Letters to the Editor
Fraud Guy
Published Letters: 337
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"Quality of immigrants"
[Read the article: The National Review mind]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Aaron Bonn,
Your post recalled a situation I fought against locally. Health and Human services runs the national program to house and represent unattended minors who are not legally in the country. The majority of these arrive via plane, and are housed (now) in group homes around the country, some of which are in extremely expensive neighborhoods (two in the Galleria in Houston, one of which is down the street from Bush I's home). They are buying these houses for an average of $1.5 million each, and then turning them over as grants to politically connected "not for profit" child care agencies, who only have to stay with the program for 5 years (though they get to keep the house).
On the other hand, these 5000 children (annually, since 2000--great airport security, there) are treated with schooling, representation for asylum, and in home medical treatment. These arrivals are usually from asian families who could afford (or went in debt to smugglers) trans oceanic plane fares.
However, children who come in overland are often held in the same facilities as adults in the Southwest, often in camps or leased county jails, required to live , eat, exposed, etc in jail settings with or without families because of a backlog in available facilities from HHS (who cancelled many facilities contracts previously held by INS who had this responsibility prior to the PATRIOT ACT).
The end result to me: As a child, if your family can afford to fly in, you get to live in a multi-million dollar, private home, with round the clock supervision and extensive (and expensive) care, along with free legal representation and schooling. If you walk over the border, you are stuck in a jail cell, in an overcrowded facility, have to use an exposed toilet, or perhaps live outdoors in some of the harshest terrain in the US. Something of a disparity there, all based on whether you can afford to hop a flight....
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Who is naive?
[Read the article: How much credence should Gen. Petraeus' reports be given?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Analogboy 490,
They're hoping that we're that naive (I know, doesn't look the same without the umlaut).
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Daily (show) progress...
[Read the article: How much credence should Gen. Petraeus' reports be given?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think that Jon Stewart's take is the most accurate:
There is progress because time is progressing.
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@nlacey
[Read the article: How much credence should Gen. Petraeus' reports be given?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Hey, remember, corporations need their welfare, too, just like citizens.
Oops, actually, that should be instead of citizens.
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@ Retired Military Patriot
[Read the article: How much credence should Gen. Petraeus' reports be given?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Are you trying to say that the neocons got played? I didn't think it was possible to lower my opinion of their political skill.
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Being Played
[Read the article: How much credence should Gen. Petraeus' reports be given?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I used to think that the historical precedents for our invasion were Vietnam, and Carrhae.
Thanks to Retired Military Patriot's comment, I am starting to find comparisons to Teutoburger Wald, when the arrogant Roman commander was led into the forest with three Legions by a "friendly" local prince to find raiders, and ended up being led into an ambush that destroyed them all.
If Vietnam was our Carrhae, and Iraq is our Teutoberger Wald, we're running through our period of empire about twice as fast as Rome. That would give us about another 30 years until our year of 4 Emper...I mean, Presidents. Unless, of course, we speed up our "progress" with our advanced technology.
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@ DanJoaquinOz
[Read the article: How much credence should Gen. Petraeus' reports be given?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think that the repeated repetitions are meant to stick Petraeus in mind for what will happen. After the surge fails, Bush can point out all that trust he put in Petraeus failed, and the next general will come in from the wings to win with the next strategy.
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Dugg
[Read the article: Bush's 2001 condemnation of Russia's human rights abuses]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We condemn them over there so we do not have to condemn ourselves over here!
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So....
[Read the article: John Yoo -- then and now]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...Yoo was against executive privelege before he was for it?
On the local level, one of our friends became a police officer, and has informed us that when they do random traffic stops, they only pull over the older, beat up cars (and would never pull over a Lexus, BMW or Mercedes--no mention of Cadillacs) and that another friend who is planning on taking the village to court for tickets for parking on their own driveway better watch it, or the building commission will make their life a living hell...(even though dozens of other homes in the area are not ticketed for the same offense).
My wife asked me if this is why I read and comment on blogs like this. I said yes, someone once said that this was a government by the people and for the people, but I now think it is turning against the people (especially if they raise a ruckus or don't make enough money).
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Further affiant sayeth not
[Read the article: What were the pre-2005 "other intelligence activities"?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Lastly, given the entire effort by the left from 2000 on, to eject Bush from an office fairly won..."
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Thee
[Read the article: Joe Klein and Beltway seriousness]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't hear that enough in Serious discourse.
L.W.M.
Excellent excerpt--the problem is they don't study history, they recreate it. And badly.
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Repeat failure
[Read the article: Joe Klein and Beltway seriousness]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]e-five:
There is no other profession where you can be wrong 80-95% of the time about matters that deeply affect people's lives and futures and keep your job.
IIRC, there was a study a few years back on management, where it was determined that the most successful managers (around director level) were generally right 40-45% of the time on business decisions. I guess the pundit class is shooting for C-level accuracy, then.
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Ondolette
[Read the article: Various items]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Your cited section reads like a "get out of jail free" card in the game Monopoly(TM) (of power--if you can get it). Apparently Bush doesn't want to use his commutation/pardon power too often.