Letters to the Editor
-
Old news
We misunderstood George Orwell
When he used the word "Newspeak" in his novel 1984, people thought it meant "a new way of speaking". Perhaps it was just a contraction of "news speak".
Ingenious derivation, since Orwell did work for the propaganda service of the BBC in World War II, but in the appendix to Nineteen Eighty-Four entitled The Principles of Newspeak, Newspeak is contrasted with Oldspeak.
Orwell says:
The word free still existed in Newspeak, but it could only be used in statements such as: This dog is free of fleas... It could not be used in its old sense of 'politically free' or 'intellectually free', since political and intellectual freedom no longer existed even as concepts, and therefore were of necessity nameless.
Of course it is true that nearly all propaganda and advertising is Newspeak, and a great deal of the news you read and hear,as well as what is taught in schools, comes under the heading of progaganda. 'Pro-life' and 'Pro-choice' are obvious examples of Newspeak from both sides of an argument.
-
This is why Clinton went after Samantha Power
Let's see, get the genocide expert kicked off from the Obama campaign...
Then declare yourself the heroine of the Balkans.
Thank goodness for Sinbad!
-
Typical
Sad to say, but this is par for the course in her campaign. And now her people are trotting out the line that it's Obama making things negative. Shameless!
-
Hillary's problem
I am not a Hlllary fan, but I don't understand why she is doing this to herself.
Experience is supposed to be her strong suit.
As a key personal advisor to her husband when he was President for eight years, there must be many legitimate examples of how her advice changed the history of the world.
Why not just tell us the truth about some of them?
Or would that mean treating the electorate like adults?
-
lolcait
Lolcait you are aware aren't you that current polls in Michigan have them tied, and Florida it's similar? You know that the reason these states decided not to have a do-over was that the results wouldn't change the outcome. If there was such a ground swell of support for Clinton that it would erase Obama's leadin the delegate count, then maybe the millions spent on a do-over might be worth it in money and time and effort. But seriously, I've never seen such a set of poor losers as you Clinton crowd. Comparing to Obama and Ken Starr, and now W. because of the 2000 election. You are really nuts.
And I have to say that you're sounding nuttier by the day. I seriously hope that you don't plan to vote for McCain just in order for you candidate to make another go of it in 2012.
-
Ah, but when Obama gilds the lily . . .
But our Obama wouldn't do that!
He didn't misspeak when he told voters in Iowa that he passed legislation in Illinois against nuclear power plant emissions. He really meant to say the bill was watered down to meet the needs of the industry.
And when he said he wasn't aware of Rev. Wright's incendiary remarks until recently, I'm sure that was just a mis-remembering, not trying to cover his butt.
And Obama wouldn't lie to the people of Ohio and tell them that NAFTA has cost them a million jobs. Oh, wait. According to factcheck.org - he did!
And he didn't misspeak when he said in 2004 that he didn't know how he would have voted on the Iraqi war resolution. Now, he really knows how he would have voted - that's the ticket!
And he didn't tell the Chicago Tribune in July 2004 that "There’s not much of a difference between my position and George Bush’s position at this stage." Fooled again. Yes, he did.
And let's not forget about how Obama is going to get us out of Iraq in 18 months. Ooops, here comes Samantha Power with the truth - it's a best case scenario!
I'm sure all you Obama supporters are gonna get on the case immediately and track down these inconsistencies, right? Right?
-
Ohhh lolcait, the truth comes out.
"affirmative action candidate"
Hmmm, I think this speaks volumes.
-
The Debate Debate -- OT (sort of)
Excerpted from AP story
http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/2008/03/24/D8VJVAOO0_democrats_debate/index.html
Mar 24th, 2008 | WASHINGTON -- Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, once so eager to debate she ran two ads questioning why her rival wouldn't, has yet to say whether she'll debate Sen. Barack Obama in North Carolina next month.
Both presidential candidates plan to participate in an ABC News debate on April 16 in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania holds it primary days later, on April 22. Obama also has agreed to a debate April 19 hosted by CBS in North Carolina. North Carolina holds its primary May 6.
-
Since Salon won't mention this . . .
As for Clinton's foreign policy experience, more from factcheck.org:
Richard Holbrooke, a former assistant secretary of state and ambassador to the U.N., claims that Clinton’s "intense efforts" in Macedonia "contributed to saving many lives."
Regarding Northern Ireland, "former Sen. George Mitchell – the lead U.S. negotiator – told the Chicago Tribune that Clinton’s visits were 'very helpful' and that her work with women was a 'significant factor' in contributing to the success of the process. John Hume said that Clinton provided "decisive support" for the process. Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams agreed, telling the Irish Times that 'Senator Clinton played an important role in the peace process' and praising her as 'extremely well informed on the issues.'"
Of course, you can argue that it is all meaningless - except of course that whatever she did, it was a hell of a lot more than what Obama was doing at the time. McClatchy - in a rare example of actually questioning Obama's resume - today has an article on his lackluster Senate career. Susan Collins - one of the few Republicans who occasionally works with Democrats - notes that "Aside from working with him on the ethics bill, I really had very few dealings with him. In some ways that's telling, because usually people who consider themselves to be working across party lines, the people who are inclusive, know the moderate Republicans well, and he did not."
So, there are words - and there are deeds. And we know what Obama has a lot of.