Letters to the Editor
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@Dirigo and others
Yes, Hagel knows about life and death first hand unlike so many of today’s “leaders.” Learning from the life of hard knocks and spouses are two ways that I try to judge character.
Speaking of character, the late Carl Sagan reminds us all as we say goodbye to 2007 why we should care so much about our pale blue dot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pfwY2TNehw
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Bloomberg? Not to worry
Hey Glenn, my partner and I always love your columns, more power to you! I agree the notion of Bloomberg as a "postpartisan" candidate is offensive nonsense -- laughable if it weren't so stupid. As if rising above partisan politics were even possible, when the Republican Party viciously and irreconcilably opposes any meaningful progressive reforms that the country needs. But I would relax and not worry too much about Bloomberg's impact on the 2008 race. Even in New York state, Clinton would squash him like a bug. Very few Democrats would support him. If he costs anyone votes, it would be the Republican nominee. Some Republicans who would never vote for a Democrat might vote for Bloomberg as a protest. Same for Ron Paul. Either or both would simply drain votes that might otherwise go for the Republican, helping to ensure that the Democrat wins.
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Oh, I don't think Bloomberg's projected "run" is much more than a "dungeon and dragons" pipe dream ...
Glenn references it, but I'm not sure everyone saw, much less read, the NYT front page, top left column story on how Bloomberg is expressing sudden RENEWED enthusiasm wrt to a "possible run" ... the article is now further down the food chain, under "politics" and is remarkable because it doesn't contain much information as to "why" he might suddenly be reconsidering previous "decision" not to run, much less what he finds lacking in the available contenders on either sides -- in short -- sounds like a puff piece the paper can't afford on New Year' Eve not to run when Mr. B and friend give them an exclusive (hey, they live in HIS town).
Oh, I don't think the "reality-based community" has much to worry about wrt Mr. B, although that pre-war conference that colors "The Remains of the Day" comes to mind ... and all the prewar American cheerleaders for the fascists ... not to mention the alleged nasceant coup against FDR ... in which Prescott Bush was said to have been a participant.
Ronald Reagan was "created" as a politician by powerful american corporations ... and he served them well and they love him for that.
The free-trade neo-liberal (not the neocons) business community is likely war-gaming all sorts of future scenarios.
While the reverence for the Microsoft Bill Gate's encyclopedic universal genius seems to have died down ... these people believe in the power of the cult of personality ... review our current missing village idiot, George Bush's rise to power, please ... from lackluster obscurity to the white house in how many years?
Bloomberg may well only one of the "contenders" ... but at his age, with his billions, he can dream, can't he? he's well past the "if you're so smart, why aren't you rich" challenge ... if only Richard Branson and Arnold S. were natural-born citizens ... cue that disco version of "I want a hero" ...
yes, the "reality based community" needn't actually lose sleep over Bloomberg, but they should keep and eye on him and the company he keeps. The "pragmatic" business community (or maybe just the ego of Mr. B.) is floating the idea of a "nonpartisan" business friendly candidate.
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RMP
Obviously, the time differs for each person. Hagel was living with and seeking voters in the more corrupt side of the equation. Probably, it took the horrors of a stupid, unjust war and sufficient casualties for him to realize the price was too high.
That the war is stupid and unjust was obvious before it ever started. I'm just Joe Sixpack with an internet connection and a cursory knowledge of history. I knew damn well that Iraq was going to turn out a disaster for the US. Schwartzkopf knew it, Ctheney knew it, anybody with a functioning brain knew it.
If a US Senator didn't know it then he had no business being dogcatcher, let alone a Senator.
Dodd, Biden, Feingold, Kucinich, Holt and others choose to try to work within it and find a way to keep from being corrupted.
Very damn few others. Entirely too few, the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike.
Until we make much needed changes to the system, we need to identify and support those who choose to fight in an unfair battle ground and as many have previously said, support candidates who seriously believe they can change things without being corrupted.
Even in fiction the good guys don't always win. Empires always fall and the fall is seldom pretty or comfortable for those involved, particularly so for those on or near the bottom of the ladder.
And once more I point out that no one has responded to my point about Obama the candidate wishing to imprison Obama the teenager/young adult.
Until America stops making war on its own citizens then the slide to totalitarianism will continue, Obama will do nothing to halt the slide and neither will Edwards, Clinton or any other candidate who supports making war on our own people.
As for Chicken Little, he only has to be right once.
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NY Times Hires Vladimir Putin as Weekly Columnist
The Wounded-Courier:
NY Times Hires Vladimir Putin as Weekly Columnist
“We are thrilled to add Vladimir Putin's distinctive voice to our op-ed page,” said Andrew Rosenthal, editorial page editor. “He is a captivating leader and keen observer of the 21st-century political landscape. His work will undoubtedly be provocative in this election year. Plus, he threatened to have me poisoned if I didn't hire him.”...
In further defending the hire, Rosenthal explained, "Look, Hitler and Stalin are dead. Pol Pot, too. Osama bin Laden tends toward the run-on sentence. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has trouble meeting deadlines. Musharraf told us he has too much on his plate right now to commit. Charles Manson's parole board has repeatedly declined our requests for Chuck to pen a column for us while serving out his life sentence. Dick Cheney can't write a sentence without dropping an F-bomb. And, well, let's just say all options were off the table concerning President Bush."
http://mediabloodhound.typepad.com/weblog/2007/12/the-wounded-cou.html