Letters to the Editor
pancho
Published Letters: 127 Editor's Choice: 8
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The only way out
[Read the article: The only way out]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Great article by Joe Conason. I would go a little further. Instead of enabling the Kurds and Shites, we should make it clear that we will abandon them if they fail to reach accomodation with the Sunni. Forget the Us Air War and rapid reaction units invisaged by Murtha. If we try to fight the war by proxy we will only ensure a civil war in Iraq.
To the Sunni we should make it clear that if they reach accomodation with the Kurds and Shites and expel the Jihadis we will not only withdraw from Iraq but also hand back control of Iraqi oil. Furthermore we should set up a fund to rebuild the ruined cities. How about half the amount we are currently spending on the war. We still come out ahead. Now everybody is happy except for Al Queda and GWB. I think it would work.
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You can thank Farhod, now I am out of here.
[Read the article: Was the 2004 election stolen? No.]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have been with Salon since the earliest days and I am sure I was one of your first subscribers. However, I will not be renewing and this is why.
Farhod Majoo's "rebuttal" of the Rolling Stone article got my blood boiling. I was willing to keep an open mind until I got to the issue of exit polling. I did not know enough about other claims to refute them but I am somewhat of a polling buff and I know a little about polling and the science of statistics.
Farhod claims that exit polls are not all that accurate. Then there should be plenty of examples of them failing in Modern Western Democracies right! Naw, he doesn't provide any and maybe because he can't. Recent election in Italy, exit polls hit it on the nail - very close election too.
Recent election in UK. Exit polls were precise to the fraction of a percentage. However somehow in the US and only in States at play every single result breaks to Bush. Statistically it would be easy to under stand if this happened 10 or 20% of the time but 100% - every
State broke for Bush. No.
The claim the Bush voters were somehow more reluctant to declare their preference? Balderdash. I was an election worker and those people were positively smirking on their way to the polls. I could tell who they were voting for by the dirty look they gave me with my Kerry poster. Anyway statistically you would expect to see a reluctance to comment higher in predominantly GOP districts you see the opposite. Farhod gives a numerically inaccurate and far fetched explanation for this. Yes Farhod it could have happened and pigs could learn to fly but not bloody likely. I bet you loose a lot of subscribers because of this. If we wanted garbage like this we could just tune into Fox for free. Make my day - fire Farhod Bush and issue an apology or KMA.
Antojr
Florida
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Farhod can't add
[Read the article: Was the 2004 election stolen? No.]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Farhod's exit poll explanation is ridiculous. In 80% Republican disctrict if Reps responded only 53% of the time then Dems would have to respond 68% of the time to arrive at a 56% response rate. Conversely in 80% Dem district a Rep response of only 50% requires a Dem response of 54% to arrive at an overall rate of 53%. This would mean that Dems in a heavily Dem district would have to be a whopping 14% less likely to answer polsters than Dems in a hostile Republican district. This makes absolutely no sense. You would expect the opposite. Also that fact that Farhod can't do simple math blows his credibility. Shame on Salon Editors for not catching this. So will you fire Farhod and appologize now?
Antojr FL
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Manjoo and Kennedy
[Read the article: Salon answers its critics]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Salon sticks to its guns and circles the wagons. Just like I expected. What infuriated me most about Manjoo's post was that he was either has no mathematical/statistical comprehension or he is deliberately dishonest. For example when he tries to explain away the higher response rate to exit polls in heavily Republican districts the method he uses only works if there was a 50/50 breakdown of votes between parties when we already know the districts voted heavily Republican. Salon allows Kennedy to respond only to give Manjoo the last word. As if that were not enough Salon itself has a last last word. That’s about as fair as the election in Ohio. None so blind as those who will not see. I am still out of here.
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Typical
[Read the article: Rove in civvies isn't such an ugly sight]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is a good case of why Democrats are political road kill. Always bend over backwards to be kind and fair to the Republicans even while they are rigging elections and looting the treasury. "Good for the Nation". What will be good for the Nation is for "liberals" to grow a friggin' backbone. These shower of losers actually think they can glide to victory in November. Well between Diebold and vote suppression, swift boating, gay bashing, immigrant bashing and the next War thats not going to happen. But never mind Manjoo will assure us in the aftermath that everything was above board. It looks like Nader was right.
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Fidel
[Read the article: After Fidel, no deluge]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]First of all, the Dude is not dead yet. He has outlasted 10 American Presidents and don't be surprised if he outlasts this chump. Secondly I read a story today where a dissident said Fidel had "up to" 300 political prisoners. Then I thought about Gitmo and it struck me. We are worse than Fidel and we don't even face the overwhelming treat he faces. I think the human debris in Miami will be smiling out of the other sides of their mouths in a couple of months when he makes a full recovery.
Pedro
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Holy Joe
[Read the article: Joe's fall from grace]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sid never disappoints. However, the Democratic Party establishment is another matter. Sen. Dorgan was on the Bill Press radio show this morning and refused to endorse Lamont. When pressed (no pun intended) he said "leave it up to the voters". I left a message at Dorgan’s office to tell him that he is next. We won't win until we either rid the party of these quivering quislings or put the fear of God in them.