Letters to the Editor
lapsang souchong
Published Letters: 80 Editor's Choice: 1
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Chris
[Read the article: What did Al Sharpton really mean?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've gotten so used to disagreeing with Christopher Hitchens that I forgot how awesome he can be when he's arguing a sensible position: war crimes for Kissinger, criticism of religious faith, social libertarianism...He and I are both part of a group of people who were liberal before 9/11 and afterwards, retained most of their liberal sentiments, but for some reason became raving imperialist, war-mongering nuts with respect to foreign policy. Most of us are quietly and embarrassedly recanting our previous positions as the lunacy of the Bush/Israel/Pentagon axis of imperialism's elaborate project has made itself clear through the dissolution of Iraq into utter chaos and civil war. We are admitting that we were wrong: 9/11 was a shocking event, and it provoked an extreme response from a lot of people, myself included. This is a clear illustration of how terrorism--the killing of innocent civilians--breeds extremism, militarism, hatred, and war among the victims, whether it is an Islamic terrorist killing civilians in New York or an American terrorist killing civilians in Haditha or Afghanistan. Fortunately, for many of us here in America the response seems to be slowly fading as time allows reason to slowly penetrate our skulls, and mercifully, the consequences of our horrible mistake have not yet reached our shores, knock on wood. But in the Middle East, the onslaught of American and Israeli bullets is unceasing, meaning that extremism and violence will only grow more prevalent in the Arab world unless we realize that our policies in the area are the reason it's such a mess. Hopefully Christopher Hitchens will do as I did and realize this soon. Then I could say that I genuinely admire and respect him as one of the most distinctive, bitingly intelligent, iconoclastic, and articulate members of the American intelligentsia. Until then, he's just a stubborn mule to me--take it from someone who's been in his shoes.
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Amend
[Read the article: What did Al Sharpton really mean?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]To amend my previous letter: I wrote that "the consequences of our horrible mistake have not yet reached our shores." What I meant by that statement is that we have not had a major terrorist attack in America since 9/11. The consequences of our horrible mistake have indeed reached our shores: more than 3,300 fallen soldiers and counting, countless veterans damaged physically and psychologically by the war, and a deficit we will be paying off for generations.
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How sad
[Read the article: Rudy Giuliani, president (of Phi Rho Pi)]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The day Generalissimo Giuliani is elected will be the day I give up on this miserable excuse of a country. This article should be required reading for America's ill-informed, ignorant electorate, many of whom believe that there was a link between Iraq and 9/11 and that we found WMDs in Iraq. Otherwise, they might fall for Rudy's neofascist posturings the way a lot of gullible New Yorkers did. That last little anecdote is verrrrrry telling.
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Joan, you love Hilary so much
[Read the article: A few surprises in the Iraq war funding vote]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why don't you tell us how she voted on the ORIGINAL war resolution?
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Wow
[Read the article: Barack Obama's quiet rebellion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For once I actually agree with RealName. Is the moon still in the sky? I am looking out my window for a patrol of pigs flying down Seventh Avenue.
Seriously, though...I agree with you guys on a lot of these issues, but let's be honest: he's going to have a hard enough time being elected as is without paying lip service to AIPAC, big business, and people more terrified about "new taxes" than about having to pay for a serious disease without health insurance. I'd love to see Kucinich in office just as much as the next moonbat liberal, but Obama's by far the best chance progressives have for '08, and, while I realize this isn't saying much, he represents our ideals much more honestly and consistently than Clinton or Edwards. I'd vote for him, if voting in New York State meant anything.
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Anonymous
[Read the article: Barack Obama's quiet rebellion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Anonymous, you write "And by the way -- it's not clear that a majority of America backs our government's unconditional support of Israel, whose government is a chronic lawbreaker and a nation that doesn't show us much thanks for the billions in life support we give it."
This may be true, but what's also true is a majority of Americans will buy the charges of anti-Semitism that get thrown against anyone who challenges that unconditional support. If Obama came out and said what you said, can you imagine the reaction? Not to say that I'm not concerned about how pro-Israel he is--as a matter of fact, that's my prime concern about him--just to say that in America, there's a certain number of things that just aren't said, regardless of how many people agree with them..More of a comment on the sad state of what passes for political discourse in this country then a comment on Obama...
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Grammar correction
[Read the article: Barack Obama's quiet rebellion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Couldn't help correcting myself...."than a comment," not "then a comment"
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Good stuff
[Read the article: Potterpalooza]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That was a really interesting article. As a casual Harry Potter fan, and as someone with a friend who's an influential figure in the fandom (I won't mention her name for privacy's sake), I have a similar outsider's perspective on the fandom, and Rebecca adeptly summed up the complicated feelings these people bring up for those of us who love the novels but find the "fandom" slightly terrifying. On the one hand, my instinct is to sympathize with them--they're doing what they want, having a great time and not apologizing to anyone. On the other hand--and this is a reality you're confronted with throughout the article--these people are %$#)$#%ing RIDICULOUS! Some of them, anyway. And you could fill reams of paper with psychoanalysis of the role these books have played in the lives of the subject girls, needless to say... But I guess that's irrelevant. These people have almost succeeded in making Rowling's vision a reality, by creating their own little world: but as Rebecca points out, it's a twisted reflection, to say the least. Good writing and an interesting subject make for an excellent piece.
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Nice phrase, but...
[Read the article: This Modern World]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What do you call those of us who used to be Yoostabees?