Letters to the Editor
swilldog
Published Letters: 184 Editor's Choice: 20
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horserace bs
[Read the article: Nasty, again]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]First off, to anonymous: "Can Obama be trusted to run. I can't see where he is playing fairly. Only when it suits him to do so."
You can just as easily substitute Clinton's name in there and it would be equally as valid a comment. So let's cool it on the sniping, shall we?
Secondly, related to the comment that Edwards has hardly come to Clinton's defense: Edwards needs Clinton out of the race to have much of a chance at the nomination, duh.
Finally, as an Edwards supporter it pains me to observe this: an unfortunate, and all-too-likely outcome of Edwards' candidacy is that he's probably taking more votes from Obama than Clinton, and thus is probably ensuring that Clinton eventually gets the Democratic nomination.
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watch "The Wire"
[Read the article: Why campaign coverage sucks]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This season of "The Wire" dramatizes fairly effectively one of the key limitations of our current media and why they are failing us: Partisan leadership in our media institutions choose which stories get play.
I've not yet watched the 3rd episode, but in episodes 1 and 2 the chief editor clearly decides in a partisan fashion what direction news stories must take before they'll make it to print. Whether for personal reasons ("Your facts say this, but my friend who works there says otherwise, so you story's a no-go") or for business reasons ("People want to hear how bad the schools are, so we're going to tell that part of the story, despite how civicly irresponsible it is to disregard the complexities of the issue").
Yes, I know this is a fictionalization. But it's one of the few clear, easily accessible portrayals of how this system has been corrupted. Upper management gets a taste of what it's like to be on the inside. They build relationships with movers and shakers (of various sizes) and either knowingly or not push negative stories away from their influential friends and acquaintances.
It's high school all over again -- get the nerdy kid to think they're friends with the popular crowd so they'll do their homework for them.
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Newsflash, Senator:
[Read the article: McCain: Clinton would "surrender" in Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We friggin won already. The rest of this is just cleaning up the mess that the current pResident deliberately made in order to justify the construction of permanent bases in Iraq. End. Of. Story.
To bandy about talk of surrender is to only paint yourself into a corner, idiot. Short of a MASSIVE second invasion and wholesale partitioning of Iraq, there is zero, zilch, nada chance of effectively pacifying that part of the world. Anyone with even the slightest grasp of the situation on the ground can tell you that. Idiot.
Finally, to suggest that removing combat troops from Iraq would be tantamount to "handing the country over to Al Qaeda" is one of the most monumentally stupid things you'll ever hear said about the situation. The truth of the matter is that once we're gone, the Iraqi people will systematically hunt down elements of Al Qaeda in their country. They've had a semi-secular society far too long to allow a collection of zealots turn their once-proud country into Afghanistan circa 1998. Idiot.
Honestly, Senator McCain, just man up and tell the truth -- among the Washington establishment, the pro-occupation crowd is in it for the following reasons:
-- Establishment of permanent military bases in Iraq, to replace the ones that OSAMA BIN LADIN forced us to abandon in Saudi Arabia. Mission Accomplished, indeed.
-- Private corporate seizure of Iraq's oil reserves. Until Exxon, Shell, Chevron, et. al., have complete ownership of these reserves, there is zero chance the hawks will walk away from Iraq. State-owned Iraqi oil is a direct threat to the Suadi regime, and would all-too-likely end up flowing towards China and India and not the West.
-- Preventing the ascension of Iran as a counterbalance to our Saudi "friends." An un-occupied Iraq means that Iran can stabilize the shared border and exert its (some would argue justified) influence on the predominantly Shia Iraq. In the short term the mullahs currently running the show in Iran would be able to extend their hold on the country a bit longer, but the long term trends suggest that Iran could become a far more moderate, secular state in the not to distant future. Which, again, would be a huuuuuuge threat to the Saudi royal family.
So c'mon, Mr. Straight Talk Express. Tell the damn truth. I dare you.
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three possible scenarios, and how they'll be covered
[Read the article: When principles aren't enough]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]1. Edwards finishes second to Obama in SC. Headlines: "Obama Captures the Negro Vote" and "Clinton Fares Surprisingly Well After Abandoning the Palmetto State"
2. Ewards finishes first in SC. Headlines: "Obama Seizes Strong Second Place Finish" and "Clinton May Regret Decision to Abandon South Carolina"
3. Edwards finishes third in SC. Headlines: "Obama Triumphs in South Carolina" and "Edwards Fails Miserably! Stick a Fork in Him! Hooray!"
I am so damn tired of this Horserace BS. Just admit it -- Corporate Media will not allow a populist message to be heard. Not even here.
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I think what he meant
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"While young people are involved in sports, they are, by definition, not involved in other antisocial activities such as substance abuse, crime etc."
I suspect there was a little bit of snark in that statement. How I read it was that when a young person is on the field (i.e., running, kicking, yadda yadda yadda) they by definition cannot also be dealing crack, robbing liquor stores, raping grandmas, etc. Because they're playing a game or at practice. Although a football game infused with an anti-establishment vandalism spree would surely be an interesting spectacle.
What they do after the game or outside of practice is another story. But at least we all get a reprieve during those precious precious few hours.
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shocking!
[Read the article: Quote of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]How odd that Joementum found a way to talk about himself so much there. Truly, I am stunned.
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quibble
[Read the article: John McCain's endless war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For the love of Pete, *please* turn off smart quotes when you draft your content in something other than HTML. Every single apostrophe appears as ’ in my browser.
And if using smart quotes isn't the cause of the problem, then please figure out what it is.
That is all. ;-)