Letters to the Editor
maureenodonnell
Published Letters: 889 Editor's Choice: 5
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Person @ 5:44 a.m what you write about Obama and Lugar could be right and I appreciate that you're not polluting the site like Manos 99
[Read the article: Obama hits back at Clinton ad]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]who adds nothing to the discussion but filthy language and insults.
I still doubt the story about Auschwitz and Treblinka. Yes, you cite "fellow troops" but those who had first-hand information on Auschwitz were the Russians, the survivors and the German guards. Maybe they all spoke English. The American woman photographer, Lee Miller, got into Auschwitz after it had been liberated by the Russians and took horrifying pictures that went right around the world. We have a book on Lee Miller and her photography on a book-shelf in the house and she was an amazing woman. On the matter of Treblinka, it had been wiped off the face off the face of the earth by the end of l943 and the war didn't end in Europe until May l945 so no American or other Allied soldier actually went into Treblinka concentration camp.
The point I'm making? Candidates who stand for high office should be carefully scrutinised for both words and deeds in a free society. Didn't JFK say "Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan"? Maybe JFK plagiarised that but it still is essentially true. Political candidates everywhere try to present themselves in the most flattering light possible, basking in reflected glory, even if a story "has got legs on it". Obama is a politician and also an enigma but time will tell. I look forward to reading the books which will be written by reputable authors in the next few years on this extraordinary American election. By then, much of "the gilt will be off the gingerbread", which means that all the gilded wrapping around candidates will have been taken off and the substance will be revealed. I don't know whether you use this expression in America or not.
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To those who think WW2 has no connection with present-day American foreign policy.
[Read the article: Obama hits back at Clinton ad]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I believe that thinking "outside the box" is necessary. After the persecution of the Jews in Europe and the well-documented horrors of the concentration camps, the State of Israel was founded in l948 as a homeland for Jewish people. This created huge conflict in the Muslim world, which continues to this very day. Why do some Americans never wonder why the Iranian leader, Ahmadinejad, is so hostile to the US and has also threatened to excise Israel from the Middle East? Iranians are not Arabs but they are Muslims. Israel is seen as an upstart nation with nuclear weapons by Ahmadinejad and America is viewed as the largely unquestioning supporter of Israel.
World War 2 was the catalyst.
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Stewsbuntmonkey, I'n so crushed by your coruscating comments
[Read the article: Obama hits back at Clinton ad]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I said "candidates ", didn't I? Books have been written on Hillary Clinton and she has been under the microscope for years. John McCain has previously been a candidate and much is known about him, including his despicable joke about a teenage Chelsea Clinton. The newcomer on the international scene is Barack Obama.
I note the repetive use of language by some boorish Obama supporters. The word "rabid" has been used of me twice today although my writing is civil and civilized. "Rabid" comes from "rabies", a disease associated with mad dogs. The Internet word "troll" is also interesting, linked to either Scandinavian mythology or an abbreviation of "trollop". the word for a promiscuous girl or woman. Perhaps you mean the English novelist, Anthony Trollope, who wrote on political life in l9th century England. As for "holier than thou", I have none of the vanilla flavouring of your hero and my religiosity is of no significance to anyone but myself. I can't help noticing that quite a few of the Obama supporters, those idealistic people, have no trouble at all with slandering others and using pejorative words about nationality, mental health and motivation. What is too much for this particular type is intelligent discussion or an urbane approach to agree to disagree.
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Correction.
[Read the article: Obama hits back at Clinton ad]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"the repetitive use of language".
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Stewsburntmonkey, I read the speech on Obama's site after being advised to do so by CaptainlArab
[Read the article: Obama hits back at Clinton ad]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You obviously fancy yourself as some type of a scholar so I wouldn't dream of pointing out the vacuity of your thesis. However, I directly challenge you to quote me calling Barack Obama a liar. I did not and you know it but I'll refrain from aclumniating you. Anybody who knows anything about human nature is aware that some stories are like fishermen's tales about "the one that got away". It's perfectly possible that Obama's American grandfather, who was called Stanley Dunham I believe, exaggerated his wartime experiences in later years. I know next to nothing about that man and if he did exaggerate that's hardly a felony but his grandson could have reflected on the known facts before including Auschwitz and Treblinka in a speech in 2002 which is not aeons ago. If your candidate wants to resurrect JFK and MLK, 2002 could be regarded as five minutes ago. OK,whatever-you-call yourself, where did I call Barack Obama a liar? There are so many permutations to the Auschwitz/Treblinka reference that I could imagine the grandfather telling the tall tale. Such things have been known to happen.
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Error
[Read the article: Obama hits back at Clinton ad]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The word should be "calumniating". I type too fast and don't check for typos as I should.
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Maddie, you are wrong. I clearly wrote SOME Obama supporters.
[Read the article: Obama hits back at Clinton ad]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've read your posts and you argue your case without resorting to profanity or insults. As for my tone, I come from a completely different culture where courtesy is still valued. I really don't think that you or others who have never been outside the American continent are in a position to judge my "tone" unless I used abusive language. I'm now looking at the news; a 42 year old lawyer has (or is being) elected President of Russia, the largest country in the world, so they say. I hope his "tone" will be acceptable.