Monday, November 30, 2009

An open letter to the writers of open letters

Dear authors of open letters,

Thank you for the time you put into your work. Nobody appreciates it more than I. When I see that a new letter has been written--whether it be by Ralph Nader, Michael Moore, immigration-restrictionists, neocon think-tanks, or Ron Paul supporters, the first thing that crosses my mind is "thank god someone put so much effort into this!"

After all, I have little doubt that such figures are immediately alerted that someone has written them an open letter, and that they eagerly dash off to read it. When you write an open letter to the president (or whoever), they most certainly read the whole thing and change their minds when appropriate. I'm planning on writing an open letter to Dick Cheney today, requesting that he turn himself in for war crimes! Nonsense, you say? We shall see. I'm hoping to make it extra persuasive.

Just kidding, authors. You know as well as I do that writing an "open letter" is meaningless. That's not to say that all of them are bad. But maybe instead of pretending to write to someone you know will never read or consider your arguments, you should just write in the normal, straightforward fashion.

Or not. It actually doesn't really matter. I just wonder how effective these open letters are at convincing the person you want to convince.

Cheers,

Cork
Asswipe Blogger at Skeptical Eye

(I wanted to make a post like this eventually, and the Michael Moore letter I just posted gave me the perfect excuse.)

44 comments:

  1. Obama might read a letter written by Michael Moore. I'm not sure Dick Cheney can read (not because he is illiterate, but because any room he enters instantly has all the light from it sucked out).

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  2. It's like Alan Grayson asked: isn't Cheney the guy who turns into a bat and flies away at the end of each press conference? (lol)

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  3. I think Michael Moore is the one that can't read. He sure hasn't got a clue about the economics he despises. Yet he takes advantage of it - capitalism.

    I am proud of Dick Cheney. He's got more balls and promotes freedom loving values and liberty, unlike Obama.

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  4. Torture is not a freedom loving value, but thanks for sharing.

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  5. Enhanced interrogation techniques are not torture. Just because leftist judges, Human International, and the ACLU have perverted the meaning of torture to apply to EIT's that doesn't make it be true. By being against these techniques people are not willing to give our CIA and troops the neccessary tools to fight terrorism to win wars. People need to be serious about fighting jihadists like we were willing to during WWII and in earlier wars. Being a bunch of pussies won't get us anywhere in the world, but killed.

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  6. Why bother trying to discuss anything with someone who defends Cheney. Michael Moore is wrong about a lot of things, but he represents a very real demographic that exists in this country (pot-smoking college students who wear Che shirts). I don't think Cheney represents more than a handful of very wealthy individuals who refer to people like us as "serfs."

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  7. Nope. Cheney represents the heart of America, unlike Michael Moore. Cheney understands what it takes to defend a country, unlike our current President or any of the Democrat Presidents in the recent past for that fact. I am a struggling college student and he stands up for mine and many others freedom and liberty. Moore is so delusional that he thinks that Cuba has a better health care system than the U.S. I feel sorry for people that stand up for terrorists rights rather than for the protection of our great country. People who stand up for terrorists so called rights when IMHO the terrorists lose those rights by attempting and plotting to kill innocent Americans has in recent years increased our chances of being attacked again, like we were on 9/11.

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  8. I found this page quite entertaining to read. No more to add.

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  9. I agree, Cheney does represent the heart of America: clogged with cholesterol and ready to kick the bucket at any minute.

    Cheney's war strategy is akin to his hunting strategy: he likes shooting friends in the face.

    If you're a struggling college student, it's because you're studying socialogy and yet your outlook on social life in America is so FoxNews'ed that I would be surprised if you passed SO 101.

    Cheney didn't defend our country. On his watch, our nation was attacked directly, on home soil. His "tactics" have lowered the US to the level of terrorists.

    Teresa... your hero is a war criminal. Michael Moore is just a dumb ass. Between the two... I'm just glad they're both riddled with heart disease.

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  10. I feel sorry for you. You would rather support terrorists than a vice president who is willing to defend our nation. Nope, I have actually thrived in my sociology major. I have not been spoon fed and corrupted by liberal non- thought and propaganda like you have, and I thank God for that.

    This nation was attacked because the previous President(Clinton) dropped the ball while he was having sex with Monica. He was offered Bin Laden on a silver platter by Sudan but refused. So, yes your unpatriotic weak party could have prevented the attack, but didn't. He weakened the CIA so much that unfortunately Bush didn't have enough time to repair Clinton's damage. Now, we have a President that demoralizes our military and has weakened this country's security dramatically.

    Its nice to know you follow the liberal way in attacking the person and not reality or politics. I live in reality unlike you. So have fun with that tingly feeling running up your leg as this President destroys our liberty and freedom. He has awakened Americans and a good ole revolution may be abrewing.

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  11. YOU just can't handle the truth and now your moderating because you can't handle that I'm right. Go have fun with your head in the sand.

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  12. I'm sorry if someone deleted something you said.

    For one thing, I'm not a Democrat nor have I voted for a Democrat.

    Now, the main point: it's strange we have a Cheney defender on a thread about how the Afghanistan war is a horrible idea, and that Michael Moore should use his fat head to do something constructive, rather than just write snarky open letters which serve only for self-promotion.

    I don't know how it turned into a "Is Michael Moore/every liberal better or worse than Dick Cheney?" debate, but it's like the evolution "debate," it was over before it started. Michael Moore is a betetr person than Dick Cheney in lieu of the fact that Dick Cheney is not a person. Had it been nearly anyone else on earth, Big Mike would have probably lost.

    Seriously, Dick Cheney? How much Kool-Aid did you drink, woman?

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  13. I just noticed for some reason my comments went from automatically being posted here to you moderating the comments. You posted all my comments.
    Dude, you are the Kool-Aid drinker. You thinking that Dick Cheney isn't human is absurd. Do you think that the terrorists are human? Or do you put their rights above Cheney's? From my perspective once people turn into terrorists and want to kill innocent people they give up all rights that would be due if they were law-abiding citizens. Plus, EIT's don't cause any permanent damage. Its not like EIT's are true torture like pulling fingernails out is.

    Moore has only demoralized and degraded our country. Cheney took































    his oath to protect this country seriously. Moore takes advantage of the very system he hates-capitalism. To me, that makes Moore a disgrace.

    After 9/11 both Bush and Cheney vowed to not let another 9/11 attack happen on their watch. The EIT's saved lives and foiled terrorist plots. Its proven. I will look up in my blog archives and give a link later on. Both Bush and Cheney love America and vowed to make sure that terrorists would never again be allowed to perpetrate a horrible act like 9/11 under their watch.
    I think we must at least give General McCrystal a proper chance to defeat the Islamic Jihadists. If after a year and a half there has either been none or very little progress than I believe the troops should leave Afghanistan. Maybe a combination of drones, fighter jets and more troops will help defeat the terrorists. I am afraid if the troops leave then there will be another 9/11 type attack on U.S. soil.

    You sure do think like a liberal or a Democrat.

    Well, anyways, How about agreeing to disagree on this matter?

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  14. We don't moderate comments here at Skeptical Eye, so I don't know what's happening to your comments if for some reason they aren't showing up.

    Teresa, thanks for the comments. You're certainly welcome to have your say here. I do think, however, that you're stuck in the old Republican vs. Democrat, "liberal" vs. "conservative" false dichotomy.

    People are coming together from all sides to oppose Obama (left-wing anti-war Democrats and liberals and Ron Paul supporting libertarians and true conservatives) just like they came together to oppose the false neocon "conservatism" of the Bush II regime.

    I do agree with you though that a revolution is "abrewing".


    .

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  15. In another place and time, Teresa would have been a militant supporter of Adolf Hitler. Note her attempt to rationalize torture and her demonization of so-called "terrorists," who are mostly just insurgents if not completely innocent civilians.

    And the idea that Bill Clinton was a peacenik is a total joke. Clinton was a warmonger who continued US imperialism and sanctions, all of which helped provoke 9/11.

    Bush and Cheney should be tried for war crimes, as should Obama. (BTW, Skeptical Eye has never censored or 'moderated' a single comment.)

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  16. Rights most certainly do exist for those who break the law, no matter how many angry, vindictive assholes believe otherwise.

    It is people who are willing to throw out our laws because they pissed themselves in fright who are a threat to this country, not terrorists and certainly not Michael Moore or the liberals (who has so little clout they couldn't even defeat Bush in 2004). Cheney and Bush's wars killed more Americans than 9/11, and their actions recruited more terrorists than Bin Laden's.

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  17. Nope. I am not stuck in Republican vs. conservative. I am however against liberals or anyone who is unwilling to make necessary provisions in order to keep our country safe. That is what Bush and Cheney did. They did not cause more people to die. That's not laying the blame on the terrorists. That's just letting your deep-seated hate for Bush get the best of you. I am very much against Obama and pretty much all that he stands for. So, lets get past the Bush years and lets work together to stop this tyrannical dictator we have in the WH now who wants to destroy our very freedoms and liberties.

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  18. Cork,
    You are way out of line there. EIT's are not torture and cetainly not killing like Hitler did. I suppose your for Obama who has so much in common with Hitler. I am not talking about concentration camps etc. But, if you look at Obama administration and compare it to Weimar Republic, they are very similar.

    You just aren't willing to give our soldiers and CIA the means to defend our country. Then the some of the blame will lie with people like you if there is another 9/11 type attack.

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  19. CORK,
    With People of your thinking, Hitler would have been able to expand his death camps further and wider than you can imagine. Maybe, The U.S. would be controlled by Hitler types because of people like you not being willing to get down and dirty in WWII. Who knows... Thank God there weren't pussies like you during WWII.

    Since you have proven you have no respect for me I have none for you. I was nice until you crossed the line.

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  20. *shakes head* Dick fucking Cheney...

    Rather than feed the trolls any more, I figure I'd link to my Open Letter to God. Maybe that will be an adequate tangent.

    Tonight when Obama makes the announcement, the game is:

    1 drink/hit everytime he says "compromise," "on the ground," "insurgent(s)," "mission," or "goal(s)."

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  21. If you don't think waterboarding (a technique perfected by the Khmer Rouge) is torture, then you're beyond clueless. Waterboarding is of course small beer compared to the stuff that has been going on in the secret US prison camps around the world.

    To say that it's merely "terrorists" being tortured is extremely naive. There have been countless examples of innocent people kidnapped by the US, only to be tortured for years. See here for a particularly egregious example.

    You see, it may come as a shock to a totalitarian such as yourself, but we do not know someone is a "criminal" or a "terrorist" until they have been given a fair trial. Amazing concept, huh?

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  23. (Accidental double-post)

    1 drink/hit everytime he says "compromise," "on the ground," "insurgent(s)," "mission," or "goal(s)."

    lol

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  24. Cork,
    Any person of Muslim heritage that threatens the life of our troops while their serving overseas or on U.S. soil is an Islamic Extremist. Waterboarding is not torture. The left has perverted the meaning of torture to fit anything except giving the terrorists cookies and milk while asking them nicely for where their next attack is going to occur.

    I am not an totalitarian. You may be since you obviously don't believe in self defense or defense of our nation. I believe in freedom which Bush has given the Iraqis in the hopes that we won't be attacked again like we were on 9/11. I believe in defense of our nation, unlike you. Stop being the moron that you are, start supporting our troops and stop assisting the terrorists by standing up for their so-called rights. The only thing a terrorist has a right to is a bullet put in them instead of criminalizing the CIA agents for merely doing their jobs.

    The military commissions should have happened by now but you have Eric Holder and his comrades to thank for that.

    http://teresamerica.blogspot.com/2009/12/eric-holder-and-his-leftist-comrades.html

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  25. Teresa's response, reprinted with my comments in brackets:

    Cork,
    Any person of Muslim heritage [oh you did not just go there...] that threatens the life of our troops while their serving [up war crimes like fish at Church on a Sunday] overseas or on U.S. soil is an Islamic Extremist [i.e. people worthy of us throwing away all American credibility]. Waterboarding is not torture [reading this post is]. The left has perverted the meaning of torture [fact check: internet BDSM did it long before] to fit anything except giving the terrorists cookies and milk [most are lactose intolerant, so it would have to be goat's milk] while asking them nicely for where their next attack is going to occur [because as we know, every single person in our hands is guilty and knows something! Where's Jack Bauer when you need him!].

    I am not an totalitarian [especially when a Democrat is in power]. You may be since you obviously don't believe in self defense or defense of our nation [Cork, you gun-hating tree hugger!]. I believe in freedom [and elves] which Bush has given the Iraqis in the [form of bombs, with] hopes that we won't be attacked again like we were on 9/11. I believe in defense of our nation, unlike you [who would rather not cause problems in the first place]. Stop being the moron [just just "a moron"] that you are, start supporting our troops [yellow ribbon up your site, solider haters!] and stop assisting the terrorists [they found out we buy heroin...] by standing up for their so-called rights [they're more like cattle, apparently]. The only thing a terrorist has a right to is a bullet put in them instead of criminalizing the CIA agents for merely doing their jobs [see also: Nuremburg Defense].

    The military commissions should have happened by now but you have Eric Holder and his comrades to thank for that [too lazy to wiki that nonsense].

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  26. I recently showed some of my "support" for the troops here, if you're interested.

    Anyway, you've proven yourself to have zero reading comprehension skills, as you haven't responded to a single point I've made. So I won't bother continuing this silly conversation.

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  27. CORK,
    Yes, I have. Since you haven't been able to read or comprehend any of my comments you have proven yourself to be a worthless liberal freakazoid.

    I find it interesting that you take the internet and liberals word for everything. You obviously are unable to think for yourselves. I think outside the box, unlike you. It is apparent that you don't want our troops to win our wars overseas.

    Okay, so you'd rather a terrorist go free and enable them to murder innocent civilians intead of making sure that an innocent is not a terrorist? That's real logical. NOT. You are enabling the terrorists with that type of rationale.

    The secret prisons were one of our weapons used against terrorism until your treasonous friends at the NY Times leaked the information. I am glad you can live with being happy that journalists have aided our enemies by divulging top secret information regarding one of our secret weapons.

    Ginx,
    That actually was quite amusing. But, i'd rather have Jack Bauer intead of pussies like the both of you. At least Jack Bauer is willing to do the right thing and take on the terrorists in a meaningful way. You are all for retreating when the going gets tough in war. This country would have never been founded if people like you and CORK existed back then.

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  28. Don't worry, there are plenty of real life Jack Bauers ready to get results out of those Haji bastards. So what if we have to break a few eggshells, hm?

    http://www.legitgov.org/ross_cia_crucified_suspect_280609.html

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  29. Adam,
    There is a big difference between the abuse that occurred at Abu Graib and EIT's. The abuse was horrible and not justified. When the EIT's happened there were physicians making sure the terrorists vital signs were okay. The EIT's are justified. EIT's are/were needed so that the CIA was able to get valuable information to avert another terrorist attack.

    Clumping both the EIT's and the abuse at Abu Graib together shows me that you have no idea what it takes to win a war. You might as well be siding with the other side since you and others here care more about terrorists so called rights instead of stopping the terrorists.

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  30. So what about when there's a knock at the door and some 'patriotic' CIA Heroes decide they have 'reasonable suspicion' you are a terrorist? (a member of White Al-Qaeda)

    Off to Gitmo for you.

    Then we'll see how much of a holiday camp it is.

    You'll confess.

    Guilty. (of course you are! You confessed didn't you?)

    Merika saved again from another evil terror plot.

    Maybe even dish out the medals.

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  31. Adam,
    Them coming to my door is unrealistic since I don't fit the mold of an Islamic Extremist terrorist.

    Nope. If I was captured in war nothing could make me betray my country and confess. You are making these terrorists out to be like normal citizens. They aren't. They are cut from a different mold in order so they can withstand the ultimate pain. They are even willing to become suicide bombers. These terrorists just don't give up information to get their enemies to stop getting information from them. That would be them committing the ultimate betrayal against their leader, or Allah. You are thinking of terrorists as average day citizens, and that is why your whole assessment of the situation is wrong. They are disciplined in their camps to withstand an overwhelming amount of pain.

    Gitmo is peaches compared to some prisons in the U.S. It caters to the terrorists needs like you would never understand.

    Nope. I didn't and would never confess and no person could force me to give up my honor. I would die to protect this country against domestic terrorists like...

    Maybe you would confess with all that pussiness you have inside of you.

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  32. Gitmo is a show home compared to the CIA black sites around the world, in which...well if I knew what happens I'd tell you, they're secret aren't they!

    Under the Bush-Obama admins' DHS report, you can be considered a terrorist quite easily. A "right-wing extremist". White Al-Qaeda. Call it what you will.

    Traditionally state apparatus such as this is wheeled out for ostensibly (almost) reasonable purposes.

    Give it time Teresa. The Jew...er, sorry...Muslim, may be the only 'terrorist' for now.

    I am also confounded by the notion that blithely licking the boots of your masters suggests some kind of courage. More like cowardice!

    You do realise that some (probably most) of the people who were tortured will inevitably be innocent? I mean, it's widely suggested that as many as one in three people on death row are actually innocent, and all those people have been 'found guilty' in a court of law.

    How do you think those ratios stack up when no legal process (read: no evidence) precedes kidnapping and imprisonment? Of course, we'll never know, because their confessions or otherwise are unreliable. Which must make you wonder what the point of the whole thing is, since people will say anything (truth or lie) to get out of such a situation.

    The thing is, if you want to get tough with those terrorists, fine. Just tell me which ones are the terrorists and which aren't. Oh you don't have a clue. So how is anything they say reliable? Oh it isn't.

    But nonetheless, you go Teresa. Wave your flag and surfboard those sand niggers. Merika!

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  33. Yup. Teresa's entire ideology boils down to: "Do whatever the man in the uniform says."

    Laughably, she refers to this as "thinking outside the box."

    Just shut up and worship the government or you're a pussy!

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  34. Cork,
    Hello to the moron from hell. Stop making an ass out of yourself. I don't follow the government blindly like you follow MaObama's government. He is a far leftist radical that honestly shouldn't have passed security clearances with all his commie and anti-American connections, etc. I follow a government that actually has the balls to stand up and defend our nation against terrorists. Hell, with Obama in office we probably have a variety of terrorists or communists and communist sympathizers in his administration. Go have fun being a pussie that likes to give the terrorists all that they want with regard to all the comforts of a normal citizen. That's the attitude that made it possible for the terrorists to attack us on 9/11. Go ahead and continue having your head in the sand like all the rest of the liberals.

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  35. *Laugh* Yeah, we are all just sooo pro-Obama here at Skeptical Eye.

    Too funny.

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  38. Alright, I will give you time to prove your not Obama lovers. But, you are definitely not conservatives here either. Or, change your ways and thought patterns, and prove that you are conservatives here.

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  39. This blog is about as anti-Obama as it gets. You need only to browse through the pages of posts under the Obama tag to figure that one out.

    But you're right; we're not conservatives here. "Anarchists" would be more appropriate.

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  40. Cork,
    I will check it out. How about on this matter lets just agree to disagree.

    As you can tell, I am about as anti-Obama as you can get. I am extremely hard on him on my blog.

    We probably agree on close to everything except the EIT's and Dick Cheney.

    Even I am not sure what the correct action to be taken in Afghanistan is. I just don't want to let it become a worse bed of terrorism than it already is. I'd love it if you visited my blog. Peace.

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  41. Notice the blog's name: "Skeptical Eye." Not "Republican Eye" or "Conservative Eye" or "Apple of Glenn Beck's Eye."

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  42. Being skeptical is good. My blog name is teresamerica and that's really only because it flowed together nicely. I am a conservative.

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  43. Teresa, if you really want your head to explode, check out my post on Thanksgiving: here

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