Letters to the Editor
DCLaw1
Published Letters: 838 Editor's Choice: 2
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William,
[Read the article: Iraq: American public opinion vs. a "small but powerful group"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You raise a lot of big issues and topics, to which I could do no justice in a comment thread, but I will say this. I do not envy the person who has to take the baton from W; he or she will have to confront such a dizzying array of absolute disasters -- military, international, fiscal, constitutional, and more.
The degree to which this President has set us back as a country and people is absolutely mind-boggling. Last night I watched for the second time a little bit of the documentary "Journeys With George" (in which Speaker Pelosi's daughter, Alexandra, follows George W. around during his run for president in 2000), and where I once found the film somewhat funny, if a bit sad, it now depresses me beyond words to see how these characters actually won the presidency.
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Vicious Cycle
[Read the article: Our benevolent surveillance state]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]One of the most forehead-slapping moments in law school was when we covered the 4th Amendment, i.e., searches and seizures. You see, the Supreme Court some years ago decided that the test for determining whether the government had conducted a search was, in essence, whether the subject had an "expectation of privacy" that society would consider "reasonable."
This thereby hitched the Fourth Amendment to the runaway exploitations of privacy enabled by corporations, banking, and modern technology. So it went, because you share financial information with your bank, credit card company, lender, etc., you have no reasonable expectation of privacy in that information, and so the government doesn't need a full judicial warrant to access it. So it went, that because the things you purchase with a credit card are recorded by the credit card company, there's no expectation of privacy. And so it goes, that as private firms compile more and more information about us, with the requirements of modern living making it nearly impossible to prevent this from happening, and as modern technology allows greater information exploitation and sharing, the government's power to discover -- without a court warrant -- information that any reasonable person would regard as private increases exponentially.
It's complete madness, with the full endorsement of the Supreme Court. Not to mention, increasingly, the government and complacent people themselves.
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So be it
[Read the article: Gonzales' Fan Club of One]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bush's stubborn insistence on doing the exact opposite of what people demand he do, even when it is obviously the right thing to do, has and will continue to chip away at his popularity. It may even have the effect of further pulling his party into disrepute.
This is to say nothing of Bush's de facto power and known tendency to do what he pleases anyway, even in excess of his constitutional authority. But I think it's undeniable at this point that what was once considered his greatest asset -- absolute inflexibility and unilateralism -- has become his greatest liability.
Question is, are the 30-some percent of Americans who still think positively of Bush so far-gone and petulantly inflexible themselves that they will never abandon support for him or his party?
This phenomenon plays out in other quarters as well, most notably the Iraq War. As Bush continues to completely ignore public opinion, and speak in only the most absolute terms about the path ahead, he will continue to drag his presidency and even his party down into the gutter. Like I said to my doubtful friend just after the disappointing 2004 election, Bush's second term will be not only his own undoing, but the undoing of the GOP for years (if not decades) to come.
Radicalism and mindless arrogance, though it can cause a lot of damage, simply cannot sustain itself for very long.
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Olbermann
[Read the article: Gonzales' Fan Club of One]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Olberman, tonight, mentioned, and attributed to you, much of what you've posted in this post and another of your posts, Glenn."
I knew this would happen with Olbermann. I've always noticed a significant confluence between his subject matter and the various blogs I most like to read.
Way of the future, my friends.
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Futility
[Read the article: Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think Glenn's point was pretty self-evident. It hardly even requires explanation -- the message would be clear enough just juxtaposing Krauthammer's hypocritical comments, even within "context."
In contrast, the fact that Krauthammer's defenders need to use every manner of rhetorical trick to rationalize away the hypocrisy says all you need to know about the futility of arguing with such people.
Nobody's impressed with these types other than themselves.
Oh, quick, everyone look over there, another sexy shooting...
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Above
[Read the article: Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Case perfectly in point.
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I'm sorry
[Read the article: Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not usually one to address the blathering of fools, but this was just too priceless:
"My take on CK's piece is that it was too soon to reduce Cho to an icon of woe in the world. Obama lumps him in with outsourcing, Feinstein equates Cho with global warming. Doing so reduces this shooting to a mnemonic way too quickly."
Said without the slightest hint of irony.
"...the apparent liberal talking points of his 'manifesto'."
Such as the invocation of Christ, and ranting about his victims' "hedonistic needs."
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Arma:
[Read the article: Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"You're right to be amazed at shooters lack of irony there. These guys are capable of holding mutually eclusive thoughts together without even the slightest dissonance. He has no idea what we're talking about here."
A breathtakingly endless source of entertainment. Like watching a puppy repeatedly slam into the kitchen wall.
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Listening to the ONGOING coverage of the "new" suicidal gunman...
[Read the article: Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Newscaster says: "We certainly don't want to speculate, but..."
Oh thank goodness they won't speculate.
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david sugarman:
[Read the article: Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thank you for taking the time to comment that this is not worth commenting on.