Letters to the Editor
kenkapkk
Published Letters: 131 Editor's Choice: 13
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A missed point
[Read the article: American revolutionary]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Many commentators pointed out that Obama had been polling only 80% of Democrats compared to Kerry's 89%. This represented a 4 point differential in polls. This convention, with its tremendous closing speech, and apparent healing with much of the Clinton base, without worrying about "independents, etc, opens up the possibility of firm gains and pushes Obama near the 50% mark before swing voters are considered.
If this is the case, the Convention was a success. On MSNBC about the Vice Presidential pick, 47% thought it was the wrong choice. I suspect this came from many Hillary supporters. Today's poll gave Obama 70% strong "I will vote for him, the speech turnned or solidified me." This seems to confirm the strengthening of the base, and bodes trouble for McCain.
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Timbuktom
[Read the article: How did Sarah Palin do?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Unless you're a troll, calm down. Its easy to give a speech to a crowd all revved up on your side. There's a ways to go. How'd the "bitter thing" do for Hillary? There is such a thing as a _record_you eventually have to account for.
I think folks will smell a rat, especially when the thrill wears off. One night stands usually don't become long term relationships and this gal has a lot, a lot of baggage.
Also, hubris is a common problem with the Repugs. Palin may start to feel too big for the britches and really mess up. No more whining about the media, eh? Talk tough? Better walk the walk. I wonder how many women felt about this kind of shark attack.
We'll see.
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The other shoe
[Read the article: A pit bull in lipstick?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've been reading the blogs and two points:
1) Sarah Palin didn't just fire up her own base. The Democratic base (and leaders) are BALLISTIC. She just drove up DNC and Obama fundraising by 200%.
2) McCain has lost his cushion with the media. Joe Klein, of all people, went nuts. This does not bode well for McCain as he now does not have the press cover he enjoyed for so long.
I believe this is going to crash and burn for them in the long run. Lots of glitz tonight, but the flame out is coming. She is going to have to be very savvy to modulate, I'm not sure she can pull it off and her record is very spotty.
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Xanthro?
[Read the article: A pit bull in lipstick?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What do the buttons "the hottest governor from the coolest state" all over the convention floor say to you? Hmmm?
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To Pageiger
[Read the article: John McCain, Republican top gun at last ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Some have written that he bombed innocent civilians but so did the bomber pilots in World War 2, Korea, and Iraq. **Soldiers don't question their orders; they obey them."**
This quote goes straight to the American myth. The Nuremberg principle holds that following orders is no excuse in the commission of crimes against humanity.
From an article in "Truthout"
"Yet US leaders who were responsible for some of the most heinous war crimes ever committed - the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the fire bombings of Dresden, Tokyo and 66 other Japanese cities - were never brought to justice.
Only the vanquished Germans and Japanese were put on trial. Justice Radhabinod Pal of India, dissenting at the Tokyo Tribunal, called this _"victor's justice._"
Indeed, Robert McNamara, who participated in the bombing of Japan during World War II, admitted in the film Fog of War that he and General Curtis LeMay would have been tried for war crimes if the US had lost the war. He said, "LeMay said if we lost the war that we would have all been prosecuted as war criminals. And I think he's right. He ... and I'd say I ... were behaving as war criminals."
There's a reason the American pilots who heinously bombed innocent populations in a criminal war in Vietnam were treated so badly. They were lucky they weren't all executed.
McCain is not a war hero but a war criminal. The shame is the American proclivity to justify everything we do as if it came from the righteous hand of God.
Even you, who is critical of McCain, have swallowed this myth hook line and sinker. American's cleave to a double standard. Tyrants like Hussain and Milosevic are put on trial. But criminals like McCain and their policy makers (like Kissenger and Johnson) get away relatively easy-well Johnson didn't, mostly because the war was a failure.) Instead McCain trumpets at every turn his years as a POW, never conceding the murderer that he was. He was no ordinary grunt, dragged into the war. He was a member of the elite.
This is part of our national psychosis, our inability to even conceive in the proper context.
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Unbeliveable
[Read the article: Fresh blood for the vampire]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This woman is certifiable. When last I checked, femminism had something tangentially to do with substantial positions, policies, attitudes. Does this make Anita Bryant a femminist? Perhaps Peggy Noonan?
I must echo the sentiments of many writers here. Why is this boorish dinosaur still writing for Salon? With so many better analysts on the scene, this is a joke.
It is a joke, isn't it? No? How sad and pathetic.
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Sow-reap
[Read the article: John McCain's cowardice]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Joan, you get what you pay for. You plied this stuff on sexism and an inappropriate hard Hillary line all primary season. Now it comes back from the seeds you sowed. Accountability is not just for Republicans. As for Palin being a feminist and courageous, I must concur with others here that this is nonsense. She is ducking desperately any questioning and by what value under any definition is she a "feminist"? Strong woman and feminist are not synonymous. You really need to look at your use of languuage.
And whether she is truly strong is yet to be seen. Right now she is a coward.