Letters to the Editor
DCLaw1
Published Letters: 838 Editor's Choice: 2
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irony
[Read the article: Former Clinton officials lobby for amnesty for FISA lawbreaking]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Johnsonjohnson:
The writer is saying that he disapproves of the retroactive grant of immunity and displays his capacity for verbosity to elaborate, and to use semantic tactics to secure endorsement of his condemnation by others.
Hilarious. Do you get paid by the word to display faults you say exist in others?
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wow
[Read the article: Former Clinton officials lobby for amnesty for FISA lawbreaking]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This bourgeois trait of punctilious observation of restrictions of language without regard to context and, can result in insulation from reality with the incongruity resulting in dire consequences.
I hope this is parody. What an arse.
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Timberman - satire
[Read the article: Former Clinton officials lobby for amnesty for FISA lawbreaking]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have problems finding conclusive causation with studies like that, as it is not a controlled experiment and there are many variables. Also, we are talking about "young people," as you described them, who have notoriously fickle voting tendencies to begin with.
Besides this, I wasn't referring to the ability of satire to encourage people to vote - I was talking about the ability of satire to deflate a target opponent or cause. I would never try to posit that making fun of a subject encourages affirmative acts; the effect is primarily negative, working asymmetrically against the subject.
Also, when the target of ridicule is not only one political party, but an entire system or establishment that often transcends party, I would quite naturally expect skepticism instead of optimism in favor of any particular cause or person. However, when light and truth - as opposed to winning elections for a given party - are the goals, this is a highly worthwhile and intended consequence.
To my knowledge, Mark Twain never got anyone elected, but one would be hard pressed to say his voice was not a powerful force for truth and sanity. This is a common feature among satirists: as rogues and independent truth-tellers, the benefit they bestow upon society - though impossible to quantify - cannot be denied.
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Timberman
[Read the article: Former Clinton officials lobby for amnesty for FISA lawbreaking]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't disagree, but at this point in our decline, I have to ask if we really need any more ways to feel superior to situations which seem beyond our control.
I like this discussion, but soon I have to run some errands.
I'm having some difficulty understanding what you are positing. In light of your mention of the poll, is the answer higher voter turnout for Democrats? I am a consistent and avid voter myself (despite massive consumption of The Daily Show), but I have no illusions that consolidated Democratic control will solve all or even most of our problems. Witness, of course, the post about which we are commenting, for instance.
I don't deny that some would take from satire an inert sense of superiority, as you say, over situations that they can actually control if they tried. However, for just as many people, including myself, I suspect that these shows simply help concentrate the mind on what is truly ailing our country. With some thought, these shows can result in more precise diagnoses of the disease, helping us avoid repeating the same mistakes. At the very least, they give hope to the incredulous that we are not alone in our astonishment.
Of course, we often do just repeat the same mistakes. Still, when the dark times are the precise result of mendacity, wishful thinking, and rank manipulation, my prescription is more skepticism, not less. Heap it on in hot, stinking piles.
Why else do we come to Glenn's blog? He's not running for anything, not endorsing any candidate. He's dropping a hot dagger into the butter of bullshit we are served up on a daily basis.
Sorry for the colorful language and vivid image. No I'm not.