Letter-mania ...
Man oh man ... some good material on the opinion pages today ...
- Jim and the Athens Banner-Herald editorial board pens the obvious, but much-needed acknowledgement to the North Georgia United Methodist Council. Having grown up a Methodist, and knowing that my uncle has in the past attended this conference, this is one of the many things this town does right. We put on a good show, provide a good venue and, in return, we get a couple thousand of the most gracious folks you'll ever meet come up here to visit.
In addition to bringing their dollars to the community, the United Methodists bring a commitment to service, as evidenced by the fact that something called the Great Day of Service has become a centerpiece of the annual summertime meeting. This year, the Great Day of Service will actually stretch across two days, Wednesday and Thursday, as hundreds of meeting attendees take time to fan out into the community to perform a variety of service projects.
As in past years, this year's Great Day of Service includes projects designed to benefit a wide cross-section of Athens-Clarke County. Some conferees will be playing bingo and hosting sing-alongs at a number of local nursing homes, others will visit the Clarke County Jail, and still others will be doing painting and other maintenance work at local social service agencies and private residences. Many will take time to give blood, while others will spend time praying for the community and its needs.
So kudos to the editorial board and welcome back to Athens-Clarke County to the North Georgia Council.
- Jim Baird apparently wants pictures of flowers and kittens on the front page of the paper. But whose fault is it really here? Should we blame the media for posting the pictures? Perhaps the military for disseminating the photos? Or should we point the finger at society in general for having such a craven thirst for such images?
But I suppose it's easier to blame the media, so everyone from right to left does that rather than shine the spotlight on themselves ... carry on then.
- Last night, Matt and I watched Georgia's 11-6 win over South Carolina to clinch a berth in the College World Series. While killing time in between the innings, he'd flip back and forth between the game and Ann Coulter on Fox News. And it would just anger him as he'd say 'did you hear what she was saying about 9/11 widows? ... she's a nut!'
I haven't really gotten worked up too much about this whole thing. Of course Ann Coulter is a nut. Of course Ann Coulter says absurdly inflammatory things. I mean, that's what she does.
But, truth be told, she's a marketing genius. Folks are watching her every interview and flipping through the pages of her book. Folks on the right scream 'that's right Annie darling ... you tell 'em!' And folks on the left respond with 'she's a freakin' wacko!'
Still ... they all tune in. So, while I more or less agree with Irene Budoff's letter, I'm rather indifferent to Coulter's latest piece of fluff.
She's pretty out there. I don't agree with her. Her writings are insensitive. I didn't need a new book to figure that one out.
- Not sure who this Shawn Glynn fella is ... but he makes some sense.
- This one actually ran on Sunday, but I had a lot of problems with Jeff Emmanuel's column defending the Marines at Haditha ... partly because of the implications he made in it. I had some factual issues with it, seeing how he discounts much of the reporting and public investigative work done on the case. And, how in the light of such revelations, we should simply give the accused Marines the benefit of the doubt.
Now, I've had two grandfathers, several cousins and my brother-in-law all serve in the Armed Forces, and they were all darn fine servicemen and servicewomen who did our family and country proud ... as are the vast, overwhelming majority of those in the service. But we shouldn't simply use the sacrifices and dedication of those men and women to gloss over the possible crimes committed about Haditha. If anything, Emmanuel's suggestion would do a disservice to that majority of those in the service.
Most of the journalists I know are dedicated, hard-working journalists ... but because I know of those folks doesn't mean I can't call Jayson Blair what he is - a phony who is a disgrace to journalists everywhere.
This isn't an argument about the Marine Corps, but rather about what happened at Haditha by small group of Marines who possibly committed crimes against a civilian population. Perhaps I'm being too hard on Emmanuel, who himself is a military veteran, since he does admit in the end of his piece that if crimes were committed that punishments should be doled out ... but his column seemed too apologetic at times for me, attempting to excuse the deaths of the innocent civilians.
- Jim and the Athens Banner-Herald editorial board pens the obvious, but much-needed acknowledgement to the North Georgia United Methodist Council. Having grown up a Methodist, and knowing that my uncle has in the past attended this conference, this is one of the many things this town does right. We put on a good show, provide a good venue and, in return, we get a couple thousand of the most gracious folks you'll ever meet come up here to visit.
In addition to bringing their dollars to the community, the United Methodists bring a commitment to service, as evidenced by the fact that something called the Great Day of Service has become a centerpiece of the annual summertime meeting. This year, the Great Day of Service will actually stretch across two days, Wednesday and Thursday, as hundreds of meeting attendees take time to fan out into the community to perform a variety of service projects.
As in past years, this year's Great Day of Service includes projects designed to benefit a wide cross-section of Athens-Clarke County. Some conferees will be playing bingo and hosting sing-alongs at a number of local nursing homes, others will visit the Clarke County Jail, and still others will be doing painting and other maintenance work at local social service agencies and private residences. Many will take time to give blood, while others will spend time praying for the community and its needs.
So kudos to the editorial board and welcome back to Athens-Clarke County to the North Georgia Council.
- Jim Baird apparently wants pictures of flowers and kittens on the front page of the paper. But whose fault is it really here? Should we blame the media for posting the pictures? Perhaps the military for disseminating the photos? Or should we point the finger at society in general for having such a craven thirst for such images?
But I suppose it's easier to blame the media, so everyone from right to left does that rather than shine the spotlight on themselves ... carry on then.
- Last night, Matt and I watched Georgia's 11-6 win over South Carolina to clinch a berth in the College World Series. While killing time in between the innings, he'd flip back and forth between the game and Ann Coulter on Fox News. And it would just anger him as he'd say 'did you hear what she was saying about 9/11 widows? ... she's a nut!'
I haven't really gotten worked up too much about this whole thing. Of course Ann Coulter is a nut. Of course Ann Coulter says absurdly inflammatory things. I mean, that's what she does.
But, truth be told, she's a marketing genius. Folks are watching her every interview and flipping through the pages of her book. Folks on the right scream 'that's right Annie darling ... you tell 'em!' And folks on the left respond with 'she's a freakin' wacko!'
Still ... they all tune in. So, while I more or less agree with Irene Budoff's letter, I'm rather indifferent to Coulter's latest piece of fluff.
She's pretty out there. I don't agree with her. Her writings are insensitive. I didn't need a new book to figure that one out.
- Not sure who this Shawn Glynn fella is ... but he makes some sense.
- This one actually ran on Sunday, but I had a lot of problems with Jeff Emmanuel's column defending the Marines at Haditha ... partly because of the implications he made in it. I had some factual issues with it, seeing how he discounts much of the reporting and public investigative work done on the case. And, how in the light of such revelations, we should simply give the accused Marines the benefit of the doubt.
Now, I've had two grandfathers, several cousins and my brother-in-law all serve in the Armed Forces, and they were all darn fine servicemen and servicewomen who did our family and country proud ... as are the vast, overwhelming majority of those in the service. But we shouldn't simply use the sacrifices and dedication of those men and women to gloss over the possible crimes committed about Haditha. If anything, Emmanuel's suggestion would do a disservice to that majority of those in the service.
Most of the journalists I know are dedicated, hard-working journalists ... but because I know of those folks doesn't mean I can't call Jayson Blair what he is - a phony who is a disgrace to journalists everywhere.
This isn't an argument about the Marine Corps, but rather about what happened at Haditha by small group of Marines who possibly committed crimes against a civilian population. Perhaps I'm being too hard on Emmanuel, who himself is a military veteran, since he does admit in the end of his piece that if crimes were committed that punishments should be doled out ... but his column seemed too apologetic at times for me, attempting to excuse the deaths of the innocent civilians.
posted by Jmac at 7:12 AM
8 Comments:
Unfortunately, if we leave folks like Ann Coulter to just gab their mouths off without actually refuting the things that they are saying, people like her will keep winning that war & getting that message of lies to the public.
If you tell a lie big enough, and enough times, people will start to believe it.
Right. My point, I suppose, was that so many folks seem to be actually shocked at what she wrote ... as if she hasn't been this wacky all along. I mean, she's pretty nutty, but I'm not as surprised about it since it's been obvious to me all along that was nutty.
"I've never seen anyone enjoy their husbands' death so much." That was inappropriate, and I can't see any way to justify that particular turn of phrase. But from what I've seen of her interviews over the last week (including the original with Matt Lauer), I think she does a pretty good job of a. defending her overall point with regard to people who use their own personal tragedy to immunize themselves from criticism while they give their own political opinions, and b. parrying all the accusations and questions that have been thrown at her.
The problem is that, obviously, not all of the "9/11 widows" necessarily do what Coulter accuses them of doing, and even if they did that's not excuse for saying something so nasty as that they are "enjoying" their husbands' deaths. I would have put it a bit differently, something like "It's a shame these ladies seem okay with giving the impression that their husbands' deaths were one of the best things that could have happened for their political agendas." This is still provacative, and would still have pissed a lot of people off, but I don't think Coulter would be nearly as vulnerable to the criticisms that are coming her way now.
And, for the record, at least out here in the west, a lot of rightist talking heads are distancing themselves from that comment.
"And, how in the light of such revelations, we should simply give the accused Marines the benefit of the doubt."
Yeah - that whole "innocent until proven guilty" thing sure can get on your nerves sometimes, huh?
Please Chuck, spare me.
All I've done, as well as the rest of the public and media, is label them as the accused Marines. If they did something wrong, they should face punishment. If they didn't, the evidence will emerge and exonerate them.
But to say we can't simply called them the 'accused' Marines is laughable, and what Emmanuel is implying. His argument is 'they're Marines, they're good regardless.' Considering the accusations surrounding this particular group, I think it's only fair if we consider the fact they might be guilty, and that such behavior wholly deviates from what the Marines stand for.
Request for sparing is denied. You wrote that we should not give the accused people the benefit of the doubt. I am saying we should always give the accused the benefit of the doubt. That's what that whole pesky "innocent until proven guilty" thing is all about, is it not?
Again, why do you see the need to misrepresent what I say? That doesn't seem very honest of you.
Chuck, buddy, what misrepresentation has gone on here?
This isn't an argument about the Marine Corps, but rather about what happened at Haditha by small group of Marines who possibly committed crimes against a civilian population.
Key word being possibly. The Marines who are accused of this crime, let's not shy away from that fact. Much of the evidence appears to point to the fact they were involved in some type of crime, hence the accusations.
By the way ... tell me how you feel about O.J.
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