker moments, I can see a foundation being laid where Bush has been clearing brush in Crawford. With offices for all the presidents men to occupy when he refuses to hand over the reigns and declares martial law. I see Rove and Gonzales poring over a Staples catalog for office furniture even as I type.
Creepy that I could even have fantasies like this.
On the other hand, they have been arrogantly adamant about staying. What do they know that we don't?
Oh, and that "mortician's calm" that Gonzo has? It's more corpselike. There is clearly no one home behind those eyes...and his heart obviously shut down some time ago. Although the recent 400th execution in Texas probably got a few fast beats out of it.