Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 56 Editor's Choice: 7
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The Amendment Everyone Loves to Hate
[Read the article: Happy 14th Amendment Day!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It is ironic that in a country that touts itself as the embodiment of egalitarianism, the Fourteenth Amendment was and is the most hated law in the country. While this article focused on some interesting aspect of immigration, it missed the drama surrounding the passage of the Amendment itself.
The Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery, but for many Americans, that was about destroying the economic vitality of the Confederate states -- many didn't care about the freedom of Africans. Consider the state of Indiana. Indiana didn't have slavery due in large part to a technicality: black people weren't allowed in the state at all. After the slaves were emancipated, Indiana to steps to keep it that way by imposing a $500 fine for anyone who paid wages to a black person. It didn't take long to realize that while actual slavery was illegal, de facto slavery could be maintainedju through various mechanisms. The Fourteenth Amendment was the only way to close this loophole. Still, the specter of blacks with full citizenship made the Amendment deeply unpopular.
Naturally, it was unpopular in Conferate states, but their opinion didn't matter at the time. The only states represented in Congress in 1868 were Union states. Despite that, the Fourteenth Amendment was nearly defeated in the Senate. By the time the Amendment reached the Senate floor, Ohio and New Jersey had declared that they wanted to revoke their ratification of the Amendment, but the Secretary of State refused to allow this revocation to obtain. The Amendment passed only after a Senator from New Jersey -- who was poised to vote against the Amendment -- was ejected from the chamber for "disorderly conduct." With him out of the tally, they had exactly enough votes to pass the Amendment.
Confederate states were required to ratify the Amendment in order to rejoin the United States and regain representation in Congress. Union states did not, and many held out for extended periods of time. The state of Kentucky had formed a Confederate government, but had never officially disolved its Union government, so it was considered a Union state. As a result, it was allowed to reject this amendment, which it did until 1976 (probably to avoid being highlighted as a racist Confederate holdout during the Bicentenial).
It sometimes amazes me that the Fourteenth Amendment got into the Constitution, but it has proven to be a shibboleth for determining who really supports freedom in America and who merely say they support it.
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Judaica
[Read the article: Did Lieberman violate Jewish law?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I certainly hope this comments section doesn't erupt into a pointless battle over whether or not Stephen Hirsh has a proper understanding of Jewish belief.
If you want to have a clear understanding of an aspect of Judaism, you should ask a Rabbi. If you don't want a clear understanding of an aspect of Judaism, you should ask two Rabbis.
That's just the way it is.
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The Black Hole of Cluelessness
[Read the article: Emerald City exposed]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's easy for someone like myself who thought this war was a bad idea to start with to get angry about facts like this. What about the people who still think this war is important -- nay, vital? One would think that these failures would make them more angry.
There is evidence of this shift as some conservatives pundit have changed their tune to "I think Iraq was the right thing to do, but it has been horribly botched." Andrew Sullivan springs to mind. Still these people represent the fringe of the right whose intellectual dishonesty has been stretched as far as it can go.
The only explaination for a lack of near-universal outrage is that Bush Administration has generated a mass of ignorance so dense that common sense cannot escape its gravity.
For years I've been telling people that "$9 billion of Iraqi oil money went missing," only to elicit the response, "Missing? Where?" Only inside of a genuine Black Hole of Cluelessness would you expect to find yourself explaining to a fully grown adult what "missing" means.
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Suede Boots on the Ground
[Read the article: Emerald City exposed]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Reader mccann noted:
I know it is a minor point in the article, but as someone that is currently stationed in Iraq (and far from the Green Zone); I just couldn't let it go. EVERYONE wears suede combat boots. That is the standard issue for everyone deployed to the desert, not just effete protocol officers lounging around in one of Saddam's palaces in downtown Baghdad.
Actually, this mistake speaks volumes about how out of touch the denizens of the Green Zone are. I knew that suede combat boots were standard issue from pictures my brother sent back from his tour; here's someone who was in-country and he was so isolated from the reality of it that he didn't know what soldiers outside the Green Zone were wearing the same kind of boots as those in it.
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I once got caught out in the truth
[Read the article: My laid-off co-worker is fibbing on his résumé]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]LW's co-worker might be in bigger jeopardy due to the number of people leaving the company.
About ten years ago, I left a department where there had been a lot of churn and went to find a new job. One of the people who ended up receiving my resume was a former department head. She was impressed that I didn't lie on my resume. Unfortunately, her company declared a hiring freeze, otherwise I would have had a job there.
LW should definitely tell the co-worker to clean up such an obvious lie, because it may not be difficult for an employer to uncover it -- particularly if that employer has other people from LW's company.
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Addendum to Nitpick
[Read the article: Frank Poncherello: Ladies’ man]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Violá" is French for "behold" (literally, "look there").
In English, the terminal a is not accented.