Letters to the Editor
bystander
Published Letters: 1636
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Thank you Yellow Dog
[Read the article: The Susan Estrich Complex]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What would a game of basketball look like if one team were willing to run, sweat, throw a few elbows, and was determined to score, and the other team, although desiring to score, was unwilling to run, break a sweat, or throw the occasional elbow? It's as though the Democrats are trying valiantly to pomp-and-circumstance a game based on speed and agility. And, their collective response to the MoveOn ad is but one powerful illustration. It's like imagining my 80 year old mother playing opposite Sheryl Swoopes.
Any more, I am bemused by those who feel the problem with the ad was in the title of the ad. It strikes me as a profound desire to believe that somehow, some way, if things had been a little bit different.... Balderdash. I believe it is a fantastic wish, wrapped in a bit of denial, that if we'd been just a little nicer, the other team will let us walk to our end of the court, get a step ladder, place it under the basket, and 'dunk' the ball. Maybe they'd even clap for us, eh?
The Republicans would have trashed the substance of the ad no matter how pretty the package. While the title might have made it easy for them, with a big emphasis on the word 'might,' the outcome would not have been one bit different.
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sidenote
[Read the article: The U.S. military's role in preventing the bombing of Iran]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't have the computing power to watch this video. Consequently, I make no claims as to how good it is. However, someone here might find it of interest. I hoisted it from the comments section of a post by Ezra Klein. The link to Ezra's post is here: The Lieberman/Kyl Resolution September 28, 2007 http://tinyurl.com/26eaan
The comment I'm referring to:
Mario Cuomo appeared on Chris Matthews' Hardball, talking about the Iran resolution and the Constitution [This was a hyperlink].
Mario explains the danger and the abdication of Congressional responsibility. An amazing interview, worth viewing for sure.
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | Sep 28, 2007 9:59:13 PM
If I've translated the commenter's hyperlink correctly, the link for the video is here: http://tinyurl.com/2fojlg I suspect Glenn, and his commenters, have done an equally good job of sussing out the issues; likely better. But, just in case...
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MoveOn by the numbers
[Read the article: Fox News' attack on the honor and integrity of our war generals]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From Talking Points Memo
09.29.07 -- 10:21AM
MoveOn dot what?
There was an interesting tidbit buried in the latest poll (.pdf) from Fox News. Respondents were asked whether they have a "generally favorable or unfavorable opinion" about a variety of groups and institutions. The poll included MoveOn.org in the mix and found these results:
Favorable: 11%
Unfavorable: 22%
No opinion: 11%
Never heard of: 56%
In fact, the numbers were relatively steady among self-described Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, with a majority of each saying they had no idea what MoveOn is.
The poll was conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, following more than two solid weeks of intense media scrutiny of the group, and condemnations from the House, Senate, White House, and Republican presidential candidates.
It looks like the aggressive conservative push-back hasn't amounted to much. Even now, most folks just don't know, or don't care, who the group is.
--Steve Benen
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Blackwater Worries
[Read the article: Fox News' attack on the honor and integrity of our war generals]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Phoenix Woman has a post up at FDL http://tinyurl.com/23gme8 to remind her readership that Blackwater is competing for federal dollars that might go through more traditional law enforcement channels stateside. She asks the question, Could it be that the groundwork is being laid for outfits like Blackwater to pre-emptively attack anyone who dares harsh the GOP’s collective mellow next summer in Saint Paul? Blackwater's role in Iraq, of course, is well known, and profoundly worrisome, as noted by anon above. Paul Krugman, had an editorial in yesterday's NY Times. He notes:
As far as I can tell, America has never fought a war in which mercenaries made up a large part of the armed force. But in Iraq, they are so central to the effort that, as Peter W. Singer of the Brookings Institution points out in a new report, “the private military industry has suffered more losses in Iraq than the rest of the coalition of allied nations combined.”
http://tinyurl.com/269hwv
Our vets returning with PTSD are a major concern. Albeit, not well served by Walter Reed/the VA in many respects, there are some resources available to them for recovery. These folks from Blackwater have no such resources. I find that real concerning. I also find concerning reports of military members resigning their military positions to earn the better $$ doing much of the same things they did before for Blackwater. And, it appears that Blackwater employees are subject neither to the our military code of justice, nor our civilian laws for some of the alleged atrocities performed in Iraq.
It very much feels as though we are becoming a rogue nation with an even more rogue private military.
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RWNM
[Read the article: Fox News' attack on the honor and integrity of our war generals]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You are, of course, correct Ché Pasa. Jay Rosen wrote of the media's inability to see the master narrative, to which he credits Charlie Savage of the Boston Globe: http://tinyurl.com/2yhwhp . And, that master narrative was the concentration and codification of unitary executive power. Now, I read at Talking Points Memo, the AP has apparently accepted Limbaugh's spin on "phony soldiers."
Presto! False Associated Press Reporting Makes Limbaugh's Bogus Pushback Sound Perfectly Reasonable
September 29, 2007 -- 1:10 PM EST
http://tinyurl.com/23sp43
The explanation the press may have suffered an early inability to see the master narrative is wearing thin. It would very much seem as though they are fully in bed with the RWNM - and, perhaps their loudest trumpeters.
If we can survive this presidency, there will be much salvage work to be done.