Letters to the Editor
Well, that's all for now.
Published Letters: 92 Editor's Choice: 10
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Conservative Media grasping at straws
[Read the article: The "angry white women" problem]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think it makes perfect sense that the media is playing up the whole "Hillary supporters won't vote for Obama" meme, since it could help them explain an election result rigged McCain's way come November. By that point in the campaign if McCain crosses a wet sidewalk I fully expect to read headlines stating that he walks on water.
Which is also why I think we're deluged NOW with polls showing McCain running not far behind, or even even-with, Obama. I personally have a hard time believing that the country is anywhere close to being so evenly split. Maybe that's my own personal delusion, but I've spoken to a number of other people who feel likewise, so at the very least, I'm in deluded company. But it does point up a question that I've wondered about for some time . . . Are polls regulated (strictly or otherwise) by any federal law or agency?
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Interesting Choice of Words
[Read the article: Palin's army]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Like others here, I found Rudy and Sarah's speeches to be all red-meat style and no substance. And I too can hardly wait to see both the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates, when McCain and Palin will not be facing straw men that they can mock and easily knock down but the real deal. (Of course, I anticipate the media handing them a free pass even if they fall flat on their faces, much as they did with George Bush who you'd swear, reading the next day's headlines and articles, was a brilliant orator.)
My favorite part of the evening, however, was after Palin's speech and the trio of entertainers, when John Rich sang his song "Raisin' McCain". Talk about handing the opposition a great line ... a shriveled old guy like McCain who lives in the desert and his supporters chant over and over "Raisin McCain". Perfect. (No offense to raisins or other dried fruit intended.) Maybe the next sing-a-long could be to a song entitled "Peroxide Cindy".
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Thank you Tom Tomorrow for keeping me from going more insane.
[Read the article: This Modern World]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Honestly, I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I look to "This Modern World" to reassure myself that I'm not the only one thinking along similar lines. This week's cartoon is brilliant. Why is no one else on the Left pointing out the slant of everyday's news articles and commentary with the clarity that Tom brings to the picture. Seriously.
So, Tom, as a serious commentator on the state of our politics, media, etc., I hope you could at least look into the following subjects that I've been curious about:
1. Are there any laws that pollsters and their corporate media owned news outlets must abide by when conducting, compiling, and reporting poll results? Are pollsters subject to ANY sort of regulation? Frankly, I find most of the reported results unbelievable and view them suspiciously as preemptive attempts to assist in later explanations concerning suspicious election results.
2. Are provisional ballots counted in time to matter to an election's results? I swear I remember reading somewhere that many provisional ballots are simply set aside and serve more as a balm to soothe the nerves of the disenfranchised voting masses on election day than as actual, countable votes.
3. In geneaological terms, doesn't the "Mc" in some names simply mean "son of" ... therefore literally rendering McCain's name as "son of Cain" ... and, wasn't the biblical Cain the murderous brother?
Thanks, Tom! Please keep up the great work.
P.S. How about a strip, wherein Satan is the
GOP candidate and Jesus the Dem candidate, showing the lengths the media would go to to get Satan elected if that were the scenario? Maybe that's too pointed and unfunny, but I swear it would happen that way.
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A Spot-on Word for Mr. Keillor
[Read the article: George Bush with big hair]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I hope the Obama campaign can make use of the following word, the definition for which I found at dictionary.com. As a wordsmith of the people, I hope Garrison Keillor can as well. You just can't make stuff like this up (capitalized emphasis added):
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From American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary
PALINdromia pal·in·dro·mi·a (pāl'ĭn-drō'mē-ə)
n. A relapse or recurrence of a disease.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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One Word Says It All
[Read the article: Sarah Palin's wasteful ways]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From dictionary.com:
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palindromia
pal·in·dro·mi·a (pāl'ĭn-drō'mē-ə)
n. A relapse or recurrence of a disease.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Frankly, it's interesting to hear telling items from folks in Wasilla who knew her back when, but I'd like to see more discussion of these stories that were carried on the wire services: The still-moving-forward $600 million bridge from Anchorage to Wasilla that Palin supports. The fact that she kept and redirected the Bridge to Nowhere money rather than saying "No thanks" when that project was quashed. How when she was mayor Wasilla charged the victims of rape for the the medical test kits that provided criminal evidence, to the tune of over $1,000 each, until the Alaska legislature had to put a stop to that awful practice.
And now she's stealing pages from the Bush/Cheney/Rove playbook and refusing to cooperate with a criminal investigation involving abuse of her office? And now the McCain campaign has been allowed (perhaps illegally?) to assume Press-relation functions that rightfully are the province of the government of the State of Alaska?
Where will the lying and abuses coming from the McCain/Palin campaign stop? The answer to that rhetorical question is that they won't if they are allowed a free-pass by the media on these issues.
And, although no religious litmus test should be a qualification for running for or holding office, that does NOT preclude the electorate from knowing what a candidate's religious beliefs are so they can make an informed choice on how those beliefs could impact all of our lives. Those questions need to be asked and answered clearly and openly without reservation.
We cannot afford to suffer through a relapse or recurrence of the last 8 years. We cannot afford a bad case of Palindromia . . . or worse.