Letters to the Editor

Letters posted here are associated with the following article:
"The element of surprise is everything"
Democrats hoped to surprise Republicans with their national security rollout. They failed.
Tim Grieve [2006-03-27]
The letters thread is now closed.

  • Anyone remember back when we _had_ an opposition party?

    How Keystone Kops is this? Trying to steal a march on the Republicans in the realm of security, the Democrats can't even manage to keep their plans secure?

    Gah. As a lifelong Democrat I feel like I'm out in the tall grass wondering when my party was replaced by dim parodies...

    -- -=-Bernard HP Gilroy
    [Read -=-Bernard HP Gilroy's other letters]
    Monday, March 27, 2006 10:59 AM

  • Actually, it worked out ok

    The democrats have almost no ability now to get 'their message' get much press - one exception was Reid's emergency Senate meeting to draw attention to the investigation of pre-war misuse of intelligence, which still has yet to get anywhere - and so, at least this way, the story gets some press, since Republicans think it's an 'ah-ha gotcha'.

    I don't think it makes the democrats look too bad, especially in comparison to the republicans, who are not too trusted now.

    Bottom line, the democrats' message may well get a lot more attention because things happened this way than it would have.

    As to the merit of the message - whether democrats should chase the 'we're better at security' low-hanging fruit, or try to get any mileage on the more important bigger picture about power issues in the world today and such ideas as 'blowback' - is another question.

    -- Craig234
    [Read Craig234's other letters]
    Monday, March 27, 2006 12:08 PM

  • What the hell is going on?

    Are factions within the party so strong that someone's staffer screwed up on purpose to make Pelosi and Reid look incompetent?

    Are Dems' staff members stretched so thin or trained so poorly that they can't bother to check the entire text of their email before they click Send?

    Is this part of a huge plot by the Democratic Party to reduce voter's expectations of minimally competent elected officials? (Not that's a bad idea -- after all, it did work for the Republicans. Got them into the White House.)

    Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as bad publicity, and elected Democrats are up to their eyeballs in it. This problem was completely preventable. If the Democrats are going to present themselves as the party that would have (for example) prevented the post-Katrina flooding, they can't keep (a) doing stuff like this (b) in public.

    -- Serious Notebook
    [Read Serious Notebook's other letters]
    Monday, March 27, 2006 02:17 PM

  • Nixonian Madmen Playing Cards with Turbaneee!

    Nixonian Madmen still playing Cards: however they NOW need a new deck.

    Maybe a Canaster Deck

    [twice as many Jokers] and certainly no more to lose.

    -- jp irving msha
    Wednesday, March 29, 2006 03:12 PM

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