Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 211 Editor's Choice: 44
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One day the media will wake up to a basic fact
[Read the article: Ari Fleischer's misleading message]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Terrorism is a tactic, not a philosophy. Even if you throw meaningless adjectives like "Islamofascism" on top of it. What proves that, of course, is that a Sunni group will use the same tactics against a Shiite group it might use on American troops.
And because of that, "terrorism" won't go away so long as anyone has a grievance against anyone else that they think they can take care of by resort to terrorism. That goes for people who believe as Timothy McVeigh does as much as Osama bin Laden.
Our country has been beset by forms of terrorism for a long time. The tactics of our own revolutionary patriots, Confederate raiders, Indian warriors, labor agitators and Puerto Rican nationalists are revered in some circles and were all considered terrorists in their days.
That doesn't mean one gives up fighting those who would use terrorism, but it does mean that thinking you can simply make it go away by "winning" in Iraq, whatever the hell that means.
But so long as the media will print the lies of Bush, Fleischer and their coterie that "victory" over "terrorism" is both a goal and a possibility, people will follow, and soldiers will die unnecessarily.
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The Ads: Surprise and Non-Surprises
[Read the article: Hey, Dems: Run against Bush -- and toughen up -- or lose in '08]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The biggest surprise was how effective Chris Dodd's ads were. I had seen him in a debate and was also surprised to see how coherently he communicated his message. Unfortunately, if he can't get a pulse in the retail politics of Iowa, he has no chance nationwide. But compare his discussion of the Family & Medical Leave Act to Obama's discussion of his legislative record in the Illinois legislature. One touched 50 million Americans (in Dodd's own words); the other, no one gives a crap about.
It is not a matter for Hillary's handlers to change her personality; this is just how Hillary is. That's not a sexist comment. Lyndon Johnson and Al Gore were exactly the same way: great one on one, and totally incapable of leaving the same impression in group settings, let alone in set speeches. I cringe listening to her even when I agree with her.
I totally disagree with the criticism of Obama mentioning Harvard Law School. The elephant in the room here is race, and he is using his background to make the point that he's part of an establishment, even if he was an activist. And because there are many, many Americans who won't vote him because he's black (and would never tell that to a pollster), he has to fight that fight everyday.
Richardson's stuff was that of a man with an outsized ego who can't understand why he can't relate to others. I agree also about Biden's head; someone needed to point this out to him, although he may just not like people to see his balding head.
Finally, the Edwards ads reminded me so much of Edwards's vice presidential campaign in 2004. Just like these ads, there was no John Edwards in it. Which is a shame, because he can in fact be a very effective speaker and I tend to agree with his positions on many matters.
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It won't be another Edward Levi
[Read the article: The Democrats' responsibility in the wake of Gonzales' resignation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When Ford appointed Ed Levi to clean out the Augean Stables left behind in the Justice Department in the wake of Watergate, he had no real choice. Nixon's last AG, William Saxbe, had been confirmed only because he was a sitting Senator, and the Democrats in control of Congress were not going to confirm anyone whose integrity was open to the slightest question (people in Congress had real backbones in those days). Ed Levi was exactly as advertised and, as another poster has noted, he was directly responsible for John Paul Stevens' nomination to the Supreme Court to replace Justice Douglas.
But therein lies the seeds of why this President will not nominate anyone like Edward Levi. Watching all this with disgust were the young men who sincerely did not believe in the rule of law over the rule of the President, including one Richard B. Cheney. And as long as the Evil One is in office, there will be no Attorney General with the slightest honor or independence. After Ashcroft, who wouldn't fake not being ill to approve their attempted coup in his hospital room, they brought in Gonzales, the man who tried to effect the coup.
I wouldn't be surprised if the next confirmed Attorney General gets his job in January 2009.
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I'm not sure what David Sugarman is suggesting
[Read the article: Teachers: Be subversive]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I tutored in the same neighborhood in which Kozol taught a few years after Death at an Early Age (reading it was one of the prerequisites for being allowed to tutor; the other was reading Judge Garrity's desegregation ruling, which described a far more insidious kind of de jure segregation than the national press ever reported on).
Some kids showed up for their sessions, and others did not. The ones who did show up showed a thirst for knowledge I found it difficult to satisfy. I remember one young man telling me Africa was where the savages were, and when I searched the school, I could not find (in 1978) a single map that showed post-colonial Africa so we could discuss where his ancestors came from and what it was like at the time. If I was lucky, I could get a copy of Sports Illustrated out of the school library (I should say *the* copy of Sports Illustrated) to get a sports mad ninth grader to read something that actually interested him.
No, I'm sorry Mr. Sugarman, I don't think it was the kids who were the problem.
A teacher was reassigned to an administrative position and replaced, under union rules, with the next person on some seniority list. He would not follow the agreed curriculum but instead sought to teach what he might have taught ninth graders at Boston Latin. He would stand in front of the uncomprehending students and drone on, losing their respect and any chance to educate them.
No, I'm sorry Mr. Sugarman, I don't think it was the kids who were the problem.