Letters to the Editor
djtoth
Published Letters: 215 Editor's Choice: 47
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Repeal Bush
[Read the article: Biden: Repeal the 2002 Iraq war resolution]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Democrats problems is not that they can't think out of the box; it's that they think there is still a box. Bush has been given more than enough time to demonstrate that his foreign policy works and that his plan for Iraq is effective. The Congress should have reigned in the President long ago and held him truly accountable for his actions. Pelosi does not want to pull the plug on funding, nor does she want to impeach the President and Vice-President. The Senate is not likely to even consider discussing the repeal of the War Powers Act despite the fact that Bush has exceeded the War power granted by Congress. Instead, Democrats seem content watching the Bush administration self-destruct. They seem to think that parlimentary procedure is more important than substance, and they would rather not offend anyone instead putting the cat out with the box.
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Where's the Plan
[Read the article: Democrats fail to force Senate vote on Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I feel particularly frustrated by the actions of the Congress. The House passes a non-binding resolution that opposes the Presdient's plan but does not offer a new plan. The Senate will not even debate the issue despite the fact that most Americans want the Congress to take decisive action here. Do we need to replace everyone in Washington before they replace what's left of our Democracy?
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How about if Nobody Runs, Yet
[Read the article: Carter to Gore: Run, Al, run]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Even the theater of the absurd could make the 2008 presidental campaign any more ridiculous. Democrats need to stop running and get back to work. As much as I support the Democratic Party, I refuse to become involved a year and half too early or donate money so that the party can spend billions of dollars on campaigns rather than substantive legislative change. Can Salon and Salon readers organize a movement to set time and spending limits for campaigns? Can we force the congress to adopt public funding, end PACs, and end corporate donations? Or are we going to engage in a political arms race where we have to spend more money electing our officials than we spend on education and healthcare? Maybe, if we stopped giving money, we could even force the candidates to end campaigning through television advertising, actually debate one another, and discuss real issues. O.K., I see that I have gone too far.
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Third Grade Humor
[Read the article: Everyone runs from Coulter -- except Coulter]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Dickie and Georgie in my third grade class think Annie Coulter is piss-your-pants funny. Last week when little Annie pointed to her pee-pee and said Johnny was a faggot, Dickie left a puddle under his desk. They like fart jokes, too.
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Literature and Critics
[Read the article: Think you know how to read, do you?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I find myself wanting to defend the feminists, marxists, deconstructionists, et. al., not because I necessarily agree with them, but because those they replaced were far worse. I am speaking about generations of upper class critics who based their readings on their own personal taste. There may be battles in the academy conducted by power seeking dimwits, but as far as I know the artists have always been separate from the academics. Writing and studying writing are two very different things. Writers see wholistically and critics see from theoretical perspectives. At least the new dimwits base their ideas on something other than what side of the bed they got up on. They have opened new possibilities of meaning and understanding in spite of their sometimes harsh rhetoric. The idea of reading because we love literature is more difficult to discuss than deconstruction. Do I fall in love first and then marry, or do I follow my grandfather's advice: first comes marriage, then comes love. William Meredith wrote that pictures are hard to see, music is hard to hear, poetry is hard to read, and people are hard to love. I believe he meant for critics to be included in the people category.
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Why Wait Until 2008?
[Read the article: A traveling road show on Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There is a way for people of conscience to end the war, protect the troops, and ensure that those in the Bush administration who have comitted criminal acts receive trials and justice: impeach Bush and Cheney.
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You Have Got to Be More Careful
[Read the article: A rift between the White House and the president?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For a brief moment as I was skimming through this article, I thought I saw the words "President Bartlett." I was filled with hope, a sense of well-being that I have not felt since January of 2000. For a moment I thought there were competent people in the White House, people who understood history, politics, economics, foreign policy, who's on first; who knew the difference between the Constitution, the Bible, and John Wayne movies; people who could make hard decisions, or even easy decisions like should we help New Orleans or provide adequate medical care for injured soldiers; admit when they were wrong, weren't sure,were completely clueless, or registered no brain activity on their E.E.G.; use complete sentences and words that are actually part of the language. Okay, maybe they might assasinate a dictator or two and weaponize space, and forget to mention they have MS, but who hasn't done those kind of things and then said "My bad." Then, however, I caught the name Alberto Gonzalez and President Bush. Do you know how that made me feel? In the future, please be more careful about how close together you put the words "Bartlett" and "President" in the same sentence, and strike the words Gonzalez and Bush from your vocabulary. If you find the last part difficult, I know a Mayan Priest who can help clear the air.
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'Twas Bushig, and the slithy toves/ Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
[Read the article: Four years, five speeches]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am really looking forward to the speeches in the future. Even though there hasn't been any new war rhetoric since Troy, it is comforting to hear such phrases as "ending the war now will mean that the deaths of our soldiers will be meaningless" over and over again. It's like watching the "Soup Nazi" episode of Seinfeld for the umpteenth time and still finding it hysterically funny even though the idea of someone tormenting people over soup is repulsive. Remember, any talk of ending the war only strengthens the resolve of (fill in name of enemy)and undermines our troops. We will stay in (fill in name of war zone) until the job is done, or "No soup for you."