Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Negative reactions



Here's a sampling of the negative reactions to my previous post, which was also published as an op-ed column in three of the Times/Review newspapers last week. Some of them are taken from letters to the editor, which will be printed in this week's papers. Others were from notes sent to me directly, some anonymously.

"To suggest this President, or any President would take this country to war for some kind of political or personal gain, to state as fact this President knowingly lied to enter into a war without any certainty is journalist criminality. Document your evidence so we the people can bring it to Congress so they can take action under our laws and constitution. Without such evidence - stop bloviating."

"How can anyone possibly quote (Hanoi) Jane Fonda as a reputable source of anything outside of Hollywood acting? Here is a person who collaborated with the enemy, who should've been charged with treason, perhaps aided in the deaths of American soldiers in Vietnam and I'm suppose to listen to what she has to say about this war?"

"I am truly disgusted by the lack of backbone displayed by all too many Americans as displayed in recent editorials & letters to the editor in the Suffolk Times. Seem like we have plenty of sunshine patriots who don't have the fortitude to withstand someone else picking up a rifle and fighting for them. Must be a rough life sitting on the sidelines sacrificing nothing while giving all that sound Monday morning quarterback advise to those who make tough decisions based on the real world we actually live in."

"Just like Mrs. Civiletti, I find it very difficult to read letters and columns each week that continually slam our president and keep silent. His decscion to go to war was not only based on WMD and a terrorist connection but also because the UN passed many resolutions that were ignored by Saddam and the UN didn't have the backbone to enforce them. Thank God president Bush did. Also the US congress almost unamiously voted for the war. Most of the people of Iraq are glad we are there. Most ot the soldiers who actually are doing the fighting think we are doing good there. As far as hundreds of thousands dead, how many did Saddam kill???"

"What shall we do in Iran?? In the 1930's the world ignored Hitler and millions lost their lives because they refused to deal with him. The president of Iran has stated his intention to wipe out Israel. Should we stand by and let him attain and use nuclear weapons and then try to deal with him or shall we just roll over and submit to Shariah law because his ultimate goal is that all the world be muslim."

"It’s been several years now and my memory is a bit fogged but I don't recall this administration citing evidence to Congress, the United Nations (UN), or to the American people linking Iraq with the attacks of September 11."

"I usually enjoy your column until I saw that you quoted Jane Fonda...I guess you forget howmany american prisoners were tortured because of her. She openly declared she was for North Vietnam. There is a big difference being anti war and being anti american. No one likes war and in one way or another we are all effected. You better check out these groups you are involved with whether they are anti war or anti american."

"Once again you showed either your ignorance or your dishonesty in you latest article in the North Shore Sun. "My daughters soon-to-be-draft-age teens." Last time I checked there was not a draft in this country and only males over the age of 18 are required to register with the Selective Service."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Denise - Back from the Coast..I just read those "negative reactions." Oh Lordy, you know the deal - you can't please and agree with everyone all the time. I am sure for every negative comment there are dozens of positive ones...sometimes folks just don't
write (to the Editor) when they agree.

I personally have heard most folks say they are: Sick and tired of the war;realize they have been duped; scared that more troops are sent; billions of tax-payer dollars have been mismanaged and wasted;think we are more vulnerable because of the war; want the troops home; need a new direction; Some of these folks were pro-administration who have had a change of heart.

Just keep on keeping on - reporting and writing your moral conscience - You are doing a good work...

Anonymous said...

Good for you, Denise! You are filling the role that much of the national press has discarded.

Watching the House debate on the Iraq war (they're voting tonight on theresolution) has been maddening.

The Republicans were obviously citing the talking points they were
provided instead of speaking their consciences as individuals. Quite
upsetting. They questioned the patriotism of dissenters from Bush's mad policy, accusing those who don't agree (the vast majority, it appears) of "using the troops as pawns."

Even the old "Who's side are you on?" argument was employed by a few.

They sounded like mindless, childish idiots, not intelligent electe officials. The TV comedians picked out some of the more assinine quotations and comments for ridicule. Not funny, really.

The troops really are pawns, I'd say. Bush sent them to Iraq,for reasons we now know are false, just as the crowds in the largest antiwar demonstrations worldwide predicted. And that was before Bush started the
invasion!

The Iraqis didn't attack us on 9/11, despite the Bush administration's numerous attempts to convince us otherwise. They're still trying to make that false connection in the House debate.Enough, already!

Now, the Taliban resurgence and coming spring offensive in Afghanistan requires still more troops there. Where will they come from? Fourth and fifth tour National Guardsman and exhausted regular Marines, soldiers and
airmen? Think the armed forces will ship their worn out equipment from
Iraq to Afghanistan?

Step back and look at the situation.Bush has played right into Osama bin Laden's hands. We're spending billions, killing thousands,and depleting
our armed forces in Iraq. We've lost the respect and sympathy of the world.

I'm sure Osama couldn't have planned it better.

And who is paying for this debacle? We are! We've wasted billions on war profiteers, many of whom are Bush contributors, and to boot, we're supporting our Saudi friends who are bankrolling the madrassas, still inspiring children to hate the United State and the west, with our payments for Saudi oil. The old "double whammy." Pay for the war, and pay for your enemies to fight you at the same time. Amazing!

Sounds like Osama had a plan that worked. Too bad Bush and his
grotesquely mistaken minions don't. On second thought, maybe Bush is
himself a minion, of Cheney and the Neocons. I gag listening to the
sniggerng William Kristol act as if he, his magazine, and his cohorts had nothing to do with the failed policy. He should be challenged on every TV appearance, instead of being treated as some kind of sage whose opinion can possibly be taken seriously.

The Congressional hearings under the new Democratic majority (and the Libby trial) are providing us with the details of the debacle.

The media is largely missing the story, the most important of our time. Watching the 24-hour news networks obsessing on the "diaper astronaut" and running seemingly endless loops of Anna Nicole Smith's body bag on the
gurney is flabbergasting, disappointing, and disgusting.

What amazes me the most is how many seemingly intelligent people (like
your critics) are still blindly supporting the Bush administration and its shambles of a foreign policy, and still haven't seen the light.

Bush has put our nation in an untenable position, and worse, seems to be hoping to get through the next two years and steal away, leaving the next president stuck holding the bag. Outrageous!

What will it take to awaken the American public? If they can't see the situation clearly now, and realize we're in a lost cause in Iraq with no hope of reasonable extrication, I fear for the future of our Republic!

Keep up your good work. We need to speak out!

Brad Berthold

P.S. I was at the Washington march. Held up a sign they gave out
there:"Impeach Cheney, then Bush!" Sounds good to me!