Letters to the Editor
masaccio
Published Letters: 237 Editor's Choice: 16
-
@rambling rose22
[Read the article: How 1968 changed Hillary]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you think Obama is left-wing, you ought to get out more. He is barely left of center. Most of us real left wingers want stuff he won't even talk about: high taxes on the rich who have been looting the wealth of America for decades under right-wing misrule, an end to invasions of other people's countries, genuine education for all Americans, including a course in the history of the labor movement, single-payer health care, and serious efforts at criminal prosecution of Wall Street thieves and the criminals in the administration, among other things.
I fear your poor little heart couldn't bear it if a real left-winger got elected here. But never you fear, the real threat to this country is from the right. Fascism has a real attraction for the bedwetters of the right wing, and we have no one left who remembers why we have a Bill of Rights or is willing to defend it.
-
Elitism vs. Meritocratic Competence
[Read the article: The rubes and the elites]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Elitists are people who think that they are entitled to run things. Among repubs, this is the class of rich people. Among dems, it is a much smaller group of people who think they know what is best for people.
I generally think I am smarter than most people about a bunch of stuff. I have a track record that says I am right about a bunch of stuff, and people pay me to figure stuff out for them. In my area of expertise, people are generally better off if they take my advice. I am an elite, but it is really nothing more than meritocratic competence, practice, years of experience, and good genes.
It is true that some of us have better ideas about what would be the best policy than others. I trust either Obama or HRC to be right about these policies a whole lot more than anyone the repubs have put up for any office in years. Just as you would be much better off to hire me than my competition, we are better off electing dems to any office.
Lind argues that Obama is one of the first kind of elitist, one who thinks he is entitled to something. That is just stupid. Obama, just like HRC, got where he is by living his own life and making his own choices. He is, by my lights, most likely to succeed at the job, but I think HRC would also succeed. And I don't think either of them feels entitled to anything they didn't work to get. They are meritocratically competent. They ask people to vote for them because they are competent, and most likely to get things done. And this is a trait not recently found in repub candidates.
-
Rove is a coward
[Read the article: Rove willing to testify -- except when he's not]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Cockroaches thrive in the dark.
-
this is mentioned in some play I can't remember
[Read the article: We want a kid but don't think it's right to have one]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As I recall, the guy is talking to his parents who are in garbage cans, whining about how hard his life is, and eventually says Why was I born? Why did you have me? And his mother timidly replies, Well, we didn't know it was going to be you.
-
@lichen
[Read the article: Media's refusal to address the NYT's "military analyst" story continues]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why don't you write a letter to the editor of the Providence paper?
-
Not in the desert long enough
[Read the article: The GOP on the verge of imploding]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The idea that this Democratic party is ready for prime time with a set of ideas to lead the Nation founders on the description of the "leadership". Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer? These people haven't had a new idea in years. The party was not out of power long enough for them to retire and take their weak ideas of governance with them. We need a robust set of ideas and a robust set of new people to carry them forward. I will never vote for a baby boomer again if I have a choice of voting for a member of my children's generation.
-
hot or not?
[Read the article: Feminism is the new funny]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The big deal is that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are not classically hot. I doubt either went through school as the hot girl, and I doubt that either would describe herself as hot. They are both average looking, and Tina Fey has some kind of scar. But they are hot. Intelligence + sense of humor is the new hot, it mostly comes in a feminist package, as it always did, and those of us who figured it out long ago were prescient.
-
@Showme
[Read the article: What does Hillary want?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You harp on the way HRC has been treated by the bullyboyz, and the Obama people hammer on the way the HRC people have played the race card. I hate this stuff on both their parts.
If we don't rally behind the winner, we get John McCain. We get more Sam Alitos. We get more bloody wars. We get incompetent economic management. We get angrier at each other.
In 1968, I was so angry at the Democratic party I could spit. All of the young democrats did the same. In the end, we got Hubert Humprhey, and we didn't lift a finger to help him get elected. Thousands of dead Americans later, and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians and Australians and countless others were DEAD. That was the start of the long slide of this nation. We have to stop acting like that. Now.
In the end, we have to fight for our Country.
-
The BBC reported similarly
[Read the article: Racism on the trail]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The BBC carried a report this morning from West Virginia in which similar sentiments were voiced. One guy pointed out that he wasn't racist, but he thought older people would not vote for Obama. Another guy said he liked "Hilrey" but couldn't vote for a Black guy.
-
Thanks for sharing the e-mail
[Read the article: Finding Obama guilty of insufficient devotion to Israel]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For those of us not versed in diplomo-speak on issues related to Israel, that was really helpful. Please thank your correspondent.