Letters to the Editor

Letters posted here are associated with the following article:
Consequences for ignoring congressional subpoenas: None
It has been more than six months since top White House officials decided simply to ignore the subpoenas. Congress has done and will continue to do nothing about it.
Glenn Greenwald [2008-01-23]
The letters thread is now closed.

  • The more I think about it

    The more convinced that what's motivating Reid and Rockefeller more than anything is a simple desire for this whole issue to go away. As was mentioned upthread, they were probably briefed on the NSA program early in its run and didn't object when they had the chance. Now it would seem that EFF vs ATT is in a position to uncover the whole termite nest and they'd rather that didn't happen.

    The confidence they feel over the prospect of a Dem ending up in the White House is probably firming up their resolve even more. After all, if the big prize is theirs anyway, why risk any more chips?

    -- Paul Dirks
    [Read Paul Dirks's other letters]
    Thursday, January 24, 2008 04:44 AM

  • No Surprise

    When the presidents office is suspected of breaking laws or risking our safety, it is the job of the congress to hold whoever needs to be held accountable. When the congress refuses to do their job - as is the case now - the responsability then falls down to the people. We are the people and as long as we don't do anything about it, nothing we change.

    http://www.ryanhartman.wordpress.com

    -- RyanHartman
    [Read RyanHartman's other letters]
    Thursday, January 24, 2008 06:46 AM

  • Keep Up the Good Work, Glenn

    Glenn--

    Thanks for your tireless efforts on behalf of the United States and, more to the point, democracy. In the Golden Age of news, there would have been a dozen Glenn Greenwalds from the nation's top newspapers undertaking your now unique approach to politics and political discourse.

    In today's world, newsroom budgets are a continuous target of budgetary axes even, incredibly, in organizations whose profits are skyrocketing. If the last quarter of the 20th century marked a sort of Gilded Age in this country, did it necessarily have to follow that it sparked the beginning of the end of serious journalism?

    As political power has become concentrated in the hands of the greedy and corrupt, most but not all of whom are Republicans, we have seen the tragic results: a serious upset in the balance of powers in which the executive branch of government marginalizes congress and exerts unheard-of influence over the judiciary.

    Of course the framers recognized this possibility and thus added a free press to the mix and mades its mission preeminent. That freedom of the press is protected under the First Amendment and not, say, the Fifth Amendment, underscores its importance.

    Thus it has not been enough for Republican Presidents to seize the lion's share of power among the three branches of government: they've devoted themselves to attacking the press as well. From CBS reporter Daniel Schorr's inclusion on Richard Nixon's enemies list to fake reporters in the White House briefing room in the George W Bush era, the fourth estate has undergone a brutal beating back over the past 30 years.

    We've gone from the Golden Age of news to the Dark Ages in such a short timespan.

    Notwithstanding the post-Watergate spike in news and public affairs which inspired a new generation of reporters, including me, it's an undeniable fact that both the quality and quantity of tenet-driven journalism has gone steadily downhill since the glory days of Woodward and Bernstein.

    Today we have columnists on the payroll of the White House. Bill Kristol has his own column at the New York Times. Fox News declares itself "Fair and Balanced" and isn't laughed off the airwaves.

    Every now and then the reader (or viewer) comes across the genuine "article," and someone with the instincts, talents, and integrity of a Glenn Greenwald is always behind it. Thanks, Glenn. And THANK GOD for the Internet.

    -- Jacksonian
    [Read Jacksonian's other letters]
    Thursday, January 24, 2008 11:39 AM

  • AMERICAN HERO

    Glenn Greenwald and Kieth Olbermann, may very well be the last voices of Constitutional America speaking out in the press today. I can't believe the complicity of the Democratic leadership in continued and blatant Administration criminal activities. It's as though they've been absorbed by their Pod duplicates, and now only follow instruction from the neocon collective thought center.

    (I'm told that it will be easier for you if you don't resist, Glenn....

    Just go to sleep, and when you awaken, you'll be part of the New World Order....)

    -- veteran71
    [Read veteran71's other letters]
    Thursday, January 24, 2008 09:34 PM

  • Off the table

    Can anyone tell me when Reid and Pelosi face elections? And Rockefeller?

    -- Northwestwoods
    [Read Northwestwoods's other letters]
    Friday, January 25, 2008 05:42 AM

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