Letters to the Editor
Paul Daniel Ash
Published Letters: 662 Editor's Choice: 2
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@omooex
[Read the article: Shocking new revelation: Unchecked government powers get abused]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Certainly, on a political dirt scale, Obama would rank well below five, but that does not mean there wasn't some level of unethical and possibly illegal activity.
Glenn's specific response was: "The passive voice is the slimiest way to drop accusations."
I draw a distinction between saying "that is a slimy tactic" and "you yourself, Jaime -- a person I don't know, are slimy." Again, it may feel different to be on the receiving end of that, but I think that attacking your arguments or rhetoric is different than attacking your character or intelligence. And I think it was in context, given the subject under discussion.
Anyway, I won't belabour the point - but I do want to draw that distinction so you know where I am coming from if we find ourselves on opposite sides of a real argument. Online, all we know about each other are the words we use. I feel like it's unfair to attack the character of a person I don't know; however, it's open season on your words.
As-salaam aleikum.
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@omooex
[Read the article: Shocking new revelation: Unchecked government powers get abused]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]it would be nice to see you in person so that I could laugh at how fat and repulsive you probably are
Yeah, like I said, I don't know you.
But your words are ugly as fuck.
I think you have pretty much forfeited the right to call anyone else rude.
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@oomoex
[Read the article: Shocking new revelation: Unchecked government powers get abused]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It occurred to me to suspect that's what you were up to, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what you would have thought it was illustrative of. Did someone call you fat? ugly? stupid?
Do you really feel there is nodifference between being called "slimy" and having someone say "that tactic is slimy?" Or do you just feel that your own contribution didn't rise (fall?) to that level?
Put another way, do we ever get to say "that was slimy" when someone says something slimy - or are we just not allowed to say that to you?
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@omooex
[Read the article: Why do conservatives really find the Obama campaign "scary"?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That quote:
"I can literally remember what he was wearing: an Air National Guard flight jacket, cowboy boots, complete with the - in Texas you see it a lot - one of the back pockets will have a circle worn in the pocket from where you carry your tin of snuff, your tin of tobacco. He was exuding more charisma than any one individual should be allowed to have,"
always brings the sort of reverse-homophobia comments from some of us Bush-haters that make me a bit uncomfortable, like all the Rudy Giuliani queen-baiting. But it is definitely the tone of a schoolboy crush - also, who calls dip "snuff?"
And yes, Jaime, "it won't make any difference having an African American running this place." I think that says more about the "place" than it does about Obama, but I will lay odds that it is true.
Still hope to finish that "slimy" debate some time...
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For the second time today...
[Read the article: Why do conservatives really find the Obama campaign "scary"?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...what ABAB said.
Will wonders never cease ;-)
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@omooex, in re: Bush's "charm" and other sh*t
[Read the article: Why do conservatives really find the Obama campaign "scary"?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The sense I get is that Bush is pretty good one-on-one. Bob Geldof's first-person account is interesting for the point of view of someone probably more like me than, say, Karl Rove. I kind of still think I'd want to slap the fucker (and I'm a pacifist!) but there must be some reason why people like the man. Ah well, de gustibus non est disputandum.
that the insults that really got people's goats were based on appearance "ugly, fat" etc. The only thing that can be perceived on this forum IS intelligence. No one knows how fat or ugly we really are.
Again, I didn't really get where anyone was insulting your intelligence, just taking exception with your opinions. You may feel that we should do that in a kinder manner, especially when there's a kind of pile-on situation where one person is taking a lot of hits. I don't feel as strongly about it, but I certainly see no harm in arguing for more courtesy, so I won't try to argue you out of it.
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Who IOZ is
[Read the article: The banality of the surveillance state]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It always cracks me up to see something I read on Who is IOZ show up on Glenn Greenwald's blog. Sometimes I think the only people other than me who read both blogs are... Glenn and IOZ.
Anyway I recommend it for anyone who hasn't read IOZ's blog. Very different from here in tone, remarkably similar in outlook. Bitchier. Well worth a visit, the link's at my sig.
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"we can write"
[Read the article: The banality of the surveillance state]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's either that or revolution, so when you write, remember that the alternative is violence.
Oh man. Wait till adnoto gets a load of that.
Sorry mchebert. We're not responsible for adnoto.
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@Evan
[Read the article: The banality of the surveillance state]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]paranoia has become fact before it is even on the table
Doesn't it seem, after the last seven years, that we need more "paranoia?" Wouldn't a little "paranoia" have been helpful before the Patriot Act was railroaded through? The Iraq AUMF? The Military Commissions Act?
I'm checking my swing here. If you can come up with an argument to trust the government, please present it.
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@prunes
[Read the article: The banality of the surveillance state]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Kids in Cuba are massively trading USB drives to get foreign news
That's kind of bad-ass. Samizdata!
I'm actually quite fond of my little gigabyte Memorex, which I use for sneakernet at work, my personal file system, scratch drive for ripping CDs from friends, utility install repository and more.
The Revolution Will Be USB 2.0 Compatible!
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@omooex
[Read the article: Exclusive capitulation report: House Democratic leadership circulates FISA bill]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]this was never in our league to change
Well, I'm not going to jump on you, though I won't disparage the efforts of those who at least tried. Not that I think you're doing that, but it's kind of easy for people like you and me to say "well, the game was rigged from the start, what do you expect?"
As for me, I'm voting with my goddamned feet. This is the year I make good on my threats to emigrate. I have mixed emotions, but this isn't my country any more.
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you guys are both the same person logging in under different names, right?
[Read the article: The Iran hawks' latest surge]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]aVulcan: Charges of anti-semitism to silence critics.
ABAB:aVulcan is a raving antisemitic hatemongering neonazi.