Letters to the Editor
cabdriver
Published Letters: 594 Editor's Choice: 8
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Kathleen Parker?
[Read the article: High standards at the Washington Post Op-Ed page]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Coincidentally enough, I just got done reading that op-ed by Kathleen Parker.
If you think the opener was over-the-top fantasizing in the service of a partisan undertow, wait until you get to the last paragraph.
My question for now: who the heyall is Kathleen Parker?
I mean, I try to keep up...nevuh heard of her. The op-ed provides no bio info.
Can I get a WaPo op-ed column, too?
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Warning...Spoiler Last Paragraph of Parker Op-Ed
[Read the article: High standards at the Washington Post Op-Ed page]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...
"...Which puts new thoughts in motion as voters project down the road. Obama and Edwards look and talk pretty, but Clinton, unflinching and steely, exudes pure brawn. When the time comes to sit across from the likes of Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a chill in the heart may beat a thrill up the leg."
(My personal surmise: Kathleen Parker supports John McCain for president.)
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The National Review
[Read the article: High standards at the Washington Post Op-Ed page]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Oh yeah, the National Review.
That magazine used to feature some erudite and articulate writers, even when I disagreed with them.
To generalize from Parker's case, the status of being both conservative and photogenic is presently the combination that trumps all other qualifications for hire at the National Review.
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The Washington Post
[Read the article: High standards at the Washington Post Op-Ed page]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"When visited a few years back, the WaPo commanded respect because of their willingness to take risks, write the truth no matter the consequences, and first and foremost speak reality!"
Not really. They've been manning what passes for the left wing of the battlements of the Eastern Establishment for many, many years now. Not much room for risk-taking, fearlessness, or even reality...they just keep digging in.
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@specialagentkenray
[Read the article: High standards at the Washington Post Op-Ed page]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I read the Washington Post on a near-daily basis for many years, including during the Watergate era.
When I was away from the D.C. area for over 20 years, I almost never read the Washington Post.
When I got access to the Internet in 1998, I began taking advantage of the widely expanded variety or sources from the world press.
Since returning to the D.C. area a couple of years ago, I became a daily reader again. (Thankfully, I'll be lighting out for the Territories next month, escaping the balefully resigned gaze of the Sivilization.)
I assure you, you are missing absolutely nothing in the way of national news by not reading the Washington Post.
For that matter, their overall coverage of local stories is substandard, as well- mostly in terms of what gets chosen to be covered (not very much.)
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Since you asked, shooter...
[Read the article: High standards at the Washington Post Op-Ed page]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Can we at least agree that Edwards and Obama are metrosexuals?"
What- compared to the present occupant of the White House? No way... http://www.bettybowers.com/isbushgay.html [click on my screen name "cabdriver" for link]
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T. Boone Pickens on wind power, etc. on C-Span
[Read the article: Winds of change]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If anyone is interested: one of the wind power investors referred to in this story, T. Boone Pickens, gave a speech April 17, 2008 that was first broadcast by C-Span on April 21, 2008.
Pickens holds forth on all sorts of energy-related matters, including wind power.
From my recollection of hearing it on the radio, a few of the most interesting parts:
1)Pickens providing his patronizing views on the State of California's burdensome environmental regulations, "to deal with all the pollution they have over there" (his sole reference to "pollution" in the entire speech, which sounded to me as if he was implying that environmental degradation was a special problem for California- as compared to anywhere else, like his home state of Texas.)
Pickens parsed his remarks to make it sound as if he was being fair-minded, as if all of that regulation wasn't solely the fault of the California eco-nut "special interests."
To my hearing, Pickens sort of made California sound like central New Jersey. I've lived in California. It's added 15 million people in the last 30 years; the population is presently 35 million. As it happens, the stringent environmental regs have been fairly effective in keeping the integrity of ecosystems, natural beauty, and the overall quality of life very high in much of the state. The place would be a disaster without those protections in place.
2)Pickens mentioning that he now owns a substantial portion of the Ogalalla aquifer- that part found in Texas foothills where the gradient is too steep to enable irrigated agriculture. So Pickens is in the process of building a pipeline to sell the water to the Houston metropolitan area, for its drinking water (and also undoubtedly its swimming pools and golf courses, etc.) supply. Sort of like Phoenix and the Central Arizona Project- which has, over time, managed to pretty much drink the Colorado River dry, if anyone has noticed. Cadillac Desert.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer
http://www.enotes.com/cadillac-desert/
3)Pickens giving his approval to every conceivable sort of energy source development possible- including coal, tar sands, and offshore drilling- in order to meet America's future energy development.
T. Boone Pickens is, of course, educated as a petroleum geologist- a type of "earth science" that encourages its graduates to view the earth primarily as a bank vault. I wish that the curriculums of universities would require at least a few courses in biochemistry, chemical biotoxicity, aquatic biology, (other) natural resources, and environmental sciences, in order for people to graduate with degrees in petroleum geology/engineering.
Pickens sounds like a smart guy, with a lot of experience, practical sense, foresight, and executive ability- and power/influence. I think it's too bad he's so narrow and blinkered in his comprehension of the challenges facing the planet. But it's probably too late for him to change, he's married to his paradigm.
4) One seemingly iconoclastic observation from Pickens- that the USA has no practical need for more petroleum refineries, since the present refinery capacity is just about optimum, perhaps even a bit on the surplus end, for the foreseeable future. So much for the pleadings of Dick Cheney, et. al., who continually bring up the fact that no new petro-refineries have been built in recent years, while insinuating that this has been due to the obstructionism of the "environmentalist crowd".
http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?
main_page=product_video_info&products_id=204774-1&showVid=true
[connect split link, or click on my screen name "cabdriver" for link]