Letters to the Editor
MattGoldberg
Published Letters: 9
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So this is what the 24 writers are doing now
[Read the article: GOP politics in a nutshell]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Any day, I expect someone in the GOP to propose a bill making Jack Bauer a non-fictional character.
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Oh, John King
[Read the article: John King with Mike McConnell: Rare journalistic honesty]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]King should just go back to playing with his giant iPhone.
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Re: Reports in the Bathroom Stalls
[Read the article: The ornery pride of the political journalist]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]While I do think the press is overly fawning towards candidates and will happily digest any spin thrown their way, regarding the reporters who sat and ate in the men's room, I can't really understand the criticism of them. It's their job. If you're forced to move from a nice cubicle near a window to a crappy one in the corner, you can't quit your job over it. You can, but it's not worth it.
But this actually comes to the problem of the Information Age regarding news: either you're first or you're last. There's no room for analysis. There's no room to even question. If you ask the question, "Why am I letting myself be treated like this when I am a journalist who should be keeping this candidate honest?" and actually decide that maybe you have more dignity to be assigned to sit in a bathroom for five hours, then you don't get press credentials. You don't get press credentials, your outlet sends someone else (or even worse, the entire publication is banned from the campaign) and you're fired.
So if you're a political reporter traveling with the campaign and reporting daily, unless you're with a major outlet and you're indispensable (and that's rare), then you keep your mouth shut, be a stenographer, and get to pay your rent. The price is the Truth, but truth doesn't buy groceries.
I am in no way condoning this behavior, but I feel it's more than just ego or stupidity.
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The power of a draft
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]With such great distance from the war, I wonder if not only these journalists but all Americans would be far more aware of the situation in Iraq and far more demanding of our withdrawal if there was a draft and they couldn't ignore it as some other family's problem.
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A Senior Moment
[Read the article: Journalists, McCain and the false Iran/al-Qaida link]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As Bill Maher put it this weekend, we really don't want the guy answering that red phone at 3AM to be having senior moments. To use a crass metaphor, just because the media is acknowledging its own fart by noting their soft treatment with McCain, that doesn't means it stinks any less.
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Pre-Ordered!
[Read the article: "Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've been looking forward to this book ever since Mr. Greenwald announced its subject matter and its an examination that's long overdue.
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In the mail!
[Read the article: "Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I pre-ordered my copy from Amazon and it could be sitting in my mailbox right now! I can't wait to get home and read it!
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Dammit.
[Read the article: What Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Fred Hiatt mean by "bipartisanship"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You're right about Obama, Glenn. This is a major disappointment and I wish Obama, with all the political capital he's gained from his recent political triumph over senator Clinton, he would spend some of it in making sure the Democrats maintain the one victory they've had since they came to "power" in 2006.
Every time the Democrats do something like this (and that's pretty much all the time), I'm just reminded of a quote from The Big Lebowski:
"Say what you will about National Socialism, dude. At least it's an ethos."
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Tone and context
[Read the article: Keith Olbermann: Then and now]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Glenn, I saw the episode of Countdown you're talking about and I think it's important to note two matters:
1) Olbermann wasn't saying that Obama doesn't cower. He was mocking Obama's quote that "I don't do cowering," Later in the episode, he questions if it's a phrase that could almost come from George W. Bush.
2) If you wanted to criticize Olbermann, you should hit him on the point where he's ludicrously posturing that the reason Obama is going along with the "compromise" is because if he becomes President, he'll press criminal charges against the telecoms.
As for Jonathan Alter, yeah, he's talking out his ass. I wish Olbermann spoke with Rachel Maddow on this issue instead.