Letters to the Editor
gradysu
Published Letters: 158 Editor's Choice: 40
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The "rats" comparison is unfair to rats
[Read the article: Matthew Dowd's not-so-miraculous conversion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Let's stop comparing all these "contrite" Republicans to rats leaving a sinking ship; the rats merely leave the damn ship, without pretense -- they don't get all self-congratulatory and faux-spiritual about it.
I have been watching Dowd smugly spread one smear after another on every cable network from here to Atlanta for years now. The way I scream "Oh Christ, get the f!#$!#$ out of here!!" at the television, the neighbors must think my husband and I are George and Martha from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."
The Times interview with Dowd, in its way, was a perfect illustration of how clowns like him have been able to dupe the media for years. They swallowed his "conversion" with the same salivating credulity with which they've swallowed everything else he and his partners in crime have peddled.
In that article, Dowd said that he would not be surprised if he ended up as a missionary in Africa. I was quite relieved I was not drinking my coffee when I read that, as my computer is dodgy enough without being subject to spittakes.
I suggest that Bill Clinton publicly congratulate Dowd on his conversion, and offer him a job with his foundation, doing the kind of grunt work that would humble a Beltway bullshitter like him in a hurry.
In the meantime, for the next batch of Republican atoners to come thundering through the door (and do try not to trip over each other), here is a script you can follow if you are sincere and want to be taken seriously:
"For self-serving political/financial reasons, I yoked myself to the Bush administration and zealously promoted its policies. I now realize -- much later than I should have, given the overwhelming evidence in front of me for all this time -- that these policies have led to thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis being killed; a significant increase in global insecurity; a dramatic decrease in America's standing in the world and the goodwill other nations feel toward us; a ramping up of terrorism and an increase in the number of adherents to terrorism; a dangerous breach in our national security and emergency response capabilities as a result of political hacks replacing competent professionals at all federal agencies; a serious shredding of the Constitution in terms of legal protections, human rights, privacy and free speech; a dramatic increase in economic inequality and in economic insecurity for the middle and working classes; severe infringements on clean air and water protections as well as worker and consumer protections; the stacking of our courts and federal judicial offices with activist zealots who put political interests ahead of the law; a callous disregard for those struggling among us; and a host of other indignities and injustices perhaps too lengthy to document.
"I, as an active proponent of this administration, bear some measure of responsibility for all of this, and I realize that my atonement does not wipe the slate clean. While it is impossible for one person to undo all these wrongs, I intend now to devote my life to (FILL IN WORTHY NON-PROFIT CAUSE HERE)."
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I'm all for throwing Imus overboard....
[Read the article: Firing Imus was the right thing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...but while we're at it, can we please, for the love of God, de-elect Al "Tawana" Sharpton and Jesse "Hymietown" Jackson as spokespeople for anyone but themselves?
Aside from their racist invective, both have also, at various times, aligned themselves with Louis Farrakhan (whose Nation of Islam provided the security for Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign) and only occasionally and half-heartedly denounced him, when really pressed and when it was convenient.
And as New Yorkers well know, in addition to the Tawana Brawley case, for which he's never apologized, and his myriad tax-evasion problems, Sharpton has been a racial hustler for quite a while now, including organizing "sit-ins" outside Korean greengrocers who dared to open stores in predominantly African-American neighborhoods, among other essentially criminal acts. This went on for months, and anyone else would have been arrested for it.
These two speak for no one but themselves, yet as sure as night follows day, every time there is any sort of racial controversy, they're the first two you see on every talking-head show. The first, the second, and the hundredth, for that matter. The producers must have them on speed-dial.
That said, I am happy that Imus is no longer polluting the TV airwaves. Aside from being racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and anti-Catholic, he and his sophomoric, sycophantic sidekicks commit a sin perhaps even more serious for entertainers: They're not funny. They're the kind of frat-boy losers who, if they sat down next to you at a bar, you'd grab your drink and run to the other side. Or maybe grab your coat and run for the door.
I met Imus at a fundraiser in the 90s, and he was as much of an asshole off the air as he is on. The MC said something about entering a raffle and Imus said to me something like, "I'd like to enter YOUR raffle." Then he sort of laughed and leered. He then made the same "joke" again -- perhaps he thought it was so sophisticated it had flown over my head -- and then again. And I thought, Jeez, somebody actually PAYS him to say things like that. Ew.
So good riddance to someone who should have been gone years ago.