Letters to the Editor
Anonymust
Published Letters: 1976 Editor's Choice: 74
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Reciprocating...
[Read the article: The Dan Gerstein sham]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]DCLaw1... I have Moyers on, too, and feel a little like I'm missing it, since I'm reading and posting, but I'm hearing enough to know that it's mostly stuff I know, and it will be online anyway. But, it really is wonderful that someone like Moyers is closing the circle, or as Peter Daou would say, adding the 3rd leg of the triangle.
JPF, thank you for the compliment. I strive for understatement, but usually get carried away instead. Don't criticize yourself for your earlier comments. It was a natural reaction, given the kinds of discussions that go on elsewhere, and you righted yourself very quickly. If everyone was a Lefty, the world would be off-balance. We used to have those on the right and in the center who helped keep things balanced. We miss them very much.
Nanette_HB... Thanks for the support. I needed it at that moment standing so far out on the limb. And for the "wave," too. Ever since that horrible brouhaha, I have wondered what I could do to help a little bit. You just told me that I have. (Tell me of any group that agrees on very much. I suspect that blackface is one topic, though, on which there is a lot of agreement.)
Paul R.: I always get so much from your posts, I feel like an unprepared student here most of the time. I am happy to give something back.
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I think Stewart is being sincere
[Read the article: The Dan Gerstein sham]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...wasn't it in this interview (that I missed tonight, but saw in a preview) where Stewart talks about his "lizard" brain, and that he makes connections (really juxtapositions) and then strips them down to their essentials? If so, that is a comedian's brain. Journalists flesh things out with more words.
Still, it is quite a commentary, that this comedian (and that other one who merrily spun off from his show) should so far outshine the "real" journalists, excepting, of course, the likes of Moyers.
Maybe Stewart will have Moyers on occassionally. [I wish I had cable. Soon...]
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Michael H.
[Read the article: The Dan Gerstein sham]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yeah, I was tempted to title a comment with "kumbaya moment," but decided to go with "Reciprocating," instead.
And, I think it's a good thing that we're learning that this thread's frequenters are more diverse than we knew. And that it is more diverse.
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Please, bring back The Fix for [the] small-time tabloid addicts!
[Read the article: Goodbye to the Fix, for now]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I would read "The Fix" sometimes, but not as a regular habit.
Still... I sense a huge wave of withdrawal symptoms about to descend upon us.
How about a compromise? A user-generated, open-thread blog. Maybe post just the talk show hosts & guests, since that seems to be important to everyone, and then just let the commenters add the rest of the content.
Instead of "The Fix," you could call it "Needle Exchange." Or, maybe something less outrageous. But then the burden of those early hours would fall on the hunched shoulders of those who actually read "The Fix."
Otherwise, the idea I like best is Squirrels: a smart obit column. Salon does something like it informally now, but a more formal effort would be very good, and would not necessarily require ungodly hours. And, frankly, a lot of us could use a bit more history in our daily online reading, especially mixed with issues of culture and society.
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Jojo and Nanette...
[Read the article: The Dan Gerstein sham]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ironically, I think it was at FDL (tho' I'm not 100% sure) where I first saw "dog-whistle" used as a term to describe those "invisible" signals you're talking about.
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Paul R... no can of worms
[Read the article: The Dan Gerstein sham]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I neglected to acknowledge your point about intent vs. effect in this case. Under the circumstances, it is valid to defend Hamsher's intent. But, I could only hear the other voices that were right here now. Thankfully, you hung in there.
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A similar story...
[Read the article: The Dan Gerstein sham]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Nanette: I made a comment one day (on the way to lunch with some coworkers) about a Chinese fire drill, intending something humorous, I think. It was completely thoughtless of me, and just automatic speech. One of the coworkers actually was Chinese, and was always asking us to help her with English idioms, something I was usually pretty good at. I don't remember how I glided past that, but somehow I did. But it was definitely a "teaching" moment for me.
The other coworker, with whom I had an on-again-off-again friendship, was mortified herself that day. If she hadn't said something to me, though, I might not even have noticed what I had said. She was far more pc-aware than I was (then), though I do think I have (and had) more natural tact. As long as I thought first. (Maybe that's all that tact really is... just thinking first?)
Not quite as dramatic as your story, and the one person I could easily have offended did not actually understand the reference, but there is some similarity.
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Prayers to follow...
[Read the article: Goodbye, Baghdad]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Riverbend,
I have been following your blog for some little while now, and with a bit anxiety, as the posts have been farther and farther apart. Checking for a new post, every few days, or once a week... highlighting your posts on my own blogs.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's as if knowing that you and your family are still safe somehow made it possible not to feel as if were all the way down the rabbit hole yet. How is that you can seem like a lifeline for those of us who read you? The world is indeed upside-down.
There is no way can we imagine which of your choices is more frightening. Sitting here, enraged that this has been done in our names... we can only hope that you and your entire family arrive somewhere safely, and that eventually you'll be able to regain some normalcy. Will that even be possible, under the circumstances?
All best wishes for a safe journey-- where ever it takes you.