Letters to the Editor
Peter Paul
Published Letters: 49 Editor's Choice: 1
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Re: Ann Coulter
[Read the article: A Tragic Legacy released today]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As bizarre as it is to you and I, Ann Coulter is actually a sex symbol to the right wing establishment. This gives us an accurate measurement to gauge the depth of perversion and the level of depravity to which the right wing has sunk. Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter could be the poster boy and poster girl to the abstinence -only movement in America. Do you doubt the efficacy of this method? Imagine, if you dare, Coulter and Limbaugh engaged in a sexual act. With each other. Are you getting the picture, now? A generation encouraged to contemplate the image of a Coulter-Limbaugh union will swear off sex until the age of twenty-five! Limbaugh and Coulter could make a video which high schoolers in the US as well as in foreign lands would be forced to watch (think Alex in A Clockwork Organge) for two hours every school day. Abstinence only education - it really works! When done correctly.
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Honor and Dignity
[Read the article: Bush and Cheney walk, too]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So, this is what Mr. Bush meant when he said he was going to bring honor and dignity back to the office of the president. Is the Republican Party ever going to be able to claim to be the party of law-and-order again? They've lost all credibility on this issue.
The Republican's attitude toward the criminal justice system is analogous to their attitude toward war - they're chicken hawks in regard to both. They are enthusiastically pro war, provided they don't actually have to experience active duty. Being a soldier in a war zone is not for the likes of Libby, Cheney, or Bush. Similarly, they are enthusiastically tough on crime, firm in their belief that tough sentences serve a valid purpose. First, a prison sentence punishes the offender, cruel and harsh as it may be. Second, prison sentences serve as a deterrent. The harsher the sentence, the greater the deterrent. Except, now that one of their own is faced with a prison sentence, they contend it's overly harsh! You see, apparently, prison sentences are for the lower classes only.
You know, I would actually have some respect for Libby were he to say, "Yes, I committed perjury and obstructed justice, but I did it for a cause I firmly believe in. The cause I serve matters more then my suffering the indignities of a prison sentence."
But that's not what happened here. Libby committed the crime, went to trial, and was convicted. However, it was all a sham. It was done with a knowing wink and nod. Bush was going to fix it so Libby never had to spend so much as a day in jail. Mr. Libby, an honorable man you are not. In fact, sir, you are a punk a$$ b*tch.
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Win at all costs
[Read the article: The National Review mind]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Republican Party, such as it is today, gambled everything on the Iraq war. Failure is simply not an option. They are determined to win regardless of the costs. Once Iraq is accepted as the worst foreign policy disaster in American history, the Republican Party will be marginalized for a generation. Their dream of a permanent Republican majority vanished and gone. If we leave it to the Bush administration, they will destroy the country rather than admit defeat. We've long since passed the point that the so called "grownup Republicans" will step in and do the rational thing, which would entail an exit strategy. I do not believe the average American understands this. We are speeding toward a precipice. George W. Bush is at the controls, hell bent on maintaining the present course, unwilling to apply the breaks or deviate from his chosen path, assuring the nation his way is the only alternative and Jesus is his co-pilot.
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More damage yet to come
[Read the article: The National Review mind]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Glenn says:
The only real surprise is that the damage hasn't been even greater than it is.
But they ain't done, yet, Glenn. The damage will be greater than it currently is, that's a given. We will, as a nation, suffer further injury, but whether it becomes a crippling injury, remains to be seen.
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Prediction
[Read the article: Why the Republicans don't like their candidates]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Democrats and Republicans will strike a dirty backroom deal over cognac and cigars. The Republicans will nominate a weak candidate for ’08, a sure loser. In exchange Democrats will promise to mitigate some of the damage to the Republican Party as to the disastrous war in Iraq, the manipulation of intelligence to justify the invasion, and the moronic, mistake ridden approach to the post-invasion occupation. The Democrats will soft peddle their investigations, thereby limiting Republican accountability on a variety of scandals. The goal will be to diminish the long term damage to the Republican brand – they will limp into the next decade injured, rather than crippled. It’s better to be weakened instead of marginalized for a generation.
This will be the peace. The only real question: Will the progressive blogosphere accept this and shut its collective pie hole? Were I a betting man, I would bet “No.” However, they will be studiously ignored by the DC pundits and the mainstream media, so eventually things will settle down until the Republicans nominate their next radical wingnut candidate. And then we'll start the whole process all over again.
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The Big Pyramid Scheme
[Read the article: The Bush economy: Strong and stronger]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ah - an economic expansion based on a big pyramid scheme. If that isn't the perfect symbol of the Bush Administration, I don't know what is. They say neurotics build castles in the sky, while psychotics try to live in them.
And then Bush has the hubris to say, "I want the American people to take a good look at this economy of ours.” It’s as if the fool doesn’t understand the mess he’s made of the whole goddamn thing over the last 6 ½ years. The last thing in the world he wants people to do is to take a good objective look at what he’s done to the country. If people really understood, there’d be rioting in the streets.