Letters to the Editor
maureenodonnell
Published Letters: 475 Editor's Choice: 5
-
Cigars - sex - some sad man getting drunk and driving...........
[Read the article: The Clinton-Obama contest gets rougher]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So you are re-living the 1990s with a frisky Bill Clinton cavorting with Ms. Lewinsky in the White House. We had this salacious story imposed on us by the media here in Europe too and most adults would prefer to forget that tawdry tale. I lost respect for BC after that but lustful urges are nothing compared to the invasion of a country, resulting in the deaths of thousand and further destabilising of the Middle East. Btw, your military stops at Shannon Airport when young American men are on their way to or from Iraq. Last May, because I still smoke cigarettes, I went to an area forsmokers to find myself on the edge of a group of American soldiers. They smiled and greeted me. I reacted politely but kept my own counsel. To be perfectly candid, I felt sorry for the young of yet another generation being sent out to fight a war based on a lie - the BIG LIE of WMD. Oh yes, I was travelling to France that day, a country which was demonised by the American media because it would not support Bush's war. British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, earned the disdain of the British public for being - and I quote - "George Bush's poodle". London was bombed on its subway system and so was Madrid for what the terrorists believed was British and Spanish support for Bush. So far, nobody on this discussion board has told me to butt out of your Presidential debates which is just as well since we live in the global village now. A woman born in this place in Ireland from where I'm writing, died on one of those planes hi-jacked on 9/ll. She had American citizenship and her American-born 5 year old daughter also died on that horrifying day.
As for Hillary Clinton and Barack (Barak?) Obama, I've seen postings on the Internet about the Clinton marriage which are revoltingly prurient. All marriages are different, as marriage requires the meshing of different personalities. If Hill loves Bill, despite everything, it is not for outsiders to judge. There is a cruelty in the way the American media taunted Chelsea Clinton as a very young girl in the White House because her looks didn't come up to the standard these vultures required. I've just seen Rev. Jesse Jackson trying to explain to Jon Snow (British Channel 4 News) what all the race rumpus is about in the U.S. Speaking from Washington, Jesse Jackson was calm and conciliatory because you can bet he knows exactly what's going on. I also caught a glimpse of the famous Tim Russert. I don't want to be accused of "lookism" but he wouldn't make my cork pop.
Now, as regards Senator Obama, I've read on this discussion board that he took "a little pot" while in High School but it was clearly stated on Channel 4 News (British) that BO admitted to having taken cocaine, which toxicologists claim is a more potent drug. When "Time" magazine was worth reading, it had a front cover illustration and main article on "Cocaine: Ego Food". Cocaine is in Europe too, and the drug cartels of Colombia are involved in its proliferation. If Obama took cocaine in High School, this was a fairly sophisticated drug for a youngster in the Seventies. I have no idea whether he went to High School in Hawaii, Indonesia or on the American mainland. You can be damn sure, however, that the Republicans will find out if he becomes a "person of interest" to them.
It is now almost 9 p.m. and I'll leave you to your deliberations.
-
When the race card turns out to be the joker in the pack
[Read the article: The Clinton-Obama contest gets rougher]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Midnight. It's very judicious of Senator Obama to discover that the race card could all too easily turn out to be the joker in the pack and that right now some of the more ruthless Republican strategists may be considering delivering an up-dated version of "The Manchurian Candidate". The second film based on Richard Condon's novel is all of four years old. There have been many changes since then.
-
Mystifying Op-Ed "Driving Mr. Romney" in NYT
[Read the article: Is Mitt Romney taking Michigan for a ride?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Apart from the inept caption which conjures up visions of Miss Daisy, this is a piece of writing which tottered between being a "puff" of Senator Romney as a warm and caring human being and as a calculating manipulator, with admissions by the writer, a Romney volunteer, that the Senator has been associated with phoniness and disingenuousness (lovely word!). As a foreigner, I can't quite make out the purpose of the writer in crafting something which appears guileless but, simultaneously, seeks to mollify public opinion of the Senator. My own interest in this Presidential candidate is prompted by his aggressive world-view and recent remarks, attributed to him, which indicate that, if elected President, he would favour seven Guantanamo Bay type concentration camps. "Extraordinary rendition" and American concentration camps are a travesty of justice. The motor industry is indeed important to Detroit but so also should be America's reputation throughout the world. Apparently, Mitt Romney has acquired a record of changing tack on many issues so that perhaps his bellicose rhetoric in an election year is merely more waffle. I certainly hope so!