Letters to the Editor
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critical thinking skills
Most people don't have them. It's that simple. Look at the number of people who can't follow simple A->B->C logical statements. (For example nearly every journalist who responds to Glenn's posts)
How many people in Congress do you think read and understood the FISA bill? (Or on these boards)
I hope Glenn talks about what the meat of the new FISA bill. I took a stab at it in the previous letters section but I am not a lawyer. Parts of it are obviously crap (the AG makes the reports on abuses - that should work swimmingly) but my interpretation of the overall scope might be somewhat off.
It seems to me that at the very least it allows the government to listen in on a US citizen as long as the citizen is talking to someone "reasonably believed" to be outside the US, and it could be argued that it allows the government to listen in on two US citizens as long as the information of interest pertains to that foreign person.
The part I'm not sure about is how, if at all, other laws come into play. One of the Democrats made some remark about US citizens being protected by some other law that she couldn't remember the name/number of.
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Establishment and Lockstep
I sorta thought more of Dodd's comments than some here, but I guess it is true that he comes off as someone whose heart is in the right place (sadly, a notable fact) but who isn't aggressive enough to think outside the box. Roughly speaking, too establishment, and thus not a great choice.
As to how politicians and people in general think, I have this wariness about those who appear to think that somehow the problems we are seeing here is somehow new. For instance, I recently read a collection of I.F. Stone essays ... the latest c. 1970, and the groupthink, warmongering, MSM think, etc. that are general themes dicussed today were all there. The book "War Made Easy" also had a historical overview, war selling not just some corporate 21st century media invention.
The need of the average person to have a "spirit of liberty" also was expressed in that era, including by Justice Douglas in his writings (he noted once the courts ultimately cover only so much ground, many if not most threats to liberty coming from matters that won't be addressed by them). And, Tocqueville spoke about the groupthink, the threat that democracy will lead to lack of individualism in pursuant of some common end.
Was the politician leading up to the Civil War, e.g., so much better than the current era? Was the people, e.g., who thought the North was Satan not as "faith based" in various respects, evidence ignored for emotion and cultural sentiments? I think today's problems reflect periennal threats as suggested by references to our Constitution, with its time-honored provisions.
Anyway, I second thanks to GG, esp. given Dodd gets so little coverage. As with an interview on the Rachel Maddow show with Mike Gravel, these things provide somewhat of an extended flavor of the candidate, the normal roughness of the medium taken into consideration notwithstanding. The "Senate mindset" is particularly fascination.
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"Let us be the first to welcome (over and over) our Republican masters." (for real?)
Oh, come on. If that pack of barely-domesticated animals haven't managed to take over after over a decade in control of things, I doubt they're going to make as much traction now that they're out of favor with the majority.
In any case, let's also keep in mind this latest disgrace of the Democratic caucus isn't a done deal yet. Presumably it still has to go through Conference Committee and then get voted on again. Who knows what some enterprising member might try next.
Then again, is there any such thing to be found amongst the Democratic Congress?
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The Democrats are riding white horses dammit!
For any and all who choose to view history and our current situation through the lens of partisan politics, I offer the thoughts of Arthur Silber:
...the progressives' central articles of religious faith: The Democrats aren't really like this, not in their heart of hearts. The Democrats don't actually favor a repressive, authoritarian state. The Democrats are good, and they want liberty and peace for everyone, everywhere, for eternity, hallelujah and amen.
People who continue to believe this have evicted themselves from serious political debate, and they have willingly made themselves slaves to their enthusiastically embraced self-delusions. They confess a comprehensive ignorance of history, a stunning inability to understand the political developments of the last century, and a desire to place the story they have chosen, primarily because it flatters their own false sense of vanity and self-worth, above every relevant fact.
The corporatist system itself is irreversibly corrupt. To restore anything even approaching the original design of a constitutional republic, another revolution is required. There is still time for a peaceful revolution, one led by those with a radically different political vision, but just barely. An attack on Iran and its likely aftermath, or an attack or series of attacks here at home, would almost certainly finish us off. But the liberals and progressives who remain devoted to Democratic electoral victory are completely unable to grasp this larger picture, and usually they have rendered themselves incapable of seeing even a small part of it. They remain committed to the story that gives their lives and their precarious sense of self meaning and succor: the Democrats will save us.
They will not. Try to grasp this finally, before it is too late: the Democrats may differ from the Republicans on matters of detail, or emphasis, or style. But with regard to the fundamental political principles involved, everything that has happened over the last six years -- just as is the case with everything that has happened over the last one hundred years -- is what the Democrats want, too.
This should not be a difficult point to understand. The historical record is compelling in its clarity, and overpowering in its length and volume. A corporatist, authoritarian state is what the ruling elites want, and it is precisely what serves their interests, Republican and Democrat alike. They know it; they count on your inability or refusal to see it.
The essay is here: http://www.tiny.cc/G0bO6
Of course, all the smart people can just skip this and wave their hand proclaiming their knowledge of history and the motivations of their heroes vastly superior to those of us who haven't been similarly brainwashed.