Letters to the Editor
Baloo.
Published Letters: 223 Editor's Choice: 8
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Another reason why McCain advocates air power...
[Read the article: John McCain's Vietnam-based view of war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...is because he was a pilot in the Vietnam war, one of the pilots who bombed North Vietnamese targets.
McCain is dangerous with a capital D, not to mention just plain stupid. Like Bush, who gave Osama bin Laden everything a terrorist could wish for, McCain will give the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan exactly what they want: increased, manic efforts to eradicate them that will result in increased civilian casualties, increased damage to population centers. As a result, the insurgents will win the war of ideas when they are no longer seen as the enemies of peace but as defenders against an awesome bully (as in David and Goliath).
It's exactly how the Russians lost in Afghanistan. If we should be studying any war for clues on how to proceed, it should be that one, not Vietnam.
Moreover, the US understanding of who exactly the "terrorists," our enemies are in this war is, just as in Vietnam, sorely deficient and remarkably obtuse. Our enemy is Al-Qaida, a deadly but diffuse and loosely connected organization of sworn emenies of the US. However, we are fighting them in a place where they are able to bulk up their slim numbers by recruiting in population centers that are sympathetic to their cause. What makes them sympathetic to Al-Qaida's cuase? We do, with precisely the kinds of Vietnam War strategies that McCain advocates.
It's a vicious circle!
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"They won't go for a black man, that's just it."
[Read the article: Can Barack Obama win West Virginia?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]RK Horton -- Hillary Clinton's new campaign manager.
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You're all wrong!
[Read the article: Poetry vs. fear]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think this discussion is premature. Those saying Obama will lose big and those saying he will win are both talking out of their asses. Although, I tend to agree with the latter asstalkers than the former.
Now, as for my ass comments: A lot will ride on who these two pick as their running mates. If Obama chooses, say Chuck Hagel, some of the issues that supposedly doom him will not loom as large. Hagel is a Vietnam veteran, a Republican, an older white male. He talks in a very down to earth, folksy way and he could go a long way to convincing a lotta white folks to give Obama a chance, especially moderate Republicans. He is also a straight-shooter, a fierce critic of the Iraq war and grew up with an alcoholic father. So, he shares a compelling and competing narrative with McCain.
McCain, on the other hand, is an idiot and his campaign is hapless and retarded. If Obama didn't have Hillary distracting him, he would have buried McCain by now. McCain sticks his foot in his mouth every chance you give him. Given how disorganized his campaign has been, he will no doubt choose a VP that is not properly vetted. There will likely be a scandal. Or, McCain might make a cheap attempt to undercut the Democrats by choosing a woman or a black person as his VP. In any case, given his campaign has no message, no vitality, no energy, it won't make any difference. McCain will win the 35% racist vote and a few others. Obama will bowl a 37 with his severed, bald head.
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I predict...
[Read the article: Poetry vs. fear]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...that McCain will choose a woman as a running mate. If for no other reason, as an effort to woo women and Hillary supporters. One possible candidate: Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
I think Obama would do well to go with Chuck Hagel.
All you people complaining about Obama--get over it! For crying out loud, sour grapes to all of you!
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A Question of Character
[Read the article: She won't go easy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It is fairly clear to me why Obama lost West Virginia so badly. It is the kind of state where a sizable minority might still believe Obama is a Muslim and a majority probably just don't care. They know they don't like him, they know he's not for them. As one PA voter put it, "Black people help black people and white people help white people." That is what the Clinton campaign is underscoring. It is their whole rationale for remaining in the race. They will exploit this issue for all the divisiveness it's worth. It is classic divide and conquer politics. No doubt Obama has a problem with white voters but Clinton will stoke the hornets nest of race until it destroys him. She is counting on the fact that this wedge issue will cause Obama serious problems but does she know it might cause her own political future problems? Does she care? For the time being, it seems not. She is too close to a dream come true to forego a few stinging wasps.
We know how these two candidates react when their backs are up against the wall. Clinton is a fighter, no doubt. She is tough and she is dirty and she is more likely to create a bigger mess than she knows how to clean up or own. This is why she represents the past. It has been the way of American politics, including international politics, since the dawn of the modern era. Despite what the president might say in speeches about exporting democracy and freedom, we have always operated internationally by exploiting wedges between people and pursuing a philosophy summarized well by the motto "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." We did it in Korea and Vietnam with North against South, in Afghanistan with the Mujahideen against the Soviets, in Iraq against Iran, and we're still doing it in Cuba even though the rationale for it has long passed. Hillary Clinton is old school. She knows the ropes. She can play the game. But Barack Obama, he wants to play a new game. It's called let's drop the grade school shit and get down to business because we've got some real problems. For proof one has only to look at how the candidates conduct themselves.