Letters to the Editor
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@Gordon, Jim White re: Just ice please
Gordon your thoughts were of equal quality to Glenn and Kovie
Jim, I really like that idea. Justice can have a wide definition and encapsulate a lot of what we see wrong with our government. Without justice and the rule of law enforced fairly and equally for all, we have nothing but abuse as the Bushdipoligarchy proves over and over.
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Our culture of accepting torture isn't just inside the "Village". It's also outside the beltway.
http://highclearing.com/index.php/archives/2007/09/22/7191
September 22, 2007
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our attackers but ourselves
By ThoreauIn response to my previous post, a commenter wrote that his sympathies are not with Iran. I was about to reply that I have a great deal of sympathy for the Iranians, because if George Bush drops bombs on them their oppressive government will be strengthened.
But then I realized that the same could be said about us: That when Bin Laden’s hijackers attacked us they strengthened the hand of the Bush junta, so we should be pitied for that fact. But that’s ridiculous. It’s our own damn fault for rallying behind people who instituted torture, warrantless wiretaps, detention without trial, and a war of aggression.
We can’t blame Bin Laden.
We’re(*) the people who responded to his attack by rallying behind a gang of thugs. We didn’t have to. But we did. We could have insisted on a different path, a path that would have actually done more to defend America while preserving our liberties. But we didn’t.
So if the Iranians become more nationalist as a result of a US attack, and if the opposition groups become weaker, is it their own damn fault?
I want to say it will be our fault, because I am staunchly opposed to attacking Iran, but how they respond is their responsibility. We Americans have no right to say “Bin Laden made me do it!”, so should Iranians who choose nationalism over the opposition be allowed to say “Bush made me do it!”?
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still sympathize with any Iranian who loses a loved one to Bush. But can I blame Bush for whatever happens next in Iran?
(*)Yes, I’m aware that not all of us rallied behind these thugs, so consider “we” as a shorthand for “a significant fraction of the US population.” I’m a lazy typist, as a matter of principal.
- - Posted by Thoreau @ 6:22 pm, September 22, 2007
http://highclearing.com/index.php/archives/2007/09/22/7191 -
@OliverA
Good question. I have no idea what works to push back the corporations. However, I've heard stories of local opposition rolling them back on all sorts of fronts. They also are sensitive to bad publicity, up to a point. Even WalMart has had defeats.
Presumably that adds up to the possibility that even giants might back down from censorship activities and so on. Local governments might be persuaded to NOT give away the store to developers.
But are the defense companies sensitive to anything short of being hated by appropriations committees? Blackwater might prove to be an interesting test case. The administration loves them---they are powerful and arrogant and so blatantly evil they could have been invented for a first-person shooter. (Even their name is evil.)
If they can be ripped from the State Department's teat, I'd take that as a sign that there can be an end to all this.
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Dude, put the law down before you hurt yourself...
injunction
Glenn: you profile describes you as some kind of big time litigator. Instead of complaining about these "revelations of lawbreaking", why don't you file an injunction somewhere to get this so called lawbreaking stopped. Put down your pen and do something. Apparently nothing less than our country is at stake.
-- P.D. "Bo" Steele
Really, that's just stupid, but I suppose "standing" just draws a blank stare from you, right?
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I smell an asshole
Yes it was the "golden age" of America because our biggest competitors had been completely, totally, destroyed,during WW2.
-- shooter242
Yeah, Shitter, that whole "Cold War" and "Red Menace" and "Domino Theory" and "Who Lost China?" stuff was just a plot device on a very special episode of Make Rooom for Daddy.
My God, you're a self-satirizing idiot. Do you ever think for even a minute about what you're saying before you speak?
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This has been another episode of (HT Atrios)...
My God, you're a self-satirizing idiot. Do you ever think for even a minute about what you're saying before you speak?
-- SomeNYGuy
NO!
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No smoking
One spark, and the straw men scooter has packed this thread with will go up in a FLASH!
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Well guys....
If you prefer to piss and moan about how bad life is, be my guest. But don't you think CarolynC's story about hitting the credit cards for a contribution to Kerry was a bit scary? It smacks of desperation and despair, much like this entire thread.
OTOH I could just pile on, and add to the doom and gloom. Which would you prefer?
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SNYG
If shooter ever thought about what he was saying then he wouldn't be shooter. He'd be a rational being then and would not be recognizable as the shooter that we know and love.
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We need to take back our Democracy
Glenn,
I've only just read your post and then your response to commenter @70 so I'm sorry if there has already been this discussion.
I think there is a solution moving forward. We support challenging any and all incumbents that have violated our trust and acted against us. And then we stop looking to politicians to lead this country and the citizens start to lead this country. We need to shift the way we think about our Democracy and put the citizens back at the top of the foodchain where we belong. Those politicians work for us, they represent what we want. We have oversight. All this requires we start to take responsibility for our Democracy. We need to participate in it 24/7 We need to find ways to incorporate it into our daily lives so we can remain informed and involved as a way of life. I don’t mean to be flippant but seriously why is it inconceivable that we could be as involved with what goes on in Washington as we are with sports. The way we follow sports teams and know their statistics and line ups and strategies and watch their games, why can’t we have that kind of working knowledge about what our representatives are doing. We SMS and email all the time why is it inconceivable that we communicate with our representatives every day to tell them what we want or in response to what they did. The penetration of the internet and online surveys have made it possible to take polls among congressional districts before and after every congressional vote, even at a local level. Why can’t we take a poll before a representative votes send the results to them and then if they didn’t vote the way we wanted them to take another poll to measure how much that just cost them with their constituents and sent it to them. I’m sure you get my point by now. So anyway, that’s my solution. I’ve started a blog Democracy Daily to start promoting this idea. if anyone wants to help leave me a note in comments. There are no posts up yet. Glenn, if this part is illegal just delete it and sorry
Jill Howell