Letters to the Editor
uncle ovipositor
Published Letters: 74 Editor's Choice: 5
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Read the article
[Read the article: Quote of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You should click through to the article. Here's the sub-head:
Groups like Code Pink have turned political protest on the left into a joke. Effective political movements have to both engage their participants and ensure that their actions are meaningful.
I'm not sure why this is a quote of the day, since I think the article itself is interesting in its full length. Really - go read it.
Actually, here's what I would make the quote of the day from that article:
Technological advancement, particularly the rise of the Internet, is bringing about a renaissance of grassroots activism on the left, yet there are still many people who believe that if there is a problem you want addressed or a policy you want changed, the only thing to do is to gather as many people as you can in a public place to hold signs and perform call-and-response chants. "What do we want? To feel like we're accomplishing something! When do we want it? Eventually!"
What worked for the civil-rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s is not going to work today. And the truth is that comparing the civil-rights marches to a bunch of people carrying signs with "No more war!" on one side and "Free Mumia!" on the other is an insult to everyone who took part in the civil-rights movement.
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Nothing wrong with posting memoes
[Read the article: Clinton camp goes on offense against Obama]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I find it interesting that a lot of people are angry about Salon posting this memo but not breaking it down and analyzing it. I think the memo (labeled as such in the post, and even indented so that you can tell it's being quoted at length) pretty well speaks for itself, and additional commentary isn't really that necessary. Do you need Alex to tell you that the use of the word "disenfranchisement" is dubious? Seriously? I don't think there's much to be said for picking it apart when it falls to pieces without anybody touching it. I would be curious to see a link to anywhere that the Obama campaign has blamed the Clinton campaign for the passport files, as stated in the memo, though. Until I see that I'll dismiss it based on context.
Salon has posted many of the memos from both campaigns. Go back and check if you don't believe me. Not all - go to the campaign sites if you want those, and they come out multiple times a day so plan on being there a while - but many. Certainly the significant ones.
Finally, "on the down low" is different from "lowdown". Just saying.
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I like Hillary Clinton, just not the person she's running as
[Read the article: "It is possible ... that she misspoke"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is what has been bothering me about HRC throughout this campaign.
Had she just told the truth it would have been a pretty significant and interesting story in my opinion. No, she wasn't under fire or negotiating the opening of the boarders (a claim she's since backed off of, thankfully), but yes, she was in a war zone. I don't think that's easy to discount, as others who've done USO tours have commented.
But she couldn't do that. Again and again she exaggerates her involvement in past events, again and again she presents herself in a calculated way. She has a warm and charming laugh and some genuine sincerity to her, but she won't let that out for fear of not being appealing. She is smart and skillful bureaucrat, but she didn't single-handedly negotiate the peace in Northern Ireland. She knows a lot about being president from having witnessed it first hand, but she wasn't running that show and can't claim to have been a part of that administration (unless of course she wants to run on not being able to get a health care plan through congress).
It's frustrating. I like her when she's not being calculating or exaggerating to some poll-driven end. I could see myself voting for that Hillary, if she ran.
Anyway, don't let me stand in the way of this turning into the usual stew of allegations from the supporters of both camps - I'm looking forward to both sides explaining to me how the other side is evil and their backers are tools and liars.
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The Fifth Cylon...
[Read the article: Beyond belief]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]... is Starbuck's mom.
The first 5 were put on earth before the end of the war and are all one-of-a-kind. Starbuck is the first hybrid child, Col Drunk's kid is the second.
And the original Galactica series hit earth in the early eighties. Occasionally you'll see reruns of the follow up series on SciFi ("Galactica 1980" or something like that), and it's much more embarrassing than the original. Except for the guest spot for Wolfman Jack - that was great.
There. I said it.
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How'd she get in there?!?!?
[Read the article: McCain's "triumph" over a nonexistent heckler]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Looks like the heckler brought her own mic.
Weird event. I cannot fathom the goal of selling that as a non-campaign event, but... I just don't get this guy anyway, so there it is.
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Good by, DLC, welcome back DNC
[Read the article: Barack Obama in suspended animation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]One of the biggest factors in this race that I see is the DNC's Dean-driven 50-state strategy (which won the congress back, in spite of the dour predictions of the DLC) and the DLC's pander-to-the-base approach.
Obama has run in 50 states. Clinton is still trying to win by offering a narrow base whatever they want in big states. Obama is running on broad principles that suggest a rhetorical understanding of what's right and wrong for our country. Clinton claims to be from every state she visits (did you know she actually grew up in Scranton? After starting out in Texas?).
I think the democratic party represents the interests of most people in this country, and they are finally campaigning that way. The next election will have even less to do with the DLC's play book. Because we've finally realized we are the majority, but aren't taking it for granted.