Letters to the Editor
_zack_
Published Letters: 373 Editor's Choice: 5
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Vitter, moral outrage, and political party affiliation
[Read the article: Who cares if Eliot Spitzer hires prostitutes?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Has a single crime of the Bush administration generated even a fraction of the attention or moral outrage which this oozing, petty sex scandal is well on its way to generating?
I think it’s time to remember that Republicans gave Vitter a round of “thunderous applause” when he returned from hiding soon after the statute of limitations ran out on his crime of soliciting a prostitute (in both D.C. and New Orleans).
Too bad Spitzer isn’t a member of the “family values” party. He could then survive politically. Heck he could even have the right-wing press (Human Events) sing his praises for not being gay:
In fact, I’m a huge fan of hypocrisy, since the alternative is apparently a world without standards for anyone, lest someone risk being called a hypocrite. Here is the difference between the average hypocrite and the average liberal: the hypocrite has the common courtesy to be embarrassed about what he does. The liberal thinks what he does should be taught to your children at school.
But, unlike Vitter, Spitzer won’t be receiving any applause from his fellow Democrats, and he won’t survive politically. That’s because the intensity of our “moral condemnations” are always exaggerated when the perpetrator is not just “immoral” but from the “immoral” political party.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/07/10/vitter/
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21505
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"moral outrage"
[Read the article: Misadventures in logical reasoning -- and lessons learned from the Spitzer scandal]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Boy, those New York Republicans were sure quick to call for the impeachment of Spitzer -- it’s so nice to see them regain their “moral outrage” voice once again after completely ignoring and then even applauding David Vitter for repeatedly hiring prostitutes.
Thank goodness Spitzer is a Democrat and not a Republican, it’s been a while since they were able to puff themselves up with moral indignation.. Ah, good times, just like the Clinton years.
Back then, Vitter himself was just full of moral outrage over anyone who didn’t want to impeach Clinton – which he saw as imperative.
If no “meaningful action” were taken against Clinton, he wrote, "his leadership will only further drain any sense of values left to our political culture."
Yes, thank goodness we have Vitter still in office to protect us from any further drain on our values.
Lesson learned: if you’ve got a penchant for prostitutes, make sure you’re a member of the “moral values” party.
Is it any wonder that “sex workers” say they always do better business at Republican conventions? All that “moral outrage” needs a release every now and then.
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If Politico repeats it often enough, will become true?
[Read the article: The Politico claims the Iraq war will help McCain]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What is the point of writing a big feature article claiming that Americans are moving towards support for the Iraq War again…
Because that is what they want to happen and the more they promote this talking point the more likely it is that it will become a self-fulfilling-prophesy.
Certainly, our news organizations are going along with the plan. Iraq has disappeared from our TV screens. The only segment I’ve seen on Iraq (on ABC Nightly News) in the last few weeks was a completely positive one with Col. Paetreus swaggering through the streets of Baghdad (sans helmet and flak jacket) to adoring and cheering crowds of Iraqis who love him and the surge.
With this sort of reporting, and the constant claim that everyone is now supporting the war they hope that it eventually becomes reality. But it’s still not working.
I’m not surprised that Politico is promoting the theme that everyone is now supporting the war, but I am surprised how ineffective this propaganda campaign has been. Americans still hate this war – overwhelmingly.
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O'Hanlon "the brave" our favorite war cheerleader does it again
[Read the article: The Politico claims the Iraq war will help McCain]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Oh, boy. The “media's favorite all-purpose war cheerleader Michael O'Hanlon” has now said the reason Fallon resigned was:
'Fallon was not brave enough'
And if anyone knows anything about bravery it’s the oh-so-manly O’Hanlon, right?
I now know whenever I see his name to put on wading boots because the inevitable bullshit is invariably wide and deep.
http://tinyurl.com/2nzkwo
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When a "brain fart" becomes policy...
[Read the article: McCain's repeated "slips of the tongue" on Iran and al-Qaida]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It must be that he just had an understandable "brain fart" -- an innocuous case of "misspeaking" -- even though it happened three times in a row in a matter of a couple of days.
Cheney has been (falsely) connecting Saddam with 9/11 and Al Qaeda for five years now. That’s not a “brain fart” that’s our foreign policy.
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Journalistic malpractice
[Read the article: The media's special relationship with John McCain]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]McCain is a Serious Expert in these matters and that national security is his strength, and evidence to the contrary won't be reported.
According to Media Matters it’s even worse than that – evidence to the contrary will be spliced out of the video tape to make his mistakes look like a slip of the tongue, rather than what he actually (and mistakenly) believes.
Indeed, in between the two statements, McCain was reportedly "[p]ressed to elaborate" on his misstatement and reiterated: "Well, it's common knowledge and has been reported in the media that -- that Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That's -- that's well-known and it's unfortunate." About a minute later, Lieberman whispered in McCain's ear and that is when McCain then said: "I'm sorry. The Iranians are training extremists, not al Qaeda, not al Qaeda. I'm sorry." Neither Blitzer nor CNN chief national correspondent John King, who reported on McCain's "misstatement" earlier on the program, noted that McCain twice falsely asserted in that same press conference that Iranians were training Al Qaeda members or that McCain had made that assertion the day before.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200803190012?f=h_latest
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ABC News and McCain's tax returns
[Read the article: The media's special relationship with John McCain]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Last night on ABC News, they reported that unlike Obama and McCain, that Hillary has not released her tax returns.
Is this true? Has McCain actually released his tax returns?
Did anyone else catch this? Did ABC News just have a “slip of the tongue?”
http://mediamatters.org/items/200803140010