Letters to the Editor
paul spencer
Published Letters: 21
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sectarian division
[Read the article: The Islamists are coming]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I suppose that part of the implied critique is that there is no monolithic Muslim movement. Just as the Communist movement quickly devolved into several political power centers, the Muslims are divided into two main groups - Sunni and Shi'a - and those groups are subdivided into tendencies and personalities, such as Al Qaeda (Sunni) or the Al Sadr (Shi'a) groups. Then there's also the minor Sufi tradition. If there's a Caliph among them, he (and, of course, it must be a "he") has yet to demonstrate his authenticity.
It's similar to the Fundamentalist Christian "movement". They were able to wallpaper their differences for two national elections. Already the power that they gained has created the typical centrifugal forces. The new Pope has already started to call back the "evangelical" wing of his church from too much intimacy with the lesser Christians.
Some say that democracy is too messy, and authoritarianism will win out in the name of order and security. I think that democracy is a recognition of the need to give an audience to, and then to reorganize a response to, all of our competing interests. Of course, we have to defend it, but it has a compelling logic and aesthetic that helps it to survive.
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use of nuclear weapons
[Read the article: Carl Levin reveals the Democrats' Iraq "strategy"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't have time to read all of the previous comments, so I apologize if this is redundant, but ...
I agree with Glenn that this latest bit of maneuvering by the Democratic Party establishment sets up a strong probability of an attack on Iran. I think that the administration was trying to set this up some months ago, but the Demo "leadership" was market-testing their withdrawal-deadline slogan. So they had to leave a decent interval before they could abandon the whole scheme completely. Upshot - here we are again, and the situation is definitely more dangerous.
We have 3 (?) aircraft carrier battle groups in the Persian Gulf. I'm sure that they have plenty of ammo and fuel for a fairly large strike and probably enough for some fairly extensive defensive efforts. However, if the Iranians mount a large-scale attack on the U.S. forces in Iraq, and if they are capable of a viable attack against the carrier groups; the U.S. will be forced to use "tactical" nuclear devices in self-defense.
In my opinion that is the ultimate purpose of this administration. They have nukes to burn, and they want to do it. As far as they're concerned, there is no down-side. They show the world how far they will go to project power; oil prices sky-rocket, and the oil companies rake it in; and the U.S. becomes a military state. Hope that I'm wrong.
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Lance Thompson's article
[Read the article: One-sided rules of political debate]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]is the perfect examplar of Glenn's diary. Wow - everybody who disagrees with Lance is a traitor.
Go MoveOn - stir the pot.
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Lieutenant Watada
[Read the article: One-sided rules of political debate]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]is the only currently-serving commissioned officer whom I respect. He researched the Iraq invasion and occupation, found that they were illegal, and refused to deploy to Iraq.
Petraeus does betray us. I don't have to rehearse all of the reasons, because we all know them. We suffer, and will continue to suffer, on many fronts as a function of this attempted oil theft.
Beyond that, as others have pointed out lately, we are looking at this debacle in the rear-view mirror, as far as public opinion. MoveOn's headline is a small token of in-your-face attitude, and, I hope, a call to the national Democratic Party leadership to catch up with the rest of us.
Earlier in this thread, someone posted a call to the anti-war movement to move out of their closed community. I have been "out there" for over 40 years; everyone in my semi-rural community knows where I stand; the majority of my community is probably in agreement with my view; and I expound my views with humor and challenging rhetoric. I like the fact that MoveOn works in a similar manner.
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Getting back to Glenn's original point -
[Read the article: One-sided rules of political debate]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]read James Taranto's article in the Wall Street Journal. I did not, I admit, but the excerpts that I've read equate leftish bloggers with Osama bin Laden - quite explicitly, I would say, as opposed to metaphorically.
I stand with the folks on this thread who have had more than enough of these liars and bullies.
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It's rather late in this thread
[Read the article: The latest revelations of lawbreaking, torture and extremism ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]to expect anyone to actually read this comment, but what the hey. Charles Wright Mills published The Power Elite in 1956, and even then he was writing about corporate dominance of 'real' decision-making; the congruence of corporations, the 'political directorate', and the military establishment; secrecy and opacity in the making of 'real' decisions; and the essentially inhumane quality of the power elite.
I was born in 1945, and I have known people who were jailed for essentially no reason; people who were beaten in jail; people who have been given terrible jail sentences for essentially nothing (other than political action); and people who were killed for political positions back in the 50s and 60s. We had COINTELPRO and police 'Red Squads'. We had provocateurs. My best friend from Austin had his car shot full of holes on his way back from a GI coffee house near Fort Hood. We had arrests for felony Conspiracy - to demonstrate, among other things.
Out of that we gained enough political and media allies to prosecute Watergate, create Freedom of Information and various other sunshine laws, get the CIA out of domestic surveillance, and get the FBI mostly out of political suppression activities.
Now the cycle has turned back to the extreme (I hope) on the other end again. Let us not be so frustrated as to despair. It is largely a matter of spreading the word, fighting the good fight, modelling the better behavior, and organizing. I think that we're doing all of that, and we just need to keep on keeping on.
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I have mostly ignored the candidates until now,
[Read the article: Dodd's emphasis on constitutional and rule of law issues]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]because the front-runners look like Republican-Lite from where I stand. If Chris holds the fort on this one, though, I will contribute to his campaign at the least.