Letters to the Editor
Well, that's all for now.
Published Letters: 84 Editor's Choice: 10
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A Disconcerting Disconnect
[Read the article: "You have more bread crumbs than I do"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Okay, I know the Press has been falling down on the job lately, but even the jaded part of me was shocked at how this story was reported in the press today, in particular by the AP. You'd swear that Alberto Gonzales was a knight in shining armor and the Democrats were just quibbling over nothing in the AP's report on his testimony yesterday. Unbelievable.
THANK YOU SALON many times over for keeping us informed about issues which would otherwise be swept under the corporate-media rug. And not just swept under it, but misrepresented in the process ... "Nothing to see here folks. Move on." It just shows you that the Congressional investigations are on the right track.
And, while we're on the subject of media misrepresentation I have a comment on the public's ability to respond to such misrepresentation. While I greatly value Salon's letters policy and learn much from the readers who post here, I presume that most of the readers (although not all) are liberal progressives who value Salon's viewpoint. I used to value, in particular, Yahoo's message boards where readers of all stripes could weigh in on wire-service articles/issues of the day. That was before Yahoo did away with their message boards. Perhaps it was simply a business decision, and no they weren't perfect, but the effect has been to snuff out a well-used, national/international open forum for the sharing of cross-cultural, cross-political views, and that's something we all need and can benefit from and it's an important way in which progressives can counter the rightwing spin put on the news. (That said, I have no desire to register at Rush Limbaugh's website, or any other strictly conservative forum.) Anyway, thumbs down to Yahoo for their decision.
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Spoken too soon?
[Read the article: The secret Iraq documents my 8-year-old found]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I really hope, in the interest of truthseekers and historians everywhere, that before going public with this story (in spite of the Hollywood-esque hook of an 8-year-old discoverer of 'government secrets'), that Pete Moore downloaded all available CPA documents written in MS Word. And, further, that he might have alerted someone clever enough to search out all MS Word documents on all government websites so that they too could be saved and searched for unwittingly readable deleted material.
Seriously. I've seen the same problem show up in an office setting, but would not have expected to see it in official government websites ... on second thought, to not expect that type of thing was probably delusional of me. Anyway, such raw material inadvertantly posted to government websites probably exists across a broad spectrum of government sites on the web, but probably not so many that a comprehensive download of .docs from .gov sites wouldn't be doable. That is, before everyone scrambles to correct the situation as word of mouth spreads about Pete Moore's 8-year-old.
I mean, c'mon, wouldn't you love to read the outtakes from whatever might have been made public in .doc form about, say, Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force meetings? If you're reading this and you're technologically savvy enough to accomplish the saving of public .doc pages from .gov websites before they're scrubbed ... please, GET BUSY!
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Courtesy and Political Foolhardiness
[Read the article: Edwards' insensitive move]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm as anti-war as they come, have opposed the Iraq War since before it started and detest the false, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses lockstep patriotism people stick on their cars. I've marched, protested, petitioned against the war, etc. I believe that war profiteers should be tried for treason and imprisoned. I'm sick of the glorification of militarism and of our national treasure being depleted in the interests of the privileged few and at the expense of the many. I believe our military budget should be trimmed to a quarter of it's present size. I'm depressed by how many innocent deaths our tax dollars have funded. I believe our soldiers are tragically dying in vain. . . All of that said, however, I can't come up with a good reason to support anti-war protests at Memorial Day observances. It's not a matter of political calculation (although I think it would be politically foolhardy), or fear of inconveniencing someone, it's a matter of respect and common courtesy.
If John Edwards said he was going to lead an anti-war peace vigil Memorial Day observance on the National Mall with satellite feeds from other cities coast-to-coast, I'd buy my bus ticket to attend tomorrow. That's far different than disrupting, no matter how respectfully and how well-intentioned, other people's observances and then sending in show-and-tell pictures. It reminds me slightly of that offensive, wacky group from Kansas that was (is?) going around the country and protesting at the funerals of fallen soldiers. More importantly, I'm not at all convinced that protesting will do any good anyway and in this instance seems highly likely to cause more division within the country.
I'm far too chicken, until some critical mass is reached nationally via the internet perhaps, to participate in the only real protest I think has a chance of success in stopping the War .. and that is the withholding (in escrow as I understand it) of taxes.
Lastly, a word about political foolhardiness. I remember vividly from my youth in Illinois an act of political foolhardiness which killed the Equal Rights Amendment at the time. A group of passionate women, well-intentioned I'm sure (if they weren't actually paid agitators), spelled out the letters ERA with gasoline on the thus-ruined state capital's lawn, poored pig-blood on the thus-ruined marble floors of the capital, and chained themselves together in the legislative chamber, if memory serves. That, and the subsequent press coverage, was all that it took to defeat the Amendment's passage, which before those acts seemed assured in Illinois. My recollection could be incorrect, but I believe that if Illinois had passed the amendment at the time, it would have passed nationally and become law. Anyway, the rightness of the cause does not justify whatever means necessary to make one's point or draw attention to it, especially if those means alienate the very people you're hoping to enlighten.