House of Eratosthenes

I was reading Boortz’s web site and I ran across two letters he had lifted from the Naples Daily News. He managed to make what could be an embarrassing link between two letters there, one from “Kevin Kittle” and one from “Cynthia Odierna,” each of whom had apparently been using the same form letter to promulgate the notion that we should get out of Iraq post haste. Both letters were printed on July 7, one right next to the other (link requires registration). The editors chose “Bring them home” as the headline for Kittle’s letter and “Bring them home II” for Odierna’s. That’s a little bit ill-advised, I think, because it strongly implies that the form-letter campaign went sliding under the radar of the Letters editor. Each letter begins exactly the same way, “It’s time to start responsibly coming home from Iraq” — no really, EXACTLY, word for word, go ahead and look ’em up — and from that opening passage things slide further downhill.

Neal Boortz ran a copy of the Kittle letter first, then ran the Odierna letter, highlighting the sections that were verbatim copies of the Kittle letter. I’ll include just the Odierna letter, with Neal’s highlights, to show what this problem looks like. Here is your link to Neal’s posting.

Daily News:

It’s time to start responsibly coming home from Iraq. Stop the bloodbath. Save our troops and conserve precious lives of the people defending turf, autonomy, patrimony and their oil.

Iraq’s no closer to stability than it was a year ago. Things keep getting worse.

More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and more than 12,000 mutilated. We don’t even bother to keep count of Iraqi casualties in a war they didn’t provoke.

The U.S. occupation is fueling a growing insurgency. Our presence exacerbates the problem. There are tens of thousands of insurgents backed by hundreds of thousands of supporters.

We got into this war based on lies � the wrong way. It’s time to get out the right way.

Bush policy is out of touch with reality.

We need a real exit plan with a real timeline providing real accountability for our leaders. We need to turn control of the training of Iraqi forces and the rebuilding of Iraq over to the international community. And we must renounce permanent military bases in Iraq. Justifiably that angers more than just Iraqi people, sending a bad message to the rest of the world.

These colors don’t run … the world!

The Bush administration spends billions to kill children overseas, but is a cheapskate with education at home.

He asked for $80 billion to fund the war, and fancy that, $79 billion is being cut from social benefits here.

� Cynthia Odierna / Naples

This got me to thinking. There is often no anti-plagiarism policy in “letters to the editor”, or if indeed there is one, it can’t be a firing offense since authors of such letters don’t work for the paper. Our freedom of speech, unless someone wants to specifically address the issue of plagiarism, must necessarily include copying each other. There’s nothing inherently harmful in saying essentially “I agree with what that guy said, over there” as long as you really do feel that way and are okay with letting people know. The danger this practice represents, is what is between the lines. The dishonesty. The insincerity. The spirit of the Kittle/Odierna letter-cluster, is that it’s inherently obvious to anyone paying attention we should be doing what Kittle/Odierna Borg Collective is telling us to do.

And yet if it is inherently obvious, why do you have to point it out multiple times in a letter writing campaign? To those of us too stupid to catch on, one letter should educate us about our mental weaknesses; if that doesn’t do the trick, a second letter isn’t likely to penetrate our thick skulls.

Well the answer is, the entire premise is flawed. What’s supposed to be inherently obvious, is in fact, not.

So then, isn’t it problematic to hatch this letter-writing campaign that must include:

Carol Steward, Long Lake, July 5, Aberdeen News: “It’s time to start responsibly coming home from Iraq. We got into this war based on lies – the wrong way. It’s time to get out the right way. The president offered nothing new in his speech. No plan. No exit strategy. Nothing. The Bush policy is out of touch with reality.”
Robbi Kane, Novato, July 8, Marin Independent Journal: “It’s time to start responsibly coming home from Iraq. Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago. Things keep getting worse every week. More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded.”
Bonnie Barron, Arcadia, June 29, Orange County Register (link requires registration): “President Bush’s address to the nation in front of a staged audience of soldiers at Fort Bragg, N.C., showed how out of touch he is with reality, the American people and the rest of the world. Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago. Things get worse every week. The U.S. occupation is fueling a growing insurgency. We got into this war based on lies – the wrong way. It’s time to get out the right way. We need a real exit plan with a real timeline providing real accountability for our leaders.” — Bonnie is upset that the audience was staged. That’s kind of rich.
Kathleen View, Chemung, July 8, Star-Gazette.com: “The president offered nothing new in his speech June 28. No plan. No exit strategy. Nothing. Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago. Things keep getting worse every week. More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded. The U.S. occupation is fueling a growing insurgency. Our presence is exacerbating the problem. We got into this war based on lies, the wrong way. It’s time to get out, the right way. The first step is to realize that the Bush policy is out of touch with reality. We need a real exit plan with a real timeline providing real accountability for our leaders. We need to turn control of the training of Iraqi forces and the rebuilding of Iraq to the international community. And we must renounce permanent military bases in Iraq because that angers the Iraqi people.”
Jim Gettins, Santa Cruz, June 30, Santa Cruz Sentinel: “We got into this war based on lies � the wrong way. It�s time to get out the right way. The first step is to realize that the Bush policy is out of touch with reality. I left in the middle of his speech tonight to place a “Visualize Impeachment” sticker on my bumper.”
Margaret Haracz, Mundelein, July 6, Chicago Sun-Times: “We got into this war based on lies — the wrong way. It’s time to get out the right way. The first step is to realize that the Bush policy is out of touch with reality and we as citizens must demand accountability from the administration and ourselves.”
Michael Nourse, Hollywood, June 30, Los Angeles Times: “We got into this war based on lies � the wrong way. It’s time to get out the right way. The first step is to realize that the Bush policy is out of touch with reality.”
Mark Seiler and Linda Voss, Chapel Hill, July 3, Chapel Hill News: “Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago. Things keep getting worse every week. More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded. The U.S. occupation is fueling a growing insurgency. Our presence is exacerbating the problem. There are tens of thousands of insurgents backed by hundreds of thousands of supporters. We got into this war based on lies — the wrong way. It is time to get out the right way. The first step is to realize that the Bush policy is out of touch with reality. We need a real exit plan with a real timeline providing real accountability for our leaders. We need to turn control of the training of Iraqi forces and the rebuilding of Iraq to the international community. And we must renounce permanent military bases in Iraq because that angers the Iraqi people.”
Jeff Barrett, Newport Center, July 4, Burlington Free Press: “There are tens of thousands of insurgents backed by hundreds of thousands of supporters. We got into this war based on lies — the wrong way. It’s time to get out the right way. The first step is to realize that the Bush policy is out of touch with reality. We were lied to, there are no weapons of mass destruction, now our finest are dying in Iraq, and we demand to know when they can come home. Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago. Things keep getting worse every week. More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded. We need a real exit plan with a real timeline providing real accountability for our leaders. We need to turn control of the training of Iraqi forces and the rebuilding of Iraq to the international community.”
Brian Gregory, Bremerton, July 3, Kitsap Sun (link requires registration): “It’s time to start responsibly coming home from Iraq. The president offered nothing new in his speech. No plan. No exit strategy. Nothing! Instead he kept mentioning September 11, which had nothing to do with Iraq. Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago. Things keep getting worse every week. More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded. The U.S. occupation is fueling a growing insurgency and our presence is exacerbating the problem. There are tens of thousands of insurgents backed by hundreds of thousands of supporters. We got into this war based on lies, the wrong way, so it’s time to get out the right way. The first step is to realize that the Bush policy is out of touch with reality. We need a real exit plan with a real time line providing real accountability from the president to our military leaders. We need to turn control of the training of Iraqi forces and the rebuilding of Iraq to the international community.”
Hank Wallace, Gretna, July 2, Times-Picayune: “More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded, not to mention the almost 100,000 Iraqi civilians, mostly women and children, that have also been killed and maimed…The U.S. occupation is fueling a growing insurgency. Our presence is exacerbating the problem….Bush got us into this war based on lies — the wrong way. It’s time to get out the right way. The first step is to realize that the Bush policy is out of touch with reality…We need a real exit plan with a real timeline providing real accountability from our leaders. We need to turn control of the training of Iraqi forces and the rebuilding of Iraq over to the international community. And we must renounce permanent military bases in Iraq because that angers the Iraqi people. We also need to have Bush come clean with us about his lies and fixed intelligence that got us there.”
Andrew Pearson, July 4, Bella Ciao: “Whats any different about Iraq? Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago. Things keep getting worse every week. More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and 12,000 or more wounded. We need to honor their sacrifices by ensuring that no more die in a war that is not necessary. The rebuilding of Iraq look more like an auction of Iraq�s resources and public assets to U.S. Corporations who are their to make a quick buck. If Bush was really committed to reconstruction, he would secure the funds for the Iraqi people to decide how to do it themselves. It�s time to start responsibly coming home from Iraq. We need a real exit plan with a real timeline and real accountability. We need to turn control of training Iraqi forces and rebuilding Iraq to the international community. And we must renounce permanent military bases in Iraq.”
Linda Butters, Carmel, July 2, Monterey Herald: “We got into this war based on lies. Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago. Our presence is only exacerbating the problem. How many must die senselessly, how many must be wounded in service to their country and these unjustified war games? Bush said, ‘We are fighting against men with blind hatred — and armed with lethal weapons — who are capable of any atrocity.’ I think he is describing us! Please, can’t all this insanity stop? War is never the solution. We need a real exit plan with a real time line and accountability from our leaders. We need to stop the lies, stop the smoke and mirror stories and responsibly wage peace. Please.”
Linda Seely, San Luis Obispo, July 1, The Tribune SanLuisObispo.com: “The truth is that Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago. More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded. More than 100,000 Iraqis have been killed and uncounted numbers wounded. The U.S. occupation is fueling the insurgency rather than quelling it. We got into this war based on lies. It’s time to get out of it based on the truth of the situation. We need an exit plan with a real timeline; we need to turn the control of the training of Iraqi forces over to the Iraqis; and we need to turn the rebuilding of Iraq over to the international community. We must renounce permanent military bases in Iraq and hold to that promise.”
Carol Inman, Seattle, June 30, Seattle P-I: “There was nothing new in the president’s speech Tuesday. No plan to exit, no strategy. Nothing. Iraq is no closer to stability now than it was one year ago. Things are getting worse each week. More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded. These are our brothers, sister, parents, children and friends. The U.S. occupation is fueling a growing insurgency. Our presence is making the problem grow. There are tens of thousands of insurgents backed by hundreds of thousands of supporters. We got into this war based on lies. It is time to get out the right way. The first step is to realize that Bush’s policy is out of touch with reality. We need a real exit plan with a real timeline with real accountability for our leaders. We need to turn control of the training of Iraqi forces and the rebuilding of the country to the international community. We must renounce permanent military bases in Iraq because that angers the Iraqi people. Support our troops by bringing them home.”

Now, all this text links back to a posting on Hugh Hewitt’s blog on June 28, about a form letter sent out by MoveOn.Org to MoveOn supporters. The form letter included a template with the following words of introduction:

Politicians will be watching the letter-to-the-editor pages closely, and newspapers are likely to print letters on what will be the major story of the week. If we’re able to push back hard enough, we can build a drumbeat for a real exit plan.

We’ve set up an online tool that makes submitting a letter easy. Tonight, you can watch President Bush’s speech and then immediately go online and write a letter to the editor by clicking below. (We’ll update our suggestion for the best thing to write about 30 minutes after his speech ends.)

And the rest is history. You can go through the template, and you’ll find it all: Time to responsibly start getting out…started the war based on lines…1700 killed, 12,000 wounded…exit plan with real timeline, blah blah blah.

What, if anything, is the problem with this tactic? It depends on whether you like to make the really big, important decisions in life, based on how you feel, versus what you think. If feelings are important to you, then no meaningful deception has taken place here. It looks like a zillion people feel a certain way about our presence in Iraq, and when you do some digging, you’re likely to find out that zillion people really do feel that way.

But if you like to make decisions like this based on thinking, then a terrible deception has taken place. The authors of these letters are reciting certain facts, or “meta-facts”. Iraq is a mess, it’s no better than it was a year ago, this-many people have been killed, that-many people have been wounded, Bush got us into this based on lies. This bit about releasing jurisdiction to “the international community” is particularly troubling — the REAL facts, it turns out, don’t support that course of action at all. Is it really helpful to coerce our politicians to do this, with a fraudulent letter-writing campaign channeled through ordinary newspaper readers, lending their good names to the agenda of elites because they simply don’t know any better?

The rest of these “factoids” are things that can be logically proven or refuted. And some among them may very well be true…but the authors of these letters do not know! They are trying to strong-arm their audience into circumventing the necessary research, as they did, by blasting that audience in stereo.

Entirely valid approach with feelings. Not with thoughts.

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It’s Time To Start Responsibly Writing Your Own StuffFriday, July 8th, 2005

It’s Time To Start Responsibly Writing Your Own Stuff
Friday, July 8th, 2005