Letters to the Editor
Mishima666
Published Letters: 125 Editor's Choice: 28
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How about a real plan?
[Read the article: The only way out]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Maybe I've worked in business too long, but where I work when people talk about plans and timelines, those always refer to specific deliverables and measures.
Throughout the entire discussion of the Iraq situation, I don't believe that I have ever heard anyone discuss an actual plan. I've heard a lot of rhetoric. I've heard a lot of ideas. But so far I have not seen a single plan.
When Mr. Conason says "All the plans the Democrats have offered on Iraq rely on wishful thinking. Here's one that might actually work" -- he's not talking about a plan. He's talking about an idea. Maybe it's a good idea. Maybe it could form the basis of a plan. But it's not a plan. When we call things "plans" that really aren't, it cheapens the word to the point that it becomes meaningless.
When people say things such as "when the Iraqis stand up, we will be able to stand down," what exactly does that mean? What does that translate into in terms of actual measures, milestones, and deliverables? Does "standing up" mean that attacks and bombings are reduced to a certain frequency? Does it mean that a certain number of Iraqi batallions can operate on their own? The president's idea (idea, not plan) seems to be that we will continue to do what we are doing, and then eventually things will be "better." But what does "better" mean from an operational viewpoint? How do we measure "better?" Without some understanding of that, how would we know that ANY plan were successful?
We do see occasional pieces of a plan. For example, the elections are a kind of plan. That's good. We know what comes first, second, third, and so on. The results might not be what we hoped for, but at least we know when something has been done.
So I'm still waiting for a plan. Any plan. We have enough ideas already.
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What measure you mete . . .
[Read the article: Love your enemies]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Rush Limbaugh, for one, was pleased by the Christian Peacemakers' kidnapping, saying, 'Well, here's why I like it. I like any time a bunch of leftist feel-good hand-wringers are shown reality.'"
Well, it's always nice to get the opinion of a drug addict on these situations. Interesting, isn't it, that some on the right think that all they have to do is to apply the "leftist" or "liberal" label, and then it's Miller Time. Yes, once they've applied the label -- whether or not it really applies -- the "leftist" in question can be utterly dismissed. He or she is outside the camp, beyond the scope of normal human concern.
But were I Rush I might be a little more restrained in my condemnations, keeping in mind a passage from the gospel: "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned . . . For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."
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Choices and consequences
[Read the article: Abortion and trauma]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As far as I know, there is no temporary contraception that is 100 percent, iron-clad foolproof. One of the consequences of having sex is pregnancy. I'm sorry it works that way, but there it is.
If you -- male or female -- don't want to run the risk of conception, don't have intercourse. Do oral sex. Do mutual masturbation. Or whatever.
I don't want to come off like Jerry Falwell, but abortion does in fact involve the termination of a human life. Intentionally terminating a human life is not a trivial thing, especially if it's for the sake of your own convenience, and especially when there are tens of thousands of people who would give their right arms for the opportunity to rear your unwanted or untimely child as their own. In that context, feeling bad about an abortion is an appropriate response.
I think abortion should be legal, and that it should be the woman's choice. There are no doubt many circumstances in which an abortion is necessary, and I'm willing to leave that call up to the woman. But frankly I feel more sorrow for the life that was extinguished than for the persons who extinguished it.
For the woman who gets an abortion for the sake of convenience, what exactly is the goal of counseling? Not to feel badly about it? Or to come to a profound understanding of the moral consequences that follow from our actions?
I've never been involved in an abortion, but I've done other things that I deeply regret. What I've learned is that you don't just walk away from those things. You don't excuse yourself. You acknowledge your failures. You try to atone for what you've done. You change your thinking and try to become a better person.
But the guilt never goes away, nor should it. The wounds and cruelty we inflict on others come back to us. And thank goodness they do, because otherwise we risk losing the spiritual dimension of life that makes us human.
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The sad thing. . .
[Read the article: Bush's illegal spying]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The sad thing for me is that when I heard that Bush had authorized illegal wiretaps, the first thing that came to mind was "of course he did."
I mean, this is just what we have come to expect from this administration. I struggle against cynicism, but again, and again, and again, this administration never fails to confirm our worst expectations. War based on false information? No occupation plan? Torture? Secret prisons? Massive deficits? Cutting social programs in order to fund tax cuts for the rich? The list is so long that it is difficult to enumerate.
This is simply how these people operate, and nothing surprises me about them any more.
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Good, but . . .
[Read the article: Survival of the unfittest]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It is extremely refreshing to have a victory, and in the form of such a devastating repudiation of ID. The judge nailed it, 110 percent. My fear is that many who should take this seriously will dismiss it as "liberal judicial activism." As the judge himself said, it's not. But unfortunately, many who should hear the message will be unwilling to receive it.