Letters to the Editor
djtoth
Published Letters: 215 Editor's Choice: 47
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In Ann Coulter's Fox Hole
[Read the article: Is this the end for Ann Coulter?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It is January 31, 1969. Khe Sahn airstrip just south of the DMZ. Syndicated columnist Ann Coulter is lying next to me in a fox hole after the first wave of a brutal attack by the Viet Cong. She is wearing her jammies and carrying a teddy bear she received on her 8th birthday. "I hear you invented fwagging," she whispered. I looked at her but said nothing. "But, why?" she asked. "Why?" I wanted to tell her. I needed to tell her, but I knew she couldn't understand. Not now. BUt, I knew someday I would make her understand. Or, at least help her pronounce it. Over the years, I wanted to get in touch with her, to explain how it was. Last week I finally called her. "Jack Murtha," was all I said.
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Mission Accomplished
[Read the article: They really, really support the troops]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am impressed by the congressional leadership. Passing a non-binding resolution supporting the president's failed policy and lack of planning without serious debate or amendments is the kind of leadership we have come to expect from our government. The non-binding aspect of the resolution is particularly meaningful in a legislative sense, falling, as it does, below the unfunded mandate but slightly above the national proclamation supporting Girl Scout Cookie sales.
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Homeland Propaganda
[Read the article: Move along, nothing to see here]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When the press reports that two American soldiers have been kidnapped, they are stating facts. They are not involved in a massive propaganda campaign to convince Americans that the war is going badly. When Tony Snow claims that Americans think the war is going badly because of the way the press reports the news, he is engaged in the massive homeland propaganda campaign launched by the Bush administration. As Sidney Blumenthal recently reported, the government has been conducting psy-ops since 2004 aimed at Americans to ""Villainize Zarqawi/leverage xenophobia response." This kind of deception is an example of the extent to which the Bush administration feels it must go to shore up support for the War in Iraq. The reason that the kidnapping of two soldiers is signifiance to Snow and the Bush administration, is that it undercuts their propaganda effort. The rest of us are concerned about the safety, health, and welfare of our troops in the field and at home. We are also concerned about a government that uses our tax dollars not to support the troops but to lie to us.
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A Question
[Read the article: A pardon for Scooter Libby?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Can the President pardon himself? He seems to think so.
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You Can Ignore Most of the People All of the Time
[Read the article: Bush: No "early withdrawal" so long as "we run Congress"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The majority of Iraqi's and American's agree that U.S. troops should be withdrawn from Iraq. The president, however, says that this will not happen while "we run Congress." I agree. Democracy will not happen while President Bush is in the White House and republicans control the house and senate. One of the many things the founding fathers did not foresee was that a political party could radically alter the nature of Democracy by making the political process about achieving narrow party interests rather than representing the majority of Americans. After freeing themselves of English tyranny and establishing a system of checks and balances, it must have seemed inconceiveable we would return to a system of monarchy, a system in which "The Decider" can ignore those he represents and represent only those he wishes.
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Torturing the Mentally Ill
[Read the article: Ron Suskind, George W. Bush and the Aug. 6, 2001, PDB]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]One of the incidents mentioned in Suskind's book shows how the President authorized torturing Abu Zabuyday. Bush claimed that Al Zabuyday was Al-Quaeda's chief of operations, but was told by the CIA that he only performed low level logistics and was seriously mentally ill. Al Zabuyday was water boarded, threatened with death, and subjected to loud noises until he reveal numerous terrorist plots against the United States, all of which were false. The use of torture is criminal and morally rephrensible. Torturing the mentally ill is monstrous. If what Suskind reports is true, the President must be removed from office immediately and tried for war crimes.
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Free Speech in the Post Coutlergiest World
[Read the article: The only thing we did was right was the day we started to fight]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What Springsteen should have mentioned was that the Constitution guarantees the right to free speech. I take the First Amendment to include everyone. It is not only a right, but it is also the responsibility of all citizens, even Ann Coutler. The problem with Coulter is that she uses her right irresponsibly in attempting to undermine the free speech of others by making unwarranted claims. She does harm not only to the point of view she claims to support; she does harm to our most fundamental right as citizens. Soledad O'Brien also acts irresponsibly when she does not ask intelligent questions. She assumes that people should not have free speech based on their position in society - musicians should play music not express opinions. (Of course, that's what real music does. Perhaps she should try listening to some.) The question is not whether Springsteen should use his "celebrity" status to speak against current policies; the question is what does he think and why does he think it? In the Post Coultergiest world, we are now obligated to to talk about whether we have the the right to talk rather than about ideas and issues themselves. This, of course, is the political tactic of those who desire power and control but have no real ideas or issues to discuss.
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What Grover Really Meant
[Read the article: Quote of the Day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"There's nothing about the electorial system that we can't fix." It is difficult to make the claim that nobody could have beaten George Bush in an election that was conducted honestly. Al Gore beat Bush in 2000, and according to Robert Kennedy Jr., so did Kerry in 2004. Apparently, Republicans would rather pay for corruption rather than their fair share.