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Letters to the Editor:

This letter responds to the article "A Coup has Occurred" by Daniel Ellsberg, the former Defense Department analyst who leaked the secret Pentagon Papers history of the Vietnam War.

While Mr. Ellsberg has many interesting issues to share, I would argue that a coup has NOT occurred; merely, that what HAS occurred is the ongoing and long-time drama of power "political ping-pong" that permits generally intelligent beings to focus more on power and profiteering than on constitutional imperatives and what is in the best interests of the majority of Americans.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower forewarned the nation in his farewell speech that the greed of men one day will overshadow the Constitution and the American Dream, that the "industrial-military complex" will assume command for self-motives and profiteering, that we must avert that time.

It is the ongoing saga of man's inhumanity to man in a never-ending battle for power and profits that again have surfaced in the Bush administration. Mr. Ellsberg is correct that this behavior has occurred before in other administrations, but it has never occurred so BLATANTLY as in this administration's reign.

I also disagree when Mr. Ellsworth suggests to readers that Bush and Cheney are not "traitors" because I believe they are. Perhaps not, as Ellsberg points out, that they may be "in cahoots" with a foreign power against the U.S., but I believe they are traitors in the sense that via their pre-engineered objectives and profiteering efforts they have made foreign powers and individuals more powerful on a world platform. Certainly, the Bush family dynasty's long-time business association with Saudi Arabia has placed that nation in a stronger position, while the administration crushed Iraq's world status and currently is intimidating Iran.

Perhaps a redefinition of the term "traitor" is in order? Certainly what is in order is a new American government, one more in line with the goals and objectives of our forefathers and constitution.

RE: "Technology Widens Rich-Poor Gap": To ascribe the rich-poor gap to technological superiority is a little too simple and leaves out a lot. There is no doubt that the materialistic, reductionist, Cartesian methodology of the West has led to an inhumane, atomistic view of existence. Its religions have also predicated a superior, exceptionalism—the inheritance of a 'chosen people.'

Nevertheless, the colonial impulse to subjugate “inferior” people and exploit their resources is not simply a factoid of history; it is, indeed, an ever-present aspect of the Western life of affluence, arrogance, and excess. Let’s call it neo-colonialism now, but it is just a different shade of lipstick on the pig. It was, originally, guns, germs and steel and the accident of geography. Now it is control of the world’s financial institutions, and nearly 1,000 military bases in over 130 countries that maintain the edge for such exploiters as the U.S.

Sure, technology enables this imperialism to a greater or lesser degree, and the rules of trade and intellectual property and patents are all determined by the powerful. However, I would not ascribe this to wisdom. If there was any wisdom in the governments of the Western developed countries, it would manifest itself in a modest ecological footprint at home and an empathy with the poorer nations of the world that would translate as a level of aid beyond the paltry hundredths of a percent of GDP each year, and a desire to help the actual people of the destitute country and not their masters who dance to the tune of their benefactors as they raid the people’s patrimony.

To put the blame on technology is to, in a sense, blame the victims for not developing the Western biases and greed-oriented market fundamentalism. Oil is a curse, as many Middle Eastern scholars are coming to realize, and technology may soon be seen in the West as its own curse. We will never invent ourselves out of the mess we are making by adopting a short-term flawed philosophy of abstract rationality not grounded in a connection to the earth or its creatures.

Re: Fred Cederholm's "Thinking about Risk": What we have seen also is the other third rule of real estate: “timing, timing, timing.” There are several things to consider.

In a growth economy, the pool of eligible buyers had to be expanded. Thus, the market began to qualify the unqualified to create more customers to feed this growth imperative.

Another factor was that in the wake of the dot com bust, people were persuaded that real estate was the new "can’t miss" safe investment opportunity. People began investing in second homes, for themselves or to rent.

Deregulation empowered some pretty marginal mortgage companies who created complicated and unsustainable debt instruments. And when you have too much money to invest, it will, of necessity, find the lowest common denominator.

The assumption that real estate values never decline was true until this year. For the first time since the depression there will be a nationwide decline in average real estate values. The loan-to-value ratios were stretched way beyond any rational underwriting and, anyway, many mortgage companies fully expected to repossess houses, realize their inflated fees and move on to the next victim.

It was all a version of predatory lending which had the imprimatur of such giants in the field as Citibank and Chase. 'Gosh, if they are doing it, it must be moral.'

Capitalism will begin to prey on its own when foreign exploitation is not enough to satisfy its appetite, and the grand international financial institutions will continue to bail them out lest the public begin to recognize the scam.

This letter responds to the article "A Coup has Occurred" by Daniel Ellsberg, the former Defense Department analyst who leaked the secret Pentagon Papers history of the Vietnam War.

While Mr. Ellsberg has many interesting issues to share, I would argue that a coup has NOT occurred. Rather, what HAS occurred is the ongoing and long-time drama of power "political ping-pong" that permits generally intelligent beings to focus more on power and profiteering than on constitutional imperatives and what is in the best interests of the majority of Americans.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower forewarned the nation in his farewell speech that the greed of men one day will overshadow the Constitution and the American Dream, that the "industrial-military complex" will assume command for self-motives and profiteering, that we must avert that time.

It is the ongoing saga of man's inhumanity to man in a never-ending battle for power and profits that again has surfaced in the Bush administration. Mr. Ellsberg is correct that this behavior has occurred before in other administrations, but it has never occurred so BLATANTLY as in this administration's reign.

I also disagree when Mr. Ellsworth suggests to readers that Bush and Cheney are not "traitors" because I believe they are. Perhaps not, as Ellsberg points out, that they are "in cahoots" with a foreign power against the U.S., but they are traitors in the sense that via their pre-engineered objectives and profiteering efforts they have made foreign powers and individuals more powerful on a world platform. Certainly, the Bush dynasty's long-time business association with Saudi Arabia has placed that nation in a stronger position, while the administration crushed Iraq's world status and currently is intimidating Iran.

Perhaps a redefinition of the term "traitor" is in order? Certainly what is in order is a new American government more in line with the goals and objectives of our forefathers and Constitution.

Hello, just found your web site yesterday. I was struck by your observation that the mainstream media is increasingly out of touch not just with America but the world community. The mainstream media is no longer "mainstream." It hasn't kept up with changing times. Seems to me the so-called alternative media have become the new mainstream media.

The Bush administration's policies, goals, objectives and direction will remain an American staple for many years.

While both houses of the U.S. Congress have slight Democrat majorities, they are not sufficient to change the Bush administration's foreign and domestic policies--even if the Democratic Party wanted to make any changes.

Without a two-thirds majority, Bush may still veto any bill or resolution without any retribution. Hence, the Democrats cannot override successfully any Bush veto.

In other words, without such a majority and a real commitment from the Democratic Party, American citizens will remain deep within the muck and corruption of the current administration's haphazard direction for many years to come, and our grandchildren will continue to pay for our poor judgment in lost lives, freedoms and tax dollars.

For four years, the Bush administration keeps on asking for more time, and a lot more money, to keep its failed war-of-choice going. It is always the same prediction: "In 12 to 18 months the Iraqis will be able to govern without us." The truth is that we can not "win" this war. No "victory" is possible for us in Iraq, only continued shame.

Yet, Senator John McCain has a point when he says that leaving Iraq in retreat would be a disaster. So, what is the way out of this mess that Bush and Cheney put us in?

We should separate ourselves, our government, and our country, from the corrupt leaders who got us into this war through their deception and lies. We should prosecute these officials, who usurped our government, for being the war criminals that they are. Then we can leave Iraq in an orderly manner, with apologies for having confused Saddam Hussein with Osama bin Laden, and find redemption through bringing to justice the people who committed these war crimes in our name.

There has been good news recently for people [like myself] who support civil liberties and oppose ''Big Brotherism." The Department of Homeland Security has temporarily halted the AVISE datamining system because of privacy concerns. AVISE [Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight, and Semantic Enhancement] took in huge amounts of information about individuals from databases and e-mail traffic.

The Department of Defense has shut down the TALON [Threat and Local Observation Notices] database. TALON held information on peaceful anti-war activists, among other things. And last week a federal judge [Victor Marrero] wisely ruled that parts of the PATRIOT Act, dealing with national security letters, were unconstitutional. ''Security Letters'' allowed government agents to gather internet, phone, banking, and other information without warrants or court orders.

I think that the entire PATRIOT Act should be repealed, or declared unconstitutional. Did you know that this act gives government agents the right to break into your home, snoop around, and plant wiretaps without a warrant? We need a government that doesn't ignore or decrease our human rights and civil liberties in its zeal to have national security.

RE: "Conviction of Padilla is Bad News for All Americans--Including Journalists": What a moonbat! Why don't we just split the country and you moonbats get on one side and those of us that love this country and think freedom is worth fighting for and strongly disagree with those of you that believe in bringing this country down by giving aid and comfort to the enemy, get on the other side? Then we'll see how long you last with moonbats actually running a country. Not too long, because moonbats have no wisdom or discernment.

In your "new country," Cindy Sheehan types can put into practice your moonbat, far-left policies and even sing peace songs while the country burns. Wow, you guys are scary.

By the way, these moonbats are dividing the country and another civil war is the likely outcome of planting such seeds of hatred as you so-called "peace activists." I don't feel safe with, nor do I trust, a peace activist running any country, and before that happens the people will rise up against these nut jobs that are undermining this country.

Alberto Gonzales says he's lived the "American Dream," but in fact he's only taken advantage of it, and left it sullied and cheapened for everyone else.

And it's not only the "American" Dream Gonzales has attacked by truncating our own Constitution and Bill of Rights and trashing the ages-old concept of Habeas Corpus; it's the universal dream of a better, more just world of accepted standards in human rights, where torture is not allowed and the Geneva Conventions are respected.

The "mud" Bush claims Gonzales has been dragged through is indeed of his own making.

Let us hope the next Attorney General Bush picks will not be someone even worse, but all indications seem to point to yet another liar and thief out of his tight little den--possibly Chertoff (whose name in Russian means "Of the Devil"!) who helped pen the infamous "Patriot" Act months before 9/11. He was also the one who saw to it that the Mossad agents caught that day dressed as Al-Qaida got ferried quietly and safely back to Israel, where he himself has dual citizenship.

And how convenient for the Bush Regime that Chertoff has already built all those FEMA "camps" for the next "catastrophic event"--no doubt to hold all those who he designates as "Enemy Combatants" for criticizing Bush, while none of the real crooks of the Bush administration--including Gonzales, will ever be indicted.

Congress needs to get back to Washington now and end this nightmare!

FACT: There is no "Iraq War."

FACT: There is a military OCCUPATION of Iraq.

The media and politicians must deal with FACTS instead of playing with words. CALL IT WHAT IT REALLY IS: AN OCCUPATION. End the occupation!

Re: "Pelosi's Stand on Impeachment is Killing the Democratic Party"—Excellent piece—a reminder that trying to appease the Republicans can and will backfire on the Democratic leadership. How can Pelosi say that impeachment is “off the table” before a full investigation has been conducted and subpoenas issued? This is pre-emptive amnesty, and is not worthy of an opposition party and its Constitutional duties. The two-party system we have lived under for the past 100 years or so is showing that it is not suited to real democracy.

Re: "Thinking About Liquidity"—Good article.The worst part of this debt frenzy is that foreign countries such as China can hold us (the U.S.) hostage by threatening to dump dollars, redeem debt instruments, etc.

I remember not too long ago when Japan had a favorable currency exchange rate with us and a surplus, and bought up a lot of American resort properties. They made bad investments because they didn’t really understand American real estate and the dynamics of resort properties, in particular. Later in their short-lived boom, they incurred debt, and it finally caught up with them when they figured out that their most illustrious properties, such as Rockefeller Center, were vastly over-valued.

But, they had a banking system that was the equivalent of the “good ol' boys” network and were really partners in this imperial reach. As a consequence Japan entered into a decade-long recession, with interest rates at zero.

It seems to me that the financial markets never learn from experience and will ride the prosperity roller coaster all the way to the bottom before starting over again. The wealthy of Wall Street make so much money on the way up they can’t lose it all on the way down; thus the game continues.

War profiteering is a good example of tolerating untold tragedy to ordinary people because the military-industrial complex and its servants can rake in extraordinary war-time profits. To this way of thinking, the concepts of stability, sustainability, or peace (either as an alternative to war or to free markets) could be viewed as the real threat to the prosperity of those who run the world.

Re: "CPV to build Green, Clean, Power-generating Machine in Maryland": l I’m not sure this is unadulterated good news. Natural gas is still a fossil fuel and is still a non-renewable fuel source. It is true that combined cycle plants are more efficient because they utilize waste heat to fire steam turbines. The better solution may be to use synthetic fuels at the front end or solar power as a source of heat. Apparently, there is one solar combined cycle plant being constructed in Algeria. The continued use of natural gas and oil (at ever rising prices) may forestall the kinds of investments in truly renewable energy sources that the world will need, certainly, by the mid-21st century.

Re: Dave Lindorff's story on Pelosi and impeachment posted Aug. 20: It's not impeachment that will hurt the Democratic Party...it is the lack of it.

Pelosi's stand on Impeachment, or the lack of it, is NOT killing the Democratic Party--you can't kill what is dead already!

More important than the impeachment issue is the fact that the party does NOT have a strong viable presidential candidate, nor does it maintain a real and significant platform of issues that would return the U.S. to some sort of "normalcy."

Rather, the Democrats appear ready to let the U.S. continue to drift itself into oblivion.

Instead of maintaining a united strength and will regarding the Iraq conflict, the Democratic Party is permitting the "lame duck" president and now minority GOP to continue to dictate the current and future objectives and actions of our nation--despite popular opinion to the contrary. THAT is what already caused the death of the Democratic Party. The Party's stand of inaction regarding presidential impeachment merely continues to"throw dirt upon its own grave"!

The state government of Iowa has done the right thing and agreed to pay $925,000 to some of the people who were involved in what was called the Monster Study. In 1939 the University of Iowa abused orphans just to try to make them stutter. Many people don't know, or have forgotten, that our government and private institutions have performed human experiments on Americans. Many different groups [children, prisoners, pregnant women, soldiers, mental patients, comatose patients, etc.] have suffered for science, profit, or to win the '' Cold War."

The Navy did mustard gas experiments on American sailors in the 1940's. The C.I.A. did LSD experiments [MK-ULTRA ] in the 1950's. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Quaker Oats Company were involved with feeding radioactive cereal to retarded children in the 1940's and 50's. In the 1960's the Willowbrook State School in New York performed hepatitis experiments on retarded children. In the 1970's there was the ''Stanford prison experiments'' where students became either guards or prisoners. And of course we have all heard about the Tuskegee syphilis experiments on black men. There are many other examples.

The U.S. government still has files on human experiments performed by the Japanese on prisoners during World War II that, for some reason, they haven't released. They should declassify this information, and investigate and release all information on past human experimentation by our government, and American schools, hospitals, and corporations. We must never forget the people who lost their minds, health, and sometimes their lives because of human experimentation.

We are now a government of the congress, by the congress, and for the congress. They represent themselves, and sell out to big business and lobbyists. Washington is a giant feeding trough! They are the new aristocracy.

"Inflation is under control," for congress—when prices go up they vote a raise: nine raises in ten years, when the minimum wage stayed at $5.25 an hour! Millions can’t give themselves a raise, and the dollar plunged to $.67 in the last five years (Consumer Price Index). They say, "If you have no bread, why can’t you eat cake?" Congress has full medical coverage for themselves and their families (paid by us), plus a cushy retirement plan along with other perks, and many of them even steal. Yet we have 46,000,000 citizens with no medical insurance.

There is little difference between Republicans and Democrats; both have crooks in their party. At the next election, vote only for those running against an incumbent up for re-election. Vote for the strongest opponent; ignore party—there is little difference, and an Independent vote divides the opposition and the incumbent always wins. Let’s throw out the incumbents, and those winning should get the message that if they don’t represent us, they will be out in following elections. If even 20% or 30% of voters do this we can clean up Washington, and do it at the ballot box.

We no longer have a democratic, representative government. Let’s reclaim it.

“Single-Payer FAQ,” suggested that a single-payer healthcare system in the United States would, among other things, generate $630 billion in savings annually and eradicate out-of-pocket costs. By painting this utopian picture, the author fails to acknowledge the devastating impact a single-payer system could have if it was implemented in the United States.

Contrary to the author’s depiction, virtually all countries with a single-payer system have been plagued by problems including substandard care, loss of physicians and healthcare rationing. The problem for these countries is that under a single-payer system the government holds a monopoly over healthcare coverage, offering one insurance plan option with no alternatives. That means if the government reduces funding or denies coverage for procedures deemed too costly, citizens either have to forgo those life-saving treatments or finance them out-of-pocket.

Furthermore, any savings brought by the system would be quickly eaten up by increased use, bureaucratic inefficiencies would replace free-market systems, and the result would be an over-burdened, under-funded system.

It is laughable to believe that under a single-payer system Americans would be “free to choose any doctor or hospital or other service that you need." Neither Medicaid nor Medicare offer this liberal policy, yet the author would like for us to believe that by opening the floodgates to all Americans we will be able to simply assign ourselves to doctors at will and get the services we need.

There is no denying the need for healthcare reform; however, a single-payer system is not the answer.

The Bush administration wants the federal government to agree to advanced weapon deals with Saudi Arabia and several other non-democracies. Saudi Arabia is a dictatorship. The royal family [House of Saud] is against democracy, equality, human rights, and civil liberties. Women only have what rights their men give them. The Bible is banned, and any citizen who converts to Christianity can be executed. Osama bin Laden and most of the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Many say these weapons deals are a good counter to Iran. Don't forget that our government used to support Saddam Hussein as a counter to Iran. Our government should support secular democracies, not theocratic dictatorships.

On July 2nd, Governor Martin O'Malley released the "EmPOWER Maryland" initiative, through which he intends to reduce statewide energy consumption 15% by 2015. In his release, the Governor has outlined how the state government will act to conserve energy, and has assured solutions for the lay person to follow at the July 25th energy summit. This initiative is a great step in the right direction, yet its effect is questionable. A reduction in energy usage does not address the problem of where we source our energy, and rather misleads Maryland residents into believing that they are on the fast track to a sustainable future. What Maryland really needs, in order to work towards a statewide policy of sustainability, is mandatory science-based reductions in global warming pollution: 20% by 2020, and 80% by 2050.

Isn't there some way that we can get a petition going all over the internet to get people to sign their names to and that will be forwarded to our "representatives" who are supposed to do what we put them in office to do? Pelosi should be at the top of the list. We don't need any more croneyism up there. What does she mean when she says she "won't pursue" impeachment? If impeachment's what the people want, that's what she is supposed to do: represent!

Why are we not surprised about this latest travesty of justice with the "Commuting" of Scooter Libby?

Isn't this what we've come to expect from the "Worst President Ever" and his "Vice"?

A circle of criminals, each holding "the goods" on each other: As long as no-one "squeals" they'll be well taken care of (unlike the American People!).

This is why we need to impeach Bush and Cheney, before they all slither out of here with their secrets and their entire criminal cabal in tow.

And we'd better do it quick, because the Neocons have no intention of allowing this election, where the American People will surely kick them out, to happen! There will quite possibly be another "spectacular" terror attack this summer, all right, and it will be the excuse to call off the election and call in martial law, with dissenters sent to FEMA "Camps." And then there will most probably be another war, because they'll find some Iranians to pin it on this time!

No wonder Bush isn't worried about "commuting" Libby, or the country's reaction to yet another slap in our collective faces!

I am glad that information about some of the CIA's past illegal, unethical, and immoral actions are going to be released. Those of you that are forgetful, or ignorant of history, should keep in mind that this information is nothing new. Here is the funny part. Most, if not all, of these past abuses are now legal, or at least acceptable, because of the Global War on Terror.

Re: Paul Craig Roberts' "The Reign of the Tyrants is at Hand," I completely agree. This is a regime that answers to no one except, possibly, their benefactors—giant corporations, who are themselves anything but democratic. There is a good piece in the current issue of Harper's magazine entitled: “State of Exception, Bush’s war on the rule of law.” It goes into great detail about the troubles of the Habeas lawyers trying to represent prisoners at Guantanamo. They have been completely demonized and mistreated by the government. It is amazing that they even continue to do this work pro-bono. These are some of the most prestigious law firms in the U.S.and the administration is doing what they can to persuade major corporations not to deal with them because they are helping “terrorists.” It is completely disgusting. It leaves no doubt whatsoever as to who the greater enemy is in our midst.

How long will George W. Bush and his administration continue to support the Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharaff? General Musharaff overthrew a democratically elected prime minister in a military coup, and declared himself president. Later he was ''elected." Of course, he didn't have any opponents running against him.

Just in the last few weeks he has cracked down on the media, suspended a chief justice, detained hundreds of opposition party members, and banned the gathering of 5 or more people. Pakistan has weapons of mass destruction, and I keep reading that Osama bin Laden [remember him?] is hiding out along the Pakistani border. But President Bush will continue to support General/President Musharaff as long as he [sort of ] supports the Global War on Terror.

I wonder which side ''our'' government would be on if there was a Global War on Dictatorships? Our country should should support civilian democracies and oppose military dictatorships.