Letters to the Editor
rebmarks
Published Letters: 13
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Aarrgggh
[Read the article: Al Gore: Ask not, what semiconductors can do for you]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Do you realize that the sub-caption of your article just helps to reinforce these memes? Isn't it one of the cardinal rules of journalism that many readers don't read beyond the lede? And yours is: "The former vice president talks to engineers in San Jose, and probably wishes he'd never invented the Internet" I realize this might be the editors of Salon, and not you, but please, all of you, STOP IT!!!
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Thank you
[Read the article: "Hillary equals France"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My French husband says: "Thank you. Thank you again. Thank you."
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Have you contacted anyone (besides Boylan) about their security breach?
[Read the article: Col. Boylan's implosion accelerates]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Glenn --
Have you thought of contacting anyone else in the military about the obvious security breach in their computer system? Seems to me that they should welcome citizens helping to keep this country and its defenses secure from terrorist hackers.
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Trying to do my part
[Read the article: Harry Reid's FISA games]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Harry Reid's office at the Capitol tells me that he has not announced what he's going to do, so they couldn't comment on it. I left the message that he should bring the SJC version to the floor, honoring the request by the 14 Senators (including one of my own), that he should honor Chris Dodd's hold since he doesn't seem to have a problem honoring Coburn's, and if Reid does not do whatever he can to oppose the Administration on FISA, I will do whatever I can to oppose him in Nevada.
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Time Magazine invents facts
[Read the article: Time magazine invents facts to claim that Americans support Bush's domestic spying abuses]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I just sent the following letter to the editor at Time:
"This is "analysis"? On what basis are you printing this load of fact-free nonsense? Mr. Calabresi and his editors may not care about our civil liberties, and may have full faith in this President, but let me tell you, there are plenty of us out here who disagree. Every poll has suggested that Americans DO care, and care deeply about what has been done to our civil liberties. For one of the latest examples of Americans caring, how about Foster's winning Hastert's seat in a GOP stronghold, while saying things like: “The President and his allies in Congress are playing politics with national security, and that’s wrong. Nobody is above the law and telecom companies who engaged in illegal surveillance should be held accountable, not given retroactive immunity. I flatly oppose giving these companies an out for cooperating with Alberto Gonzalez on short-circuiting the FISA courts and the rule of law.” This article is so riddled with falsehoods that you should be printing an immediate apology and retraction."
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How do you feel about Bosnia?
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Glenn -- How do you feel about Gulf I? Or our intervention in Bosnia, or lack of intervention in Rwanda? I agree with you almost 100% of the time, and I was certainly horrified that we were even considering invading Iraq, much less actually doing it, but your statement that we should never attack anyone who has not attacked us or threatened to attack us would preclude us from any of those actions, so I wondered where you stood.
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Torture should ALWAYS be illegal
[Read the article: Responsibility for the last seven years]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Torture should ALWAYS be against the law. Just as, for example, eating people should ALWAYS be against the law.
But most people understand (or should understand) that in extreme circumstances where imminent harm is going to happen, laws are sometimes broken by people with justification. And when that happens, it is up to that person to persuade the justice system to forgive them for that individual act. And if the collective wisdom of the system (cops, prosecutors, judges, juries) ends up tipping in favor of letting the person get away with breaking the law, well so be it. BUT THE LAW SHOULD STILL BE THERE, AND THERE SHOULD NEVER BE OFFICIAL IMMUNITY BEFORE THE ACT, OR LAWS PASSED TO ALLOW THEM. You breaks the law, you takes your chances. I think that if you ate your shipmate because he died, and you were hungry, having been bobbing about in a lifeboat for 30 days, you have a great excuse. And it would likely not be prosecuted, or you would not be found guilty. But that doesn't mean we should make cannibalism legal.
So torture should be illegal. It should always remain illegal. And if you, a CIA agent or soldier or just a citizen, think that by torturing someone you can prevent an imminent and worse harm and you're right, then you should be able to persuade the legal system not to find you guilty. But the point is, the threatened harm should be so great and obvious that you are willing to take the risk of penalties to yourself if you misjudged. Because if it were not illegal, if the potential penalties were not there, some people, under orders or otherwise, would have no incentives to behave appropriately, and such things as torture would become policy, just because they can get away with it. And so it has....
And p.s. I still can't believe that this is even a debate in this country...
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Omooex
[Read the article: Responsibility for the last seven years]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was actually wondering if someone would come up with that scenario! Bravo!
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Hooey
[Read the article: Legal expert says McCain may not be eligible for White House]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is hooey, since there was a statute enacted in 1790 that clarified that "natural born citizen" also included people like John McCain (and myself, for that matter) -- "children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens" (See http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=227)