Letters to the Editor
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Published Letters: 10 Editor's Choice: 4
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and again?
[Read the article: In Bush we trust]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've no substantive objections to this piece, but it seems to say pretty much the same thing that Blumenthal said last week, and the week before that: ie. a non-specific discussion of Bush malfeasence and its attendant ideologies. This is undoubtedly a topic worth revisiting, but his work always seems to take the form of a brief anecdote, followed by a general inditement which repeats everything that was said the week before.
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style and substance
[Read the article: The war Lieberman didn't want]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When it comes to Lieberman, there are two interelated problems. The first is the war, and the extent to which his unapologetic stance precludes the development of a more coherent, combative message from within his party. The second is simply his tone, where his commitment to 'reasonable' dialogue across parties has gone a long way normalizing republican extremism. By consistently firing upon his own, Lieberman's version of 'moderation' places social democracy at the political margins, while tacitly legitimating an extremely radical administration. In many ways, his problem is less to do with substance, and eveything to do with style, but it is a style which has substantive political implications.
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argument by analogy
[Read the article: Bush's Card trick]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]there are a number of problems with this analogy, as others have already intimated, but for me the key issues are culbability and competence. Hoover may well have had ideological blinkers which made difficult for him to address pressing problems, but these problems were not (as the author accepts) largely of this own making, but a long-term product of broader trends. Bush is not a bystander caught up in forces beyond his control, but someone who is directly responsible for his own downfall, and its attendent impact upon the world more generally. Ideology is an important issue, no doubt, but there is also the more basic question of competence. This may be an open question when it comes to Hoover, but with Bush there is really only one answer.