Letters to the Editor
Bill Owen
Published Letters: 477 Editor's Choice: 5
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@ Tomhere
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Screw you!" you said. Sounds pretty bellicose to me. Are you trying to start another war?
I assume that you are responding to this comment:
Please read my last line, I was talking about you.
The Only Reason People are Unhappy about Iraq
The only reason Americans, Liberal or otherwise, are "unhappy" (as opposed to the Iraqi's who are "dead") is that America lost that war.
I remember a time, not so long ago, when everyone in America was for the war.
What did they think? That Saddam would be scared off that damn hill? That no children would die?
I know this is too broad a brush. That there were many in America who were "against" the war. But you take my point.
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@Kryptic I am not trying to belittle the Opposition
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My point was that the opposition, such as it was, not as it was reported in the corporate media, was insufficient. And in retrospect it was.
A lot of the "facts" were reported, not just given much prominence. I guess the question now becomes, how do we get the message out?
And the larger question, in the face of the leaderships almost complete lack of respect for the will of the people, (impeachment is off the table - Pelosi) how do the people take that power back?
Is America a representative democracy or not? If it is not, then the will of the people is irrelevant.
Chtheny seems to think so...
"When asked to comment on a recent poll showing that most Americans say the Iraq war is not worth it, Cheney responded with "so?"
"You don't care what the American people think?" the TV host asked.
"No," Cheney answered. "I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls."
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@ bucky Please reread what I said...
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I said that "many" were against the war. Many. That's a lot. Certainly not everyone.
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@ fleshheart I will have to be more careful
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I said that "many" were against the war. Many. That's a lot. Certainly not everyone.
I was trying to make the point that so many were for it that those who were against it did not matter and were not heard. I also was trying to be forceful. I had thought that my last line would clarify my earlier statements.
Sorry for the confusion...
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@ RMP Is Bush on Ibogaine?
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In Fear and Loathing: On The Campaign Trail '72, [Hunter S.] Thompson wrote about a candidate he wanted to take down: "word leaked out that some of [Ed] Muskie's top advisors had called in a Brazilian doctor who was said to be treating the candidate with "some kind of strange drug" that nobody in the press corps had ever heard of."
Thompson later explained, "I started the rumor, but there was a rumor," thus insisting on the veracity of his reporting. Describing an awkward stump speech in Miami, he wrote: "It is entirely conceivable -- given the known effects of Ibogaine -- that Muskie's brain was almost paralyzed by hallucinations at the time; that he looked out at that crowd and saw gila monsters instead of people, and that his mind snapped completely when he felt something large and apparently vicious clawing at his legs."
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/200802/hunter-the-bullfighter
The effects of ibogaine have been described as dreaming while awake. It's as good an explanation for bush as any. Either that or we could go with that demon from hell meme.
Don't blame me, I am just reporting the "rumor" LOL.
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@ RMP - Fake smile detector
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's definitely a pathologically self-satisfied smirk, not to be confused with the happy face of a healthy human being. The BBC has a test on its site to see if you can spot a real smile.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/index.shtml
Personally, I think an impeachment hearing might help wipe that smirk away. Better yet, a war crimes trial in the Hague might eliminate it permanently.
Then he might learn a lesson. Or as he would say, "are our President learning?".
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Here's a Lesson America has not Learned
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What percent of Americans support John McCain? 30, 40, 50, I don't know. I do know that there is a reasonable chance that he will be President.
Can someone tell me how the McCain presidency would be different from the Bush regime? Other than the "straight talk" of course.
Isn't there some lesson to be learned from electing bush?
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Here's a Lesson America has not Learned
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What percent of Americans support John McCain? 30, 40, 50, I don't know. I do know that there is a reasonable chance that he will be President.
Can someone tell me how the McCain presidency would be different from the Bush regime? Other than the "straight talk" of course.
Isn't there some lesson to be learned from electing bush?
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@ Rocket Have you ever met an Iraqi?
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have, I know several. To a man they tell me that things were much better under Saddam. In pre-war Iraq you could go to to school, (they used to have the highest percentage of PHD's in the world) raise your family in safety, the power was on, and the water was clean.
Sure if you were "against Saddam" he was going to put you in meat grinder. Literally.
The problem is in order to "get rid of Saddam" your noble goal, America had to kill anywhere from 30,000 to 1.2 million people and partially vaporise the country to do it.
Iraq is now a hell. Was it worth it?
The Iraqis don't think so. I think it's their call. Not yours.
I do hear that chicken production is now, almost, almost!, back to pre-war levels.
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@ Blank Monkeys, Millions of them
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Even monkeys don't use typewriters anymore. Maybe that's your problem, you need to switch to a computer...
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Education and Critical Thinking
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's interesting that this discussion has devolved into a discussion of education.
Much of the carnage and the horror that the world has experienced flows from a single statement. "They hate us because of our freedoms". - buhs
I will never forget the day I heard that. I almost choked.
It was nonsense then, and it is nonsense now. Why didn't people notice?
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@ Jkalos You Should be!
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]She should run for President. I hope she does.
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An important question
[Read the article: Lessons not learned]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning? - buhs