Letters to the Editor
gbarton
Published Letters: 106 Editor's Choice: 8
-
Awesome debate
[Read the article: Debate with Frank Gaffney]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That was fantastic, Glenn. I have a feeling that, even if the neocons succeed in provoking a war with Iran (which I believe they will) that public opinion has finally turned against them. They'll be out of power eventually.
But they'll be back. These guys have been planning this not since the 1998 PNAC days. They've been planning it since the fall of the Nixon administration, maybe longer. They're not going to give up. In a generation or two they'll be back, ready to play off the attitude of, "those damn liberals stopped us from winning the Iran war! Time to hang 'em all." It'll be just like they're playing off the bitterness over Vietnam now. Between now and then we've got to find out how to diffuse this. You're just the man to figure that out, methinks. :)
-
It's Morning in America
[Read the article: Is there life after Bush?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As progressives we MUST start thinking, and talking, positively. NOW. When attacked, say "The other side has nothing constructive to say. Here's what we should do to make things better..."
Now is the perfect time for the Democrat's "Morning in America." Republicans can't provide it. They're too focused on fear. Democrats can do it. You can do it.
Go out and do it.
-
Assertive and string?
[Read the article: My best friend's husband insulted me]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]LW said, "I told her I don't want to talk to him and I never want to be in his presence. He can come to my wedding as your escort and I will see him again at his funeral."
Well, that about says it all there, doesn't it? He told her she's a bit boisterous, and so he's banished from her life forever?
A bit of an over reaction? Maybe?
LW describes herself as "assertive and strong." I have a feeling this is the "you can't take a strong woman" excuse I've seen often from women who can't help being simply mean and acerbic. Maybe that's not the case here, but given the extreme overreaction...I doubt it.
-
First anniversary coming up soon
[Read the article: I found my father dead]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The first anniversary of an ex-girlfriend's death is coming up soon, in just under a month.
I can still recall the feeling when I got the e-mail from her mother. One line: "Greg i want you know that xxxx passed away today." And I knew, I just knew, that she'd taken her own life. I found out later that it was by asphyxiation, a bag filled with helium, in her own bed.
That image has haunted me since then.
Not so much anymore. I've married since then. We're expecting our first child in August. I'm very happy and content.
But I still grieve for her, from time to time, and wonder why it had to happen, why she had to end it.
The letter just reminded me.
-
...and congress?
[Read the article: "Some very thoughtless person"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]No, sdemont1, this play is just the commander-and-chimp. You can't try the "fair and balanced" thing with this.
-
Ignorance of firearms is right...
[Read the article: Compassionate conservatism]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Derbyshire has a point.
I'm not a gun nut by any stretch. I'm for gun control in general. But, if the facts reported so far are correct, Derbyshire has a point. A hit from a .22, even point blank, is quite survivable. 30 people should have easily been able to disarm this man. Heck, even five could.
It's hard to contemplate, and of course impossible to know how any of us would react in such a situation, but it's inconceivable to me that 30 people would just wait to die. Just because guns shouldn't be available to the general populace doesn't mean we should be ignorant of them. And just because the commentator is conservative and says something difficult to stomach, that doesn't mean he's wrong.
-
There are different categories and levels of 'competence'
[Read the article: What is the rationale behind the prescription drug laws?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, Glenn, you are a competent adult, but you may not be competent in the field of medicine. There's no way to judge your competence in medicine from a single, or even multiple, visits with a doctor. The socially accepted way of judging medical competence is called "getting an medical degree from an accredited school."
Also, medical decisions can have more immediate, dire consequences than legal decisions. That's why we are allowed to make stupid mistakes in the legal system, but impaired from making them in the medical system.
I agree that the government has little reason to monitor the substances we legally take. It's a logical intersection and extension of the drug war and the terror war, though. I doubt either will stop in eroding our privacy any time soon. Both sides of our political sphere are hell bent on continuing, and technology is slowly but surely enabling them.
-
Think of it in terms of game theory
[Read the article: What is the rationale behind the prescription drug laws?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Glenn, you've compared the lawyer/client relationship to the doctor/patient relationship many times, but the comparison simply does not hold.
lawyer/client: The Lawyer is a guide for the client, helping them manipulate the justice system to produce a beneficial result.
doctor/patient: The Doctor is a guide for the patient, helping them manipulate the patient's body to produce a beneficial result.
The key here is what is being manipulated. For doctor/patient, the target of manipulation is the patient himself. This produces a self referential system not present in lawyer/client. The doctor/patient manipulation can have a direct effect on the ability of the patient to make decisions, especially in the case of psychoactive drugs.
Self referential systems are far more complex than those that have no loops. In essence, the rules of the game and the frame of reference for applying those rules change while you're playing. (i.e. the patient's ability to make decisions changes depending on the drugs selected) Putting the decision making power in the hands of the doctor removes this extra complexity.
In essence, giving the doctor the power over prescription decisions makes doctor/patient MORE like lawyer/client, not less.