Letters to the Editor
prunes
Published Letters: 784
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neoconservatives = not conservatives
[Read the article: More fallout from the Comey revelations]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In general terms, I actually non-sarcastically agree with much of what shooter242 said. Unfortunately, the neocon policies he supports do not (as I have argued many times before) reflect any of the conservative ideas he claims to believe:
Conservatives try to anticipate the worst and hope for the best, based on observational knowledge of people and individuals. Nearly everything in conservative philosophy can be explained by that. For instance....
Good so far.
* The war. Going to Afghanistan and Iraq was less bad than waiting for another attack. (Forget about hindsight, at that moment it was the perceived choice.) (Especially by Democrats)
Invading Iraq had nothing to do with the terror threat, and only partisans claim this is so, due to the orchestrated propaganda that conflated bin Laden with Hussein.
Shooter will claim that it is not Bush's fault if people get confused, but this ignores the strategy documents of the administration (e.g. those by Frank Luntz) that recommend stressing this link as much as possible.
* Income inequality. Some people are real good at making wealth (stuff), most aren't. Letting the experts go to work in their own self interest, provide for everyone else.(Don't kill the Golden Geese.)
No-bid contacts, preferential deregulation, and subversive "privatization" that simply removes government actions from oversight do not incentivize individual humans to excel, they incentivize individual humans to submit to the virtual scructure of the modern corporation.
Which goes to say: e.g. Halliburton's business model RELIES on preferential treatment (in regulation and funding) by the government, because there is no market for their services in a non-governmentally controlled free market.
* Isolationism. (Buchanan) People have been at war, are at war, and will be warring for evermore. It is our nature. But, let's just stay out of the way and let the rest of the world waste it's energy and resources.
Way to go so far on this one, neocons.
* Religion. The idea is, that we as a species are too limited to explain, the existence of existence. Not to mention we are so flawed we have to be taught not to kill each other and generally covet. There MUST be a higher power, and as such wishes we would be more like what liberals would like us to be. (Relying on an antique code is problematical. "Do not kill" is good, gayness as a conscious choice to be punished, not so much.)
I could not understand this part due to grammatical errors.
In my humble opinion, this is a good synopis of the conservative thought process. That is to say... understand the strengths and weaknesses of humans, then act around them rather than try to change them.
So why can't you see how much more the Democratic party reflects the principles you claim to espouse?
Or are these "principles" mere rhetorical devices to you, or do you pretend your heroes embody them?
It may not be how things "should" be, but acceptance of how things "are". YMMV
This is a lofty goal, but instead what I see you doing is: ignoring clear evidence of presidential abuse of authority, ignoring clear statistical evidence of Iraqi casualties, ignoring tested and standard security practices in irrational preference for systems ripe for political abuse, and ignoring the economic reality of Republican-originated debt that will hobble the US economy in years to come.
You're no conservative. You're a neocon.
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nicely done sajwan!
[Read the article: The administration's FISA falsehoods continue unabated]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Spending hundreds of billions on dumb-ass wars, homeland security bureaucrats, and suspension of habeus and illegal spying would not have stopped 9/11. The only thing that would have stopped 9/11 was securing the pilot cockpit.
Could the folly of the neocon "security" plan be demonstrated any better?
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Dictators of Zion
[Read the article: The Islamic enemy within]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The fact is that until America admits its foreign policies are dictated by Israel, we will never be at peace.
Look, the USA's policies are not "dictated" by Israel, dumbass. There is a worrying concentration of highly placed American officials who have either a) crazy end-time beliefs about Israel or b) overly friendly ties to Israeli corporations and right-wing Israeli politicians.
Saying Israel "dictates" the actions of the US make you sound like a OMGTHEJ00Z nut, turning off your audience from whatever point you would like to make.
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Terror is brown
[Read the article: The Islamic enemy within]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Dave Niewert noted a recent case where a homegrown militia was planning to use IEDs against Mexicans:
http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2007/05/domestic-terror-all-around.html
Compare and contrast the media coverage of that incident with the Miami "bust" of a largely unarmed, big-talking Nuwaubian group, widely touted on the front pages as the breakup of a serious terror plot.
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Threatdown
[Read the article: The Islamic enemy within]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]No big deal, right? After all, there are about 50 million Republicans, and they are far more evil, right Glenn?
I'd hate to judge something like that (only God knows our hearts), but it is the Republicans who are subverting the Constitution, it is Republicans who are clamoring for pre-emptive nuclear strikes, and it is Republicans who have institutionalized torture.
There are dangers attendant to Islamic fundamentalism, no one would claim otherwise except neocons setting up strawmen, but the political threat to America and Americans is certainly greater than the statistically insignificant threat from Islamic terrorists. Lightning strikes kill about 100 people a year.
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Acceptability
[Read the article: The Islamic enemy within]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You ask me if I think suicide attacks are justifiable. That's an absurd question. Why would you ask me if it is acceptable to murder people?
How acceptable are bombing raids over populated city areas? They kill far more civilians than suicide bombs.
Is it the suicide part that's so upsetting?