Letters to the Editor
Baldie McEagle
Published Letters: 992 Editor's Choice: 3
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@ SalmoS and Glenn
[Read the article: The warped reality of our media stars]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think the observations are valid for many former Bush supporters, however. My in-laws fit that pattern.
Whereas once they might have argued mildly in favor of their trustworthy Xian president, now they are more inclined to just find it too painful to discuss. They'll read a little good news, but bad news turns them off.
And I doubt they respond to surveys. They specifically do not want to think or decide---that is why they liked Bush in the first place. These are the followers, not the wingnuts who adopt more and more convoluted positions as a defense.
So among the wider republican demographic, I think it's possible to argue that withdrawal, rather than actual withdrawal of support, is common, and accounts for at least a few % points.
Among the non-republicans who used to support Bush because he was their president, we are seeing support turn to opposition. That's a different story.
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heh indeed
[Read the article: The warped reality of our media stars]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Scooter made me laugh. Rookie error!
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@shooter
[Read the article: Alberto Gonzales testifies]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yeah, I remember the details about every blowjob I've ever had.
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@Paul
[Read the article: The Bill Moyers documentary on our failed and barren press]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But surely heaven is true by virtue of a consensus of preachers?
And therefore Scooter is a twit by a consensus of commenters on this blog?
Excellent deconstruction. Thanks.
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Dear me
[Read the article: Fred Hiatt and the "Triumphant Top Gun"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]if Clinton had a $200 haircut and a blowjob, and Edwards had a $400 haircut, what's next? An $800 blowjob? A $1600 ass-reaming?
I can't wait for the 2112 campaign.
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Did Klein read your post?
[Read the article: Answers for Joe Klein]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Or did an intern quote it to him? Maybe he heard about it around the water cooler.
I don't see how he could otherwise have missed your point. I am guessing that this was a reaction to your outside-the-Beltway "otherness." You are not a college chum, ex-coworker/journalist, etc., and so whatever it is you are complaining about, it must be reacted to with skepticism. You may even be right, but you can't be allowed to just be right, not the first time. You're going to have to work to convince him. Maybe show up at a cocktail party or two.
He may as well have written, "Who IS this Greenwald guy? I've never met him!"
(Plus, I hate it when journalists write in that cliche-ridden, faux-conversational tone: "Look, nobody's perfect. Sure, the press screwed up on Iraq, but hey, 9/11 changed everything. Blah, blah, blah." All these elitist, insider so-called journalists write like that. It's condescending, pathetic, and frightening at the same time---like old guys pretending to be cool teenagers.)
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@Scooter
[Read the article: Answers for Joe Klein]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Nicely circularly argued, Scoot.
Well, at least you can't say _I_ criticize the job you are doing because I couldn't do it. We do know how you do it. And frankly, you do it well.
But there is room for improvement.
We're here to help.
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Rapists do it
[Read the article: Al-Qaida does it, too]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]and therefore so shall I!
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Words
[Read the article: The NYT on the administration's "debate" over whether to attack Iran]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've got insurgents in my pants!
I'll let you all know when they start to "inflame."
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In other news ...
[Read the article: Preordering week for "A Tragic Legacy"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Richard Cohen firmly addresses our problem with the rule of law:
With the sentencing of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Fitzgerald has apparently finished his work, which was, not to put too fine a point on it, to make a mountain out of a molehill. At the urging of the liberal press (especially the New York Times), he was appointed to look into a run-of-the-mill leak and wound up prosecuting not the leaker -- Richard Armitage of the State Department -- but Libby, convicted in the end of lying. This is not an entirely trivial matter since government officials should not lie to grand juries, but neither should they be called to account for practicing the dark art of politics. As with sex or real estate, it is often best to keep the lights off.
Now that's real journalism in action. Cut off the lights! We might see ourselves being raped!
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PTCruiser
[Read the article: Richard Cohen's brilliant (and unintentional) exposé of our media]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You are correct. I stopped reading him, even as sporadically as I did, around then.
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"The same way that if you're running a political campaign you would say, 'How can we discredit John Kerry?'"
[Read the article: Blogs and the establishment media]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You could write a whole post just on the bland assumption that we all are as cynical as that.
But isn't Zengerle thus condoning such behavior as normal? Except for bloggers, that is, who therefore must not be permitted to run political campaigns.
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Courageous Sandwich-Eating Masculinity
[Read the article: Tucker, Jonah, Elizabeth and Jillian]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Glenn, your third book will write itself!
I myself occasionally indulge in a sandwich. Dick and I, we understand one another.
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2 initial remarks on reading today's post
[Read the article: Michael Gordon trains his stenographer weapons on Iran]
[Read more letters about this article: Here](1) Am I the only one who sees the parallel between the NYT's treatment of Gordon (public mea culpa, private slap on the back) and big radio's handling, up to a point, of Howard Stern and Don Imus? Gordon and Stern are doing their jobs---the ones they were hired to do---as was Imus on the day of his "indiscretion." That job seems to be to create controversy.
(2) Bernhard is right about Bergner---he's a political officer, not military or even military intelligence. Gordon doesn't mention this---does he even know, I wonder?
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America since 2000
[Read the article: Why has world opinion of the U.S. changed dramatically since 2000?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's clear to me that we have gone from groping women on the subway and date-raping college girls and hushing it up after to openly raping children and grandmothers, slashing them, and bragging about it afterwards. We had a shootout with the sheriff and used lawyers, guns, and money to get the charges dropped, and then we did it again and again. We swagger down Main Street with our pants down and our cocks out, daring the townspeople to resist our manly violence. And then we sing in the choir on Sundays.
The substance of our actions has not changed, but the acceleration of them has increased. The lies are growing more bold, more easily discredited and yet more common, and the time between crime and denial and cover-up ever more brief.
Never since 1968 has the complicity of the Democratic Party been more clear. Never since George III has the king been more deserving of decapitation.
Is that not enough?
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It's obvious
[Read the article: Yesterday's ruling on NSA warrantless eavesdropping]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why would anyone -- including those who think the NSA program is legal -- want to empower our government officials to act free of judicial review of whether they acted illegally? If those who claim to believe that the President acted legally are telling the truth, wouldn't they desire a judicial ruling on these questions?
Why, the judges could be working for Al Qaeda. That's why.