LTTE: Issue is about POWER, not Terri Schaivo

[TWiley]

I borrowed (possibly plagerized?) some folks here at DU to write this letter to the editor. Did I violate any ethical rules (I am no writer) by submitting this? I was irritated by a news story, and submitted this letter before I completely thought this matter through. Here is the letter:


When George Bush was governor of Texas, he signed a bill into law which gave the decision of life and death to the health care industry. If the hospital determined that the patient would not improve, and the family could not afford the care, then hospital can withdraw treatment after 10 days. During this time, the family is expected to find a hospital that will treat their child. If no facility is found, then the hospital can withdraw treatment (remove a feeding tube) even against the family's wishes.

After signing this Texas bill into law, supporting the execution of retarded children, killing 100,000 Iraqi's and 1,600 Americans to advance his families business interests in the middle east, why are George Bush and the Neo-Cons suddenly interested in a single dying woman? I believe this answer is clear.

These actions amount to a shameless power grab designed to dissolve the Constitutional separation of powers which exist between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of our government. George Bush wants the Federal Courts to be beholden to his wishes and is using this emotional issue to energize the fundamentalists into pressing support for his judicial appointments.

This is the Bushtapo's Caligula Moment. They are testing their power now that they control both the Executive and Legislative branches with their aggressive design on the Judicial branch. Caligula appointed his horse as Consul much the same way that Bush is putting the Federal Government in the harness of a small extreme faction of the religious right by perusing this issue under such false pretenses. They are daring the Secular Humanists to call him insane. Those who do will be burned publicly at the stake, and the complete power of this extremist faction of the Republican party over every aspect of our Federal Government, and your lives will come to pass.

If they pull off this fraud, then the days of religious extremists
actively sacrificing our virgins to the Volcano's of religious emotionalism will have surely returned.

[gratuitous]

1. I don't think it's plagiarism

You didn't lift someone else's work wholesale for the letter, did you (which, by the way, is pretty good but somewhat overlong)? You assembled facts, arranged them in your own way, and wrote your letter based on those facts.

Perfectly all right; students all over the world do exactly the same thing.

[TWiley]

4. Thank you,

I feel much better now. The plagerism issue was bothering me, and I am totally ignorant of those proceedures and customs.

Yes, the letter is long, but there is a weekly publication that wants to publish it just as it is. I missed the deadline by a couple hours, so it will be printed in next weeks issue. By then, the issue will probably be a dead one anyway.

[ultraist]

6. Great! You already have a hit to get it published.

Congrats and thanks for taking the time to speak out.

Generally, for LTTE, you don't have to worry about citing sources unless you use a direct quote.

Sometimes, it's helpful to cite where your info comes from to lend creditability to what you are saying. For instance, if you were to cite the number of those in poverty, you could simply say, 'according the US Census Bureau, 35 million Americans live in poverty.' But again, it's not necessary to cite sources in a LTTE.

Well done!

[gratuitous]

7. Hey, if they print it in its entirety, great!

Generally speaking (for daily newspapers) two or three short paragraphs are more likely to get printed; it's almost like writing haiku. But if this is a weekly paper and will run your letter whole, that's great. It will have a longer shelf life (more people will read it and have time to digest it during the publication run), and will be more likely to have an impact.

Good for you. You say it's your first letter; here's hoping it's not your last!

[Ilsa]

2. Excellent letter. I hope the metaphors catch on! n/t

[MindPilot]

3. Great letter!! Hope it gets printed without too much editing

And for the record, I remain opposed to wasting perfectly good virgins

[Just Me]

5. I like it.

The focus on abuse of power is important and impactful. The last few sentences will likely be perceived as over the top though.