Letters to the Editor
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Another Amen
Americans desperately want to believe that terrorism can be defeated by military might, just like Nazi Germany. Someone has to take the lead and explain that this is a different struggle, and tough guy rhetoric and tactics just aren't going to work.
Perhaps they could start with this week's school shootings as an example of how impossible it is to prevent every "bad thing." There will always be a chance of violence in modern society. September 11 was 19 people out of six billion. No military response can ensure that small numbers of people can't once again cause massive harm.
Bush's "war" has cost billions of dollars, thousands of lives, and dramatically increased the size of the pool where those next 19 people could come from. Americans have to be educated and most Democrats aren't doing it. And Gary is absolutely right, the public senses that the attempt to out-macho the Republicans is hollow.
As I said, Amen Gary. God willing the American people aren't quite as stupid as it often seems.
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But this can never happen with the current Democratic leadership
They should point out what every expert on terrorism knows: that no country can ever be completely free of terrorism, and so any "war on terrorism" is doomed both to be endless and to fail.
Aha but if they accepted this logic, then they'd also have to accept
no country can ever be completely free of drugs, and so any "war on drugs" is doomed both to be endless and to fail.
Mais non! C'est impossible.
Al Gore believes in a Drug Free America. John Kerry made his bones as a Senator with Plan Colombia. And now there's going to be a Plan Afghanistan just like it. We're going to dump herbicides on the tribal Afghans. Oh won't they love that!
But we have to do it, because, as we all know, the wars on terror and drugs are inextricably linked.
So we're really not capable of learning jack in this country.
Not only are we involved in a failed endless foreign war and a failed endless domestic war, we're mixing the two together inextricably and making both of them even worse.
We could be in Iraq for another 30 years. Maybe Peak Oil will be the only thing that gets us out.
Sorry, I should be optimistic. The Liberal Messiah is coming. Honestly, I swear.
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wimpy editorial i'd say
watch. this piece is an extremely typical salon homeopathic way of cutting down progressive intentions in the lead-up to an election cycle. why would salon's editorial people/owners desire to present such a doubtful argument at a time when democratic party vital signs appear to be burgeoning?
ask yourself the question.
look back at the lead-up to the 2000 national elections when salon posted one negativistic view on top of another with regard to al gore's presumed shoe-in candidacy. an event that changed the course of history ensued. salon's editorial blitz in the final days of the 2000 presidential contest needs to be inspected by all new subscribers blieving or rationalizing that this is a wholehearted liberal venue. salon.
beware -- other motives are busy at work here!
watch closely.
ask, "who owns this company?" isn't this predominantly an entertainment concern?
finally, connect the dots if you dare..
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Re Wimpy Rambos
Brilliant. Great timing. You know, let's beat up on Democrats, because it happens so rarely. Isn't this the liberal site? Or is Kamiya Joe Klein in disguise? In light of all that is happening at this moment, could there be a more ill-placed article?
Terry C. Kenny
Cheyenne, WY
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I'll throw my strategy up against yours.
You don't win this with logic. You don't have the time to re-educate them. You can't point out what the administration is doing wrong. And you don't capture the imagination of the American public, by telling them there is no such thing as the "war on terror."
Use the terminology the public understands and shape it to your desired outcome. Most Americans don't understand the constitution, how our government works, where Iraq is on a map etc...This is why they: don't care if we enact draconian laws and rescind freedoms, are willing to capitulate to a vote fraud coup in 2000, and think Iraq and Al Qaeda are one and the same.
Americans tend to respond as consumers. Repetition ingrains the brand and people buy on a feeling. Fear is a feeling that drives action. This is why the republicans use it as a core to their strategy. Fight fire with fire. Expand on that feeling of fear. Let them know that things are getting worse in Iraq. Let them know that Iran is on the brink of acquiring nuclear weapons and we can't do anything about that because Bush shot his wad in Iraq. Ramp up the North Korean threat. Drive home the idea that our homeland security is still very weak. Shout to the public that the 911 commission made a report that has been ignored by the administration. Global warming is a looming threat to the planet! Osama Bin Laden is still out there and Bush hasn't caught him. Push, push, push the fear. Play the angle that the administration is being run by "outsiders," a cabal of special oil interests and military contractor CEOs. The administration are the minions of a military/energy complex and do not have the interests of Americans at heart. The train has jumped the tracks. Even if the dumb but good natured idiot called Bush wanted to right things, he couldn't because control of this country and it's foreign policy is out of his hands. If he was in control, then Iran wouldn't be processing uranium, now would it?
Now who do we have over here? Democrat candidate A. He sees what is going on here. He sees this group of outsiders burrowing their way into the heart of American power. He sees how the actions of the last years are not in our interests or done for our safety and are the result of a sinister attempt by outsiders to usurp the Presidency for outsider gain! Time has come to take our country back from this small group with their agenda. Secure our country. Track down the terrorists that threaten us and prosecute them in courts of law. Eliminate the insidious threat of the military/energy complex by rebuilding the pentagon, the intelligence agencies and our standing army to be a civilian army supplied and run by our government and not by contractors. And the biggest idea...drum roll please...loose our dependency on oil!!! If you tell them your plan is to put the middle east (and thus the terrorists and Iran) out of business by killing the demand for oil, they will get behind you 100%. They would cherish the ironic justice of the middle east having no money.
Then you are left with candidate A vs. the cowboy oilman and his Halliburton contractor vice president. Goodbye neocons.
Hello and welcome Gary. I look forward to your future articles.