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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
freelancer1211
Published Letters: 60
I've been out of the country for awhile and coming back to American media's view of the world has been a rude shock to reason and logic. I wonder how many foreign policy leaders like Friedman have lived or experienced meaningfully a world outside the self-created bubble from which they pontificate murderous nonsense?
Anyhow, point is, I'm glad someone like you is writing this stuff. Reading this was like water for someone thirsty for sanity in her own country's mediascape. Please continue to write, and figure out a way to get into mainstream publications. There's no reason why your words should be limited to what's widely (ill-) considered a left-leaning magazine.
Seriously, man, you have a gift. A gift of reaching out to people who need it and touching them in infinitely important ways with your honesty your ability to see what haunts people and to put those fears in context...You just keep giving other people sparks of hope with your writing. I am so goddam glad that you are available to read. You're better than therapy, and you're hilarious to boot. I just read your latest column and that's what prompted me to write this. Thank you thank you thank you.
After writing the previous comment, I went back and read what others had to say about your letter. And I was totally surprised by the harsh nature of many of the comments, the stinging appraisals like "maybe you're not a writer" or "disconnect!" or other quick-fix-it, derisive and dismissive comments. Which goes to show that your readers, while smart, are also made up of those peculiar personalities that are not in the least bit nurturing to one another. (I am guessing that, in general, people who are motivated to comment in the first place are motivated by negative energy rather than positive energy). Which is why we need you, Cary. Keep on, keepin on. You are MAGIC.
Unchecked clinical depression is a dark sinking hole that causes the sufferer see the world as an alien and hostile place and, yes, if it continues its trajectory it leaves that soul with only one sane choice--self destruction. To add things like "accusation" and "rage" on the part of the sufferer to the discussion is, to me, extraordinarily beyond the point, so much so, as to be trivial. This is something bigger and more insidious than that. I suspect that people as bright as Wallace and Lukas tried to fight their dark, out of control thoughts with that intellect. Sadly, such a strategy has rarely if ever worked. And it is why you will find some of the most haunted and depressed people are also the most intelligent and sensitive. They place too much of a premium on this intelligence...but no intellect has that capacity. And that, for you people who rate humans on intellect, should be humbling.
Aside from Brennan, is Obama being wise in his picks considering the need for re-election in 2012 in order to actually get something done? I'll re-read your slamming of Democratic penitence to bipartisanship the last 8 years to see if you answer my question.
Thanks for retaining the comments section of your blog. Andrew Sullivan, George Packer (all the Atlantic and New Yorker folks, it seems) don't allow public airing of comments, which is frustrating and which makes me put them in this "political class" you talk about. You leaving comments open keeps things transparent and gives your column credibility.
Glenn: I have quite enjoyed listening to your radio interviews. Please get better production quality. You sound like you're in your bedroom.
Also, can someone tell me what is meant by "political class," exactly? Does that include journalists? Opinion-makers? Editorial page writers? Academics? Or is it literally politicians and their staffs?
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
