Letters to the Editor
omooex
Published Letters: 977 Editor's Choice: 5
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There's a lot to love about Paul...but don't forget the racism
[Read the article: Ron Paul distortions and smears]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have to admit that I love watching Ron Paul go on the debates and embarrass his colleagues. And I do love it when he says something right on and a Fox/Republican crowd drowns him in cheers. And its great when Sean Hannity tries to discount the fact that Ron Paul wins every one of their post-debate viewer polls. Its just great to watch the Republicans wrestle with someone they can't dismiss by calling a 'liberal'. By this point it is just remarkable to see someone breaking away with our conventional democrat v republican positions which vary by only a few degrees.
Still, Glenn, in fairness, you should have included the Houston Chronicle article from 1996. There's a lot to like about Paul, but there are some things to be wary of and challenge him on. There's no reason why we can't support his efforts and still be aware of the the full range of his questionable views.
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The Racism Thing and the Houston Chronicle Link
[Read the article: Ron Paul distortions and smears]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks for acknowledging the point about his racist remarks, Glenn.
Here's the link to the Houston Chronicle article:
http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1996_1343749
Just to be clear, I think charges of racism are easy to hurl--often, it seems like the communist label of the fifties used to route political opponents. We're all adults here, we know that just about everyone's a racist, no matter what the race. I don't think I've ever met anyone in my life who didn't let a racist comment slip by accident here or there when the coast was clear.
I don't think Ron Paul's any more racist or un-racist than other politicians, but he does operate in a racially charged state and is a politician. So there you go. If you pander to a certain segment of the population--in this case, unapologetic racists, anti-abortionist, whatever--you'll have to throw them some red meat sometime once you get elected. That's the danger.
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You don't have to convine me
[Read the article: The Giuliani moderation fallacy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I lived under Dr. 9-11's regime in NYC the first time around. I feel lucky to have escaped the re-education centers.
What I find humurous is the current conventional punditry wisdom that puts Giuliani cleaning up in California. Law n order is one thing around here, but you show up with a millenelist psycho like Robertson on your arm, you're certainly going to alienate alot of the kind of people who voted for Scwharzenegger. I just really think his policy is going to backfire. His past; Keric, his 9-11 mismanagement, the Iraq Study Comm drop-out, the weasel monologue-- will come back to haunt him. Not to mention his ghost of x-mas present, Robertson.
Oh wait, that's right, this is America. Never mind. I'm sure he'll do fine.
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Giuliani=Pig, but some respect for personal feelings please
[Read the article: Tom Friedman and Rudy Giuliani on 9/11]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, Friedman is an olympic class worm. Hopefully, in a few years, the fantasy of his political acumen will be one of the first casualties of this Bush era.
However. Yes, I hate Giulianni. More than anything I hate his cynical manipulation of 9-11. I hate it most because the event that happened in his city gave him no insight as to how horrible it is to subject civilian populations (Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan) to such devastation. On the other hand. The man was in one of the buildings on that day. His experience and his feelings about it are valid. We can criticize the fact he manipulates the event for political gain and we can criticize the fact that he put the disaster control center in the complex in the first place. There are in fact no shortage of things to criticize. But when we begin to attack the genuine emotions people may or may not have, we tend to sound like all of the right wing commentators going after 9-11 widows, etc.
I lived in New York for six years when 9-11 happened, and I lost a friend there as well. And I was living in the West Bank where a thousand Palestinians had been killed by Israel Defense Forces in the past year. You can criticize any one of my political views and all of my public actions, but there should be some respect to the feelings that those events generated in me. Just as we should extend the same to the unctious Rudy.
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Re: Canned Feelings
[Read the article: Tom Friedman and Rudy Giuliani on 9/11]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You're right about the pre-packaged thing. I suppose if Giuliani said, "well, you know we screwed the pooch on that putting the command center at the World Trade Center thing and then there I was fearing for my life when I should have been watching the whole thing from Jersey." then his response might seem genuine, instead of, as you note, pre-packaged.
I just want to throw that out there; I remember that Fox news guy (can't remember his name) making fun of Jon Stewart for tearing up when he talked about 9-11. I would just hate for us to sound like that, even a little bit.
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Not Funny
[Read the article: Huckabee's new humor offensive]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Even if the guy wasn't the anti christ, this wasn't funny. What is it with you guys and Huckabee?
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I 10th
[Read the article: Kansas O'Flaherty ... Secret Agent]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes this is embarrasingly bad, ill considered, badly elaborated, hastily drawn, poorly written, and just plain wtf. For a minute there I thought Camille Paglia was behind this, but even she isn't this bad. Ok, yes she is this bad. Get it together Salon, there's about a billion cartoonists out there with talent.