Letters to the Editor
Mike Sulzer
Published Letters: 489 Editor's Choice: 1
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@NOB
[Read the article: Neocons and the truth: Bitter enemies to the end]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You did not really answer any of the questions. Please consider the actual history. It did not start with the current US invasion of Iraq, but that invasion did reinforce previous actions. Iran has never overthrown the US government; but we did abort their democracy.
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@baldie
[Read the article: Neocons and the truth: Bitter enemies to the end]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Actually, considering some of your recent exchanges, you are not in a position to judge how others respond.
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No, it is different.
[Read the article: CNN, the Pentagon's "military analyst program" and Gitmo]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I realize that it is natural to compare the current situation in the US with regards to the media with the Soviet Union of the middle of the previous century. However, the situation is really not the same. The USSR had a limited press controlled directly by the government. The US has unlimited multimedia controlled by a few large corporations whose interests coincide with those of the government. This coincidence of interests results from corporate influence of the government, and from the flow of officials from the government to corporations and various propaganda machines, such as "think tanks".
I am happy to listen to any contrary arguments, but this looks pretty obvious to me.
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@David Larry D
[Read the article: CNN, the Pentagon's "military analyst program" and Gitmo]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree, but it is necessary to understand the mechanics of the method of control in order to have any chance of finding a solution to the problem.
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@ Aycharaych
[Read the article: CNN, the Pentagon's "military analyst program" and Gitmo]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wrote:I think the biggest difference between the former triple C-P and the USA today is that Soviet citizens were smart and educated enough to know they were being lied to.
Some Americans are starting to realize the lies, but nowhere near enough.
There is a lot of truth to that for sure, but it is not the whole truth. We have an oligarchical system in which the powerful few compete, but also cooperate. It is so much better, from their view, than the USSR, because it is still a very productive system, and so far it has not been necessary to use much force to keep order. The latter is not so much from stupidity of the people, but because the information control is just so much better done these few decades later in a subtle rather than coercive manner. But the system is not stable and must change. Let's move it in the right direction.
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@brightstar65
[Read the article: CNN, the Pentagon's "military analyst program" and Gitmo]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I do not see a lot of excuses here. How does that saying go, history does not repeat, it.....
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@Glenn
[Read the article: How the military analyst program controlled news coverage: in the Pentagon's own words]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thank you for bringing this back on topic; that is interesting and not the least bit surprising. That is how it works. Maybe the latest posts were not that far off topic. If libertarianism says that everything would be great if everyone would leave everyone else alone except for voluntary interactions, then the realist would say: but everyone won't. And because of that, and in reaction to that, we have governments.
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@Bucky1
[Read the article: How the military analyst program controlled news coverage: in the Pentagon's own words]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You have a point. The authors of some of those quotes are not cynical liars; some are self-deluded. Some really intelligent people are very close to instability, and sometimes cross the line. Engineers like to explain this as too little damping in the mental feedback loop: the circuits run out of their normal linear operating ranges. The expression "...went non-linear" in reference to someone's behavior comes from this.
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Simplistic
[Read the article: John McCain's Vietnam-based view of war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Glenn:This simplistic message is all McCain has been saying for years about Iraq as well.
More troops. More bombs. No ideas; too confusing. Message plays pretty well in some places. Might get him elected. Simplistic. It worked. It catches on. Worked for eight years. McSame.
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How?
[Read the article: John McCain's Vietnam-based view of war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Where is the Lakoffian individual who can translate so many of Glenn's (and others') arguments into bumper sticker sized sound-bites?
How do we get at the underlying reality of this love-affair with more and more War?
A good start would be to avoid words like "Lakoffian". And no hedging please.
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@bamage
[Read the article: John McCain's Vietnam-based view of war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sorry, I am a bit incoherent today. "Hell no, I won't go!" has real impact and attracts attention no matter which side you are on. Its emotional, rather than intellectual, content is what makes it work. With repetition and time, the phrase can connote a whole set of meanings, intellectual or not, for different groups people. This is how you package a message when you want to attract people who have something in common, but a lot of differences. Most of us in UT do not do this very well, or at least not anymore.
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Shooter's intelligence...
[Read the article: Larry Di Rita's responses to questions about the "military analyst" program]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]... is not defined by whether he believes his arguments. He does not, at least not all of them. It is defined by the best counter argument he can find to oppose what he reads here, independent of whether it is true or not. These arguments tend to come from RWA pages with some personal interpretation. So I think the apparent intelligence of his posts is an indication of how successful the RWAs are at countering reality. Thus his visits here are useful; who wants to spend time visiting the RWA sites? Sometimes it is necessary to ask him a question, but usually it is clear what they are thinking.
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Could it be that one reason these documents are now public....
[Read the article: Was Karl Rove involved in the military analyst program?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]is that nearly all emails to the outside have been removed? Real men draw a line. Everyone below the line gets thrown to the wolves; everyone above the line is safe.
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@shooter
[Read the article: Was Karl Rove involved in the military analyst program?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]wrote:Whatever are you people going to do after January? Heh.
I am hoping that it will be possible to make more progress on determining the extent of the criminal activities. It is possible to eliminate nearly all the documents, but they really cannot erase everyone's memories.
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Nice contrast.....
[Read the article: Tom Friedman's latest declaration of war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...with yesterday's post. No one "serious" can say a bad word about Israel or a good word about Iran.
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@Rob Mac
[Read the article: Tom Friedman's latest declaration of war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Shhhsss. Do not say that out loud; Shooter might hear.