Letters to the Editor
Million-Year Picnic
Published Letters: 174 Editor's Choice: 11
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I'm not so sure..
[Read the article: The Iran hawks]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]that a sitting US president would choose to attack Iran, even a republican president.
Iran is much more useful to the GOP and even the dems right now as a political distraction and scapegoat. Imagine what would happen if we attacked Iran and bombed them into the ground. Who would we blame for our problems in Iraq then? Who would we blame for our energy problems?
We might be forced to focus on real, long term issues, such as social security and medicare, the energy crisis and global warming, our overcrowded prisons, our trade imbalance, the weakening dollar, healthcare and diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and obesity. Oh, and our immigration issue.
That would be bad, bad, bad. The last thing we want to do is talk about real issues.
So you see, we need Iran, desperately. It enables us to continue to hold on to the fantasy that all our problems can be solved -- through bombs.
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The middle way
[Read the article: Earth to PETA]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Good article. Moderation in all things -- that is a good rule to live by.
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Negative Nellie
[Read the article: Chris Floyd for Glenn Greenwald: The Democrats' year of living disastrously]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Now here is another sourpuss that only looks on the downside of things.
Now maybe the Iraq war did not go perfectly, but lets remember that we paid for it mostly on credit. That means that it did not cost Americans anything! How anyone can complain about something that was free is beyond me. The Chinese paid for alot of it with debt they purchased, yet no one points the finger at them.
Also, lets remember that the dems, by jumping on the neocon train, are finally asserting their patriotism. How can anyone condemn them for that?
It is important for us to keep pointing the finger at Iran because then we don't have to look at other problems. We can bundle all our problems, such as energy, the iraq war, and any domestic problems, put them in a box, and label them "Iran".
Then we can sleep peacefully at night, knowing that with a few bombs from our air force, all our problems will go away.
I wish getting rid of these "Negative Nellies" was that easy!
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It boils down to terrorism
[Read the article: Nuclear war on YouTube ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]One problem with conventional reactors is that it produces radioactive waste with a long half-life.
This waste can be burned as fuel in "breeder" reactors. However, as a by-product plutonium is produced, which can be stolen and used by terrorists to make nuclear bombs!
Also, with enough explosive (and it would take quite a bit), the concrete containment of a reactor could be breached, releasing radioactive gas into the atmosphere.
These fears are as important as anything else in dictating our energy policy.
My personal feeling is that these fears could be addressed reasonably and nuclear energy should be an important part of our long-term energy policy.
If only I could put it to music.. What rhymes with "reasonable, long-term energy strategy"?
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I just don't see it
[Read the article: Chris Floyd for Glenn Greenwald: People get ready -- one shoe away from war with Iran]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]While I agree that the administration (and Congress) are playing a very dangerous game with Iran, with their threats and belligerence, I just don't see Iran directly attacking US resources and bases. Thats what neocons would like to believe, that the Iranians are the aggressor, but their history shows otherwise.
The most likely scenario is a preemptive strike by Israel, like was conducted against Syria, but on a much more massive scale. The main thing preventing that is the knowledge that Iran would strike back as hard as they can.
There is very little for the US to gain by unilaterally attacking Iran at this point.
That is not to say that neocons aren't itching for it. For them, it is like ordering up a wrestling match on pay-per-view. But on their kid's credit card.
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The fate of torturers
[Read the article: The agonizing truth about CIA renditions]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The thing that bothers me about torture is not so much my concern for the torturees. Its what happens to people who torture, or allow torture to happen, or think that its ok in the right circumstances.
When I was a boy, I remember going out every morning and evening to feed and water the animals. One winter it was very cold, and there was a kitten that kept coming out from somewhere, mewing for food. Its mother had died or something. Anyway, its mewing got more persistent as it gradually got weaker. It probably was 15 degrees that winter in the midday sun, at night it really cooled down.
So one day I got annoyed and threw it into a watering tub full of icy water, one of the big rubber ones. I thought it would drown right away but it didn't. It just kept swimming around and making that damn mewing.
So I got a stick and tried to push it under water to hurry up the process. I pushed it under and little bubbles would come up, and then it would pop to the surface again. After a little while it died, and I hooked it out with the stick and tossed it.
The next day, and every day until spring, it was still there, frozen solid in a snowbank, its face pulled back in a kind of grimace.
I remember thinking that it deserved it for being such a pest. I also remember that immediately after that, I had an extra capacity for meanness.
Today I look back on that with a certain horror. But its not that I don't still have the capacity to do something like that. Or worse. Its that I wouldn't be able to justify it. I actually felt bad for the kitten at the time, but i felt like at some level, it deserved it, and I was doing it for its own good, to teach it a lesson for annoying me. But whats scary is that when you get on that train, you can see where it will take you. And you'd better jump off. Right away.