Letters to the Editor
DCLaw1
Published Letters: 996 Editor's Choice: 2
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Pedinska
[Read the article: Is Michael Mukasey prioritizing the harassment and imprisonment of journalists?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Tile nippers as well, I'm sure.
Lars keeps those with the jumper cables and electrodes.
I often use google search to spell check certain words or to confirm their meaning. I'm cracking up thinking of my trail in the last hour or so, with search terms like "polyurethane," "bullwhip," "pleather," "jackboots," and "tile nippers."
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glenncg
[Read the article: Is Michael Mukasey prioritizing the harassment and imprisonment of journalists?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In a wee nutshell, there you have it. Under the Clinton Administration, the CIA gave Iran plans to make a nuke...at least according to Risen.
Of course, I'm completely opposed to the punishing the man shining the flashlight on this sordid business. I'd like to see blame placed where it belongs which is apparently the first Clinton Administration.
I have also heard that there is video of Bill Clinton playing craps with Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden in a Baltimore back alley. They were throwing up gang signs and bobbing their heads to "Cop Killer."
Then, they shared a crack pipe with Amy Winehouse, who, according to secret records obtained by the august reporter Michelle Malkin, was responsible for secreting all of Saddam's WMD's out of Iraq in the back of one of her tour buses during her "Death to USA" tour in the Middle East.
Rumor even has it that John McCain, while escorting one of Saddam's deputies to the gates of hell for booking, encountered both Clintons and Barack HUSSEIN Obama on their way into hell for a night of clubbing in Vegas. Obama and the Clintons all urged McCain to "surrender to the terrorists. McCain pulled a lasso from his dusty Arizona badlands saddlebag, roped 'em up, hogtied them, then stacked them in a neat pyramid in Abu Ghraib.
Haven't you heard???
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You don't say
[Read the article: Is Michael Mukasey prioritizing the harassment and imprisonment of journalists?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The CIA engaged in a covert operation that then blew up in its face? Say it ain't so.
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Thanks, cocktailhag
[Read the article: Is Michael Mukasey prioritizing the harassment and imprisonment of journalists?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I too enjoy your posts.
I am here again for sport, so I fear that my last couple posts may be easily misconstrued. (I do enjoy being called "Monsieur Claw", however - makes me sound like a James Bond Villain).
I am with you about black budgets. The American legislative process was intended to be public, and this includes appropriations. Lest my flippancy suggest that I don't commend Mr. Risen on his superb investigative journalism, or that I am reflexively forgiving the alleged Merlin operation merely because it was approved by Bill Clinton, allow me to clarify.
The question, ultimately, is to what extent one thinks we should use covert services, or whether one thinks we should use them at all. Through underhanded international machinations, we have accomplished many positive things (most never known to the public), but we have also often only exacerbated our problems. Covert operations tragedies range the gamut from our fostering of the mujahideen in Afghanistan to our installation of vicious despots around the world. These failures (or intended effects) also span party lines, and many presidencies.
My own opinion is that covert operations should be used, but sparingly and carefully. Even with the best due diligence, however, there inevitably will be blowback. I don't think secret military or political engagements are in and of themselves un-American or unconstitutional; there are many examples from the days of the founding of spies, dirty tricks, and clandestine missions. As with any potent instrument, the key lies in mastery of its use, not in disposing of it entirely. It also goes without saying that these operations make very compelling stories.
What triggers my outrage far more, however, is the use of these instruments on our own domestic population, including our citizens abroad. Even more so the use of these instruments in flagrant disregard for our laws and Constitution. This was the subtext of Glenn's post today, and I wholly endorse it.
What sets me off a bit, is when I get the sense that some might minimize these shameful transgressions with the fallback ploy that "it's all Bill Clinton's fault." This trivializes the problem and presents a false equivalency. From reading those book excerpts, sadly, I get the sense that many will try to dilute the most relevant points of outrage by fixating, for the hundredth time, on what happened under the former president.
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Anon
[Read the article: Is Michael Mukasey prioritizing the harassment and imprisonment of journalists?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Quash!
http://www.lawcomix.com/MotionCommotion/mchtml/4quash.html
That's one hell of a nerdy comic. I like it.
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Cocktailhag
[Read the article: Is Michael Mukasey prioritizing the harassment and imprisonment of journalists?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think you raise valid concerns. It's a tough issue, mixed bag.
The only person I email relative to this blog is Glenn, I'm afraid. Nothing personal, I'm just careful about preserving anonymity since I don't actually know anyone who comments here.
Maybe I'm paranoid - I don't even look at this blog (let alone comment) from work.
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Asher Steinberg
[Read the article: Republicans have become the credibility-free party]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Democrats in Congress are less popular now than before, yes, and people don't like Republicans or the war in Iraq. Does that mean that Democrats' decline in popularity is attributable to compromise with Republicans? Not at all. I would chalk it up instead to the fact that (a) Americans aren't happy with the economy and the way things are going in general, and (b) the Democrats are in power in Congress and therefore appear to be partly blameworthy.
You're new to this site, so you can perhaps be forgiven for not understanding that Glenn does not generally make arguments without a basis in fact. Ironically, the facts show the inaccuracy of your own guessing.
This story is a few months old (I don't have enough time right now to find anything newer or broader), but it applies with as much force today:
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3242551
The Shift
The shift away from the Democrats in Congress has occurred on two levels. In terms of their overall approval rating, the damage is almost entirely among people who strongly oppose the war in Iraq. In this group 69 percent approved of the Democrats in April, but just 54 percent still approve now -- a likely effect of the Democrats' failure to push a withdrawal timetable through Congress.