Letters to the Editor
masaccio
Published Letters: 222 Editor's Choice: 16
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The occupation of Iraq is the problem
[Read the article: Seizing American supremacy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If this dull-witted administration had focused on real problems, including those outlined in this article, we would have been in much better shape. Unfortunately, our foolish leaders squandered American prestige the same way they squandered the budget surplus, and for the same ideological reasons. I do not think we are in for an easy recovery. Check out the article in the Sunday New York Times business section describing the rise of state-run investment funds powered by the vast amounts of money we send overseas for oil and other foreign purchases, and ask yourself how many times we can hoodwink the Chinese into buying Blackstone shares before they use their money to hold us hostage.
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Shades of Chalabi
[Read the article: How our seedy, corrupt Washington establishment operates]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I wonder which PR firm was pushing Chalabi.
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I'm tired of clintons
[Read the article: Barack Obama's Republican edge]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]All of them. Of course I will vote for the democrat, but my real goal is to elect real progressives to Congress, from all around the country. I can't make a difference to HRC, who has gathered buckets of money from rich people who want something, but I can make a difference in a selected group of congressional races. And I intend to do just that.
Having said that, the thing I like about HRC is my absolute belief that she will strike at the vicious republicans harder than any other candidate. I feel sure she will make a real effort to gouge the termite republican ideologues out of their cozy mud nests in government, and that she will expose the unlawful activities of the republican incumbents in ways that should tarnish them forever.
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@ Ktwdawg
[Read the article: Barack Obama's Republican edge]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You might want to tone that judgment thing down a bit. I assure you I am a much better lawyer today than I was 30 years ago. Judgment is the result of learning from experience what works and what doesn't, and how to deal with people. Some old fogies don't learn from experience, and some young people learn very quickly, but I can say that among learners, the older you are, the more likely your judgment is better.
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The octopus strategy
[Read the article: How can I love my Republican parents?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have republican kin, and since we are all more or less political, we talk about things when we are together. What we do is focus on the things that unite us, which are more numerous than you might think. It is important to remember that the things that brought us to our current postures are as much the result of emotions and subconscious beliefs as they are the results of intellectual activity.
I think political affiliation is like an octopus attached to the side of an aquarium tank by a large number of suckers. The goal is not to rip the thing off the wall all at once, because that will destroy the animal, but to pick one sucker and detach it. The next time you see them, try for another sucker. If there is a reasonable amount of agreement to serve as a starting point, and to establish good will, this is possible.
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Appoint a professional
[Read the article: The Democrats' responsibility in the wake of Gonzales' resignation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think the best outcome for the nation is the appointment of a DOJ professional, like Craig Morford. The problem is that the morale of the professionals is down the toilet, to the point that lawyers are starting to make snarky lawyer jokes at their expense in non-professional settings, and that really hurts, because most of them aren't political, just real firebrands about catching wrong-doers.
An earlier commenter says Morford is a Bushista, which, if true, would disqualify him from serving that purpose, but I have never seen anything to say he is anything other than a fine prosecutor with good to excellent administrative credentials.
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Glenn's work
[Read the article: The Democrats' responsibility in the wake of Gonzales' resignation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think what Glenn is doing is moving and shaping discourse. Because of his work, the acronym VSP has entered the blogosphere, and those of us with a special interest in that area are now populating blog sites and shoving on those people. Go look at Democracyarsenal.org and see how Michael Cohen has been forced to move in a more rational direction by the excellent commenters, some of whom are there because of Glenn.
It isn't nearly as exciting as street protests, and I love a good march myself, but the work of moving the VSPs is something we can contribute.
Go look at Firedoglake, with its Summer of Accountability series. Talking to congress people, regardless of their party, is valuable. A group of FDL people met with the chief of staff of Darryl Issa, in a move which must have caused some shock there. That accomplishes something. Anyone can do it. So do it.
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@elephantman
[Read the article: Why did Gonzales resign?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Please offer your own thoughts on the reasons for the sudden departure of the ever-loyal Gonzales.
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partial solution
[Read the article: Son of subprime: Credit card debt]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Today's NYT business section has an article quoting Barney Frank and Dick Durbin saying that they want to amend the bankruptcy code to permit debtors to affect mortgages in bankruptcy. This is an excellent way to fix the problem, and dump the loss on the investors who supported the madness.
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Changing standards
[Read the article: Lipstick on the pig]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Everyone seems to have forgotten that the only the administration got to 8 on the first draft was its bogus definition of "satisfactory". I don't have it here, but the language was that something had changed so that there was a trajectory towards satisfactory progress.
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Highly anticipated testimony of Petraeus?
[Read the article: Bush's new friends: The Sunnis]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What is anticipated? How low this lap dog general will go to defend his reputation and the administration?
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I saw him once
[Read the article: "Big in every way"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I saw the great man sing once in an enormous sold-out arena, probably 20,000 people. He was older then, and some of his low notes were uncertain, but at the high end, he was himself, glorious and thrilling, the voice of a young man, golden and bright. We were fairly close to teh stage, and I like to think we were near enough that we got something more than the amplified voice coming over the speakers, something of the real voice that cannot be transmitted electronically.
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But General Petraeus is an honorable man.
[Read the article: What about political progress, Gen. Petraeus?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]How dare anyone criticize a general?