Letters to the Editor
TomRitchford
Published Letters: 233 Editor's Choice: 10
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Again.
[Read the article: Goodbye, Mr. Bush]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We lost our blog reporter to Hillary and now this.
Why are you doing this? What does Hillary offer the left except "not being Republican"? The US spends more money on weapons than all other countries put together -- and Hillary wants to spend *more*. Its record in foreign military undertakings is almost uniformly miserable, from Vietnam to Central America to Iraq, American soldiers have been fighting continuously overseas for over 60 years, yet Hillary wants to continue and even expand this murderous tradition.
I feel completely sick. Why isn't there a political party for people who don't believe that continuous warfare for the rest of time is a great idea?
The first time Hillary's aggressive belligerence costs lives -- which I predict would be in the first year of any Clinton presidency, God save us from such a catastrophe -- I'm going to send you another message telling you that I told you so. The blood will be on your hands too.
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The fact that Blumenthal is leaving for the most reactionary "Democrat"...
[Read the article: Sidney Blumenthal departs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]makes me feel sick.
What does Hillary offer me? Only one thing -- she's not a Republican. Otherwise, her entire militarist big-business campaign offers nothing, nothing, nothing to the left, or to libertarians, or to foes of huge, corrupt government, or really to any thinking person at all.
I'm sorely tempted to throw off some four-letter words to Mr Blumenthal here but will refrain. My disgust is unspeakable. Let us hope we'll be able to laugh at you twelve months from today.
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"He/she would have lived such a better life as prey in the wild"
[Read the article: The K Chronicles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why yes, a turkey would have a much better life as prey in the wild. For one thing, they wouldn't be cooped up in a cage not much bigger than they are and fed with chemicals.
I'm curious -- why don't you want to go to human jail? I mean, you don't have to compete for food or shelter in jail, and conditions in a human jail are far better than in chicken coop.
I note a disproportionate number of anonymous postings for this column. Why post as anonymous unless you're ashamed of what you have to say?
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I was quite impressed.
[Read the article: Biden calls himself "the odd man out" among '08 Democrats]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I didn't have much opinion about Joe Biden before this article, but now I looked him up a bit.
He seems like an actual grown-up. I do actually more or less believe his contention that he'd be better at Foreign Policy than any of the other candidates.
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Do what I did...
[Read the article: Joe Klein digs Time's hole deeper still]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sign up on their blog column and post a new entry like:
Joe Klein, resign.
FIRE JOE KLEIN.
etc. etc.
Take three minutes. I'm going to do this each day that Mr. Greenwald writes about it...
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Well done Glenn and Jane!
[Read the article: Demand answers from Time magazine]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Now to fire up my email client and send a few polite but forceful letters...
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I love dogs but...
[Read the article: Should we euthanize the Yorkie?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...kill it. The dog is broken. Worse, it's destabilizing this already dire situation. If the grandmother or grandfather dies as a result of this cockup, you won't be able to buy another one.
Put the dog out of its misery. Get a new pet that everyone can deal with. You'll add years of life to your family.
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A lovely, moving article...
[Read the article: Ode to a giant saltstick]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Unfortunately, many old New York things are being swept away by the tide of mercantilism.
Wandering down Avenue A, there are five new banks outlets there.
The Second Avenue Deli is gone, surviving Abe Lebewohl by not so many years, replaced by a... bank.
Even on Fifth Avenue, all the unique independents are replaced one-by-one by national chains: Disney, Banana Republic, the NBA.
The hard-working shopkeepers and dwellers in Manhattan don't see anything from this massive increase in property values -- in fact, they pay dearly for it every day. All the money goes into the hands of a few speculators.
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Brilliant!
[Read the article: Time tries again]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The misstatement about the oath of office -- fantastic find!
What an elementary error -- one that could be corrected in a few moments' research.
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Parson Jim: you are wrong.
[Read the article: Falling for StandUpGirl.com]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What exactly does your last message have to do with the message you replied to?
What do your strange examples have to do with feminism, which at its roots is simply "empowering women"?
And the very link you quoted says that "irregardless" is NOT an acceptable usage. "Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance. Use regardless instead."
I understand that you are "of the right" and "just making things up and yelling" is considered an acceptable form of debate there. It is not for us. Please try to work on your reasoning and reading skills before bothering us further.
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"Or anyone from another culture, like Latino, Arab, Japanese?"
[Read the article: To spank or not to spank?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yuck.
There are many other cultures where it's completely unacceptable ever hit kids. Take Bali, where they'll call the police if they see you spank a kid and they never ever get angry with kids or discipline them in any way. Astonishingly enough, the result is the nicest, best-behaved group of kids you could ever hope to see.
The thought of your "follow[ing] our kids around with a belt the first few years of their lives" disgusts me no end.
I'm not sure that banning all corporal punishment is the right idea -- I actually think the article has exactly the right attitude. But if a person -- or a culture -- thinks nothing of assaulting a child with a potentially deadly weapon like a belt (this is hardly hyperbole, kids get beaten to death with belts fairly often) then there is something seriously wrong with that person or culture.
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Here's what "other cultures" really think.
[Read the article: To spank or not to spank?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporal_punishment
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Not theological?
[Read the article: The accidental heretic]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Rosenkavalier wrote:
"He said of the trilogy that he is "trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief."
"Regardless of whether he is successful, and despite the books' theology, it's hard to honestly say that they were intended to be theological."
Surely a book that tries to undermine the basis of a religion is *essentially* theological -- in exactly the same way that a book arguing for anarchy is essentially political?
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"The Geneva Convention (POW statutes) only applies to LEGAL combatants."
[Read the article: For the CIA's eyes only]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The US Army has *by their own admission* tortured people to death who weren't combatants at all.
I guess they weren't "LEGAL combatants" and the Army feels it can do whatever it pleases with civilians.