Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 21 Editor's Choice: 2
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THE ONE WORD FOR EVERYTHING BUSH DOES
[Read the article: How do you like your democracy now, Mr. Bush?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Enantiadromia. Let's hope it's somewhere on his "Learn A Word a Day" calendar.
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THANKS FOR THE CORRECTION, LONE RIDER.
[Read the article: How do you like your democracy now, Mr. Bush?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I first encountered Enantiodromia in a book by William Irwin Thompson. And while you've shown it is not technically correct, the sense of it seems to apply in a rather appealing way. I'll look for a more accurate word...
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FINALLY
[Read the article: Colbert's smart bomb]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Amazing and overdue. The fact that anything he said might seem outrageous to the media shows you how far they've fallen and how utterly lacking in self-awareness the media must be. Anyone and everyone who is aware of what's going on in our government and the MSM owes Colbert. Big time.
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THE STRIP IS BETTER THAN THE SHOW -- BY FAR
[Read the article: This Modern World]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've tried to watch "24" now and again, but it strikes me as too much of a fantasy about too real a problem. And, frankly, the show looks exactly like what we see here: people talking on the phone (emphatically or in a whisper). Thanks for reassuring me that, by not watching, I'm not missing a thing.
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IF BUSH SHOWS NO RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE...
[Read the article: A Democrat knocks Colbert, says Bush "deserves some respect"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why should anyone else?
The argument for respecting the office is fine, but only if the individual in office shows respect for the office he's in. The clear pattern of ignoring laws, misrepresenting and fabricating "facts", circumventing the constitution, stacking the courts and rigging elections do not strike me as a demonstration of respect for anything other than naked, self-serving power.
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HEALTHY EATIN'
[Read the article: This Modern World]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Perhaps he could smear some on that 7.4 pound Perch he refers to as the highlight of his days as president -- y'know, show America he's careful about what he eats...
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PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR
[Read the article: This Modern World]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Tomorrow also reveals a fairly consistent BushCo (a wholly-owned subsidiary of any number of corporations) tell: their denials are usually inverted confirmations. Something oft referred to as "negative perfection". That or it's their unerring sense of right -- combined with profound faith -- that drives them to those rarely traversed and honey-coated extremes of honesty.
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STOP, YOU'RE KILLING ALL OF US!
[Read the article: This Modern World]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The insight rings painfully true: "...aid and comfort to the enemies of this administration" is exactly the overriding and animating force driving the stuff these people call policy -- a term they must abhor since the root word might be "Police". Such an obsessive focus on CYA techniques at this late stage can only be regarded as BushCo's as yet unacknowledged recognition of their absolute failure coupled with the DTs that result from a particularly severe case of where's-muh-bottle-born-uh'gin guilt.
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STOP, YOU'RE KILLING ALL OF US!
[Read the article: This Modern World]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The insight rings painfully true: "...aid and comfort to the enemies of this administration" is exactly the overriding and animating force driving the stuff these people call policy -- a term they must abhor since the root word might be "Police". Such an obsessive focus on CYA techniques at this late stage can only be regarded as BushCo's as yet unacknowledged recognition of their absolute failure coupled with the DTs that result from a particularly severe case of where's-muh-bottle-born-uh'gin guilt.
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REALLY? YOU WANT A BIG FINISH? REALLY??????
[Read the article: Much ado about nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Despite the formulaic, sensational way in which HBO promotes The Sopranos -- note that the trailers are consistently misleading, excerpts chosen for their cliche implications, not their true context -- I have never watched the show for its storylines alone. Rather, its strength lies in closely observed character studies and in developing those myriad seemingly normal situations that lead to such stunningly dark and funny perceptions. This season had its share: with "pre-therapeutic culture", "nothing is holding us together but DNA" and many more, all ranking right up there with one of the early classics, trying to "grill a trout on a downed power line". As for the program's most important element, human behavior is rarely this well drawn in film, let alone TV. If you view a program such as this with little more than pat expectations, you're bound to be disappointed. Try watching it without blinkers.
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THE PRE-PROBLEM
[Read the article: Neoconservatives can't dig their way out of this hole]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The fact that the U.S. government cannot even acknowledge the way in which long-term U.S. policies have contributed to creating and sustaining unrest is proving to be a fatal blind spot. Mr. Bush never even hints at U.S. governmental and corporate culpability. Trying to improve the situation in the Middle East without making even the slightest of course corrections here is the first guarantor of failure for everyone involved.
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COME AGAIN?
[Read the article: Hatch: Terrorists are waiting for the Democrats]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A recent poll showed that very few Americans could correctly name the year in which 9.11 took place. But we can all name the brand of administration that was in charge at the time and since. That was and is a Republican administration, propped up by a Republican congress, headed up by a president whose response to those delivering the PDB that outlined the possibility of such an attack with the dismissive "OK, you've covered your ass now".
While the sane would tend to relate the attacks to a long history of divisive policies and economic gouging, coupled with institutionalized support of questionable monarchies, only a self-serving, self-aggrandizing wanker would attribute those events to a single political party.
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BETTER TO LIVE BY WHAT YOU KNOW THAN WHAT YOU BELIEVE
[Read the article: The joys of life without God]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Supernatural belief of any kind was summed up for me long ago by author and musician, Vivian Stanshall. He created a character by the name of Sir Henry Rawlinson, a titled twit of the old British aristocracy. Henry hunted big game in Africa and loved to relate stories. Here's one, paraphrased of course:
"The natives had it in their novels that, if a chap's soul was pure, the snakebite wouldn't harm him. Poor old Hargreaves died almost immediately... horrible agony."