Letters to the Editor
bystander
Published Letters: 1641
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William Timberman
[Read the article: "Missing" evidence is familiar Bush pattern]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was hoping you'd chime in!
I don't disagree with you. I full well make the daily assumption that what I do in any given moment is a product of "free will." And, accept the responsibility for my choices of the moment. However, when I'm tempted to point my finger outwards, I try to remember that "free choice/free will," like Truth can be an elusive little devil (h/t to an unnamed professor of economics).
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Tim Grieve
[Read the article: "Missing" evidence is familiar Bush pattern]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]... of Salon (War Room) offers a little more on the destruction of the CIA tapes.
Why does this all sound terribly familiar?
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bethincary
[Read the article: "Missing" evidence is familiar Bush pattern]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]To follow you there, would really derail the thread. I wish not to. It was just an idea. I recommend that you choose to ignore it.
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another link
[Read the article: "Missing" evidence is familiar Bush pattern]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]TPM has a bit more about what Harman and Rockefeller knew, or didn't know, did or didn't do.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004847.php
And, Mad Dogs, thanks for the heads up re:Whitehouse. Sort of sounds like Mukaey got set up at his confirmation hearing, doesn't it? Sweet.
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re: update 2
[Read the article: "Missing" evidence is familiar Bush pattern]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]from A Tiny Revolution:
DAVIS: Is there anything you could do in your position as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee to find answers about this, if it is in fact going on?
ROCKEFELLER: Don't you understand the way Intelligence works? Do you think that because I'm Chairman of the Intelligence Committee that I just say I want it, and they give it to me? They control it. All of it. All of it. All the time. I only get, and my committee only gets, what they want to give me.
DAVIS: Is there any way someone, maybe not you, they can somehow press the administration to find something—if they're doing something that may be illegal—
ROCKEFELLER: I don't know that. I don't know that. I deal with Intelligence. That's it. They tend to avoid us.
DAVIS: Well, what do you think about these allegations?
ROCKEFELLER: I'm not—I don't comment on allegations. I can't. I can't afford to.
DAVIS: Okay. Thank you.
You don't say?
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Amity
[Read the article: "Missing" evidence is familiar Bush pattern]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was not present at Davis' interview with Rockefeller, so I am a little reluctant to attribute any particular frame of mind, or emotional state to him. I haven't heard the MP3 audio that is referenced, and I am mindful of Schwarz's caution to hear Rockefeller's tone of voice and moments of hesitation.
Having said that, initially, Rockefeller's response seemed genuine/sincere/honest enough ... but when I got to the snippet you've identified, something began to smell. Whether I smell fear, or evasiveness, or weasel, or muskrat, I can't tell. But, things shifted for me at that point. I'm still sifting for that audio.
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if wishes were horses
[Read the article: Democratic complicity in Bush's torture regimen]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I wish I weren't so time constrained. The online comments to the WaPo article by Warrick and Eggen is nearing 400. When I think about Anon's (11:22) Potential Solution I wonder about whether there is sufficient public support. Formal polls put people in the position of expressing an opinion on something they may (or, may not) be informed about, and even if informed, something they may not have given much thought to. And, the way the questions are themselves phrased often generate a bias (intentional or not) on their own. The comments at WaPo, while suffering from a self-selection bias, at least are generated by people who had the interest to generate an opinion on their own. Looking at them superficially (I've only scanned a page or two), I see an array of themes emerging. There are several people offering multiple comments, and some sub-thread conversations/arguments occurring among a few. It would be interesting to get those comments as a "data-dump" without any more information than the comment and the user's screen name to sort the individuals and do a text analysis. Fantasy mine.
Anon (11:22), thanks for taking the time to submit your thoughts and your ideas. As I read your comment(s) I thought about the comments being generated at the WaPo. I don't know how to find out the degree to which the dismay at the Democrats we express here penetrates the greater population of voters. Nader and Perot's campaigns suggest there is untapped energy in the population. Whether there is a critical mass, amenable to organization and action along the lines you imagine, is less clear to me. Something I need to think about some more.
Glenn, thanks for your tireless efforts to parse, peel, organize, and inform. It is tempting to dissolve into the inconsolable child's response. You're correct to lose patience with those of us who succumb. I have a feeling there's lots more where this came from. I have no urge to land in a puddle to wail and weep, or throw up my hands... but I do acknowledge an occasional desire to simply throw up.
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L.W.M.
[Read the article: Democratic complicity in Bush's torture regimen]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks for the reminder about John Dean's book, and the link. I meant to include that on my Amazon list, got distracted, and forgot. And, thanks for your presence here. I admit - sometimes you make my eyes cross, but you frequently offer a nice synthesis. I meant to chime in with Anonymust the other day. Your voice is a little different, and it's not just that you dialed it back from an 11 to a 10. There are times when it really sounds like a different voice. Anyway, I appreciate your baritone in the chorus of UT.
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RMP re: Obama
[Read the article: Democratic complicity in Bush's torture regimen]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Before you put your heart on your sleeve, I'd encourage you to look at this post by Kevin Drum:
December 8, 2007
OBAMA vs. KRUGMAN
http://tinyurl.com/2uz3vp
And, I'd encourage you to dig into the comments a bit, paying particular attention to Donald from Hawaii, (12/8/5:31 - I'm having trouble anchoring a link directly to that comment). Donald has more than one comment, but this one is kind of interesting. There are a number of other comments worth noting as well; I'd encourage you to glance over the mix. My first choice was not Obama, but I find him more worrisome now than I did before.