BALL FORE
Re: Paul Beston’s Confessions of a Front-Running Turncoat:
Paul Beston’s essay is interesting. I lived in the New York area for two and a half years, and loved listening to the Yankees on the radio, particularly in the last year with their wonderful new broadcast team of John Stirling and Charlie Stiner. Stirling said something interesting about the difference between the Yankees and other teams.
It’s not just money or markets, he said. Chicago, as he pointed out, is every bit as vital and powerful a commercial marketplace as New York. And the last time any Chicago team made a run at a national championship was 1959, when the White Sox met the Dodgers. “Forty years without a national championship,” Stirling said, “is not just a matter of money. That’s bad management.”
And I have to agree.
— Lawrence Henry
North Andover, MA
I loved Paul Beston’s piece on baseball. He offers a deep understanding of baseball and its fans, as well as the humorous side of baseball loyalty. I enjoyed reading his article and hope there are more like it in the future.
— Veronica Delora
Obviously Mr. Beston voted for Al Gore. Go with the favorite, and that’s what you get.
— Jim Stevenson
Paul Beston replies: Alas for Mr. Stevenson, the more I rooted for the Yankees, the further I moved to the Right. But that’s another story. Sorry to disappoint him, but I suppose I already have.
GRANITE CRAGS
Re: The Washington Prowler’s A Republican New Jersey:
I had voted for Buffalo Bob Smith in previous elections but his RINO behavior (running as an “Independent” for President, refusing to back the ANWR drilling, the caving in to PETA-philes, etc.)in the last couple of years definitely made it a no-brainer to vote for John Sununu in the primary. This latest idiocy (his agreeing to a write-in campaign for himself) only proves his unworthiness for re-election. His supporters say it’s better to elect the wretched Shaheen than support John Sununu. How about a few choruses of “The World Turned Upside Down”?
Shaheen, by the way, is playing strictly by the Clinton/McAwful Rule Book. She proclaims herself “independent” rather than a DemocRAT, at least for the election, hoping that people forget her liberal twittism as Governor.
— Gene Smith
Contoocook, NH
The Sununu camp and Judd Gregg are trying to get Bob Smith to attend the rally with the President this Saturday morning in Manchester. If Smith appears, it will be a great coup for Sununu.
— S.C. Selby
MARYLAND UNARMED
Re: Reid Collins’s To Be Tried By Twelve?:
Mr. Collins is right on the money, but I don’t agree with the part “it would be useless to speculate …” (What if the victims had been armed? What about the pilots on Sept. 11, 2001?) What the hey? How’s it useless to speculate?
The answer is: Then, even if the confrontation with the murderer in Maryland had turned out bloody, he would not have gone on to kill more (at least, the next day). So, if the first possible victim had been armed, he might be alive and unhurt today, and definitely the other four would be.
Other answer (Sept. 11): I don’t see any argument against the fact that 3,000 New Yorkers would be alive today (and many thousands more not maimed), if at least one flight officer, or cabin crew, on the aircraft that hit the World Trade Center had been armed. Whether any of the aircraft would have gone into the ground in the struggle, that is hard to figure in hindsight. They wouldn’t have gotten to New York City, though.
I don’t find it useless at all to speculate — it just shows how much bloodshed can be caused indirectly by political correctness (and ignorance of the United States Constitution).
— Jimmy Antley
ANOTHER PINK SPOTTING
Re: Editor’s Note Pretty in Pink:
From [Wednesday] morning’s Maureen Dowd column:
“We’ve got Tom Daschle in a lipstick-pink tie practically having a
drama-queen breakdown on the floor of the Senate about being the victim of those nasty White House bullies.”
— unsigned
BUTTER KNIFER
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.’s A Fat Little Butter Ball:
Other than Sen. Frank Church, this “fat little butterball” has as much to do with the Intelligence “Failures” of 9-11 as any one lawmaker in the United States.
Acting on behalf of a female constituent married to a leftist Marxist Honduran who had “disappeared” some years earlier, the “Torch” (gas powered?) held Senate hearings showing the security services of this Central American republic somehow were supported by, and taught State Sponsored Torture with the aid and knowledge of, the American Central Intelligence Agency. I still recall the lefties becoming semi-orgasmic during Senate hearings as Senator Torricelli produced “Torture Instruction Manuals” supposedly (or indeed) published by the CIA .
The result of this political piling on were amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act which forbade American Intelligence operatives from consorting with foreign nationals with human rights abuses or criminal convictions on their records. (According to Sen. Kennedy, however, this should not prevent such criminals from being admitted to the United States on tourist or worker visas.)
Since we could now only consult with foreign “boy scouts” (oops – not if they’re homophobes) or Kiwanis Club members; we were further blinded in HUMINT (Human Intelligence) activities already castrated by former CIA Director Stansfield Turner (a Carter appointee).
Other “attitudes” that came into the Intelligence community during this liberal inspired feeding frenzy included raising the bar of evidence necessary to obtain search warrants for FBI surveillance of foreign nationals within the United States. FBI lawyers and supervisors denied search warrants to its agents tracking Middle Eastern flight school students learning only how to “aim” airplanes in Minnesota and Florida flight schools.
When Torricelli asked Congress to investigate the “Intelligence Failures” of 9-11, I almost fell out of chair. He was the cause! Oh, former Sen. Lautenberg is just as bad, if not worse, when it comes to intelligence castration laws!
— Mike Horn
LTC, Military Intelligence
US Army Reserve, retired
Tracy, CA
I am confused. How does Mr. Tyrrell really feel about the Torch?
— Elliot Ganz
CHOICE WORDS
Re: The Washington Prowler’s Torricelli Trauma Center and The Torch’s Afterburn:
The Prowler makes some good points but fails to just tell the truth — Democrats are corrupt, sleazy, unethical, lying, sleazy, traitorous useful idiot, crooked, SCUM!
Let’s see: if Lautenberg wins, can he then just hand the seat back over to Torricelli? Why not?! The law, as we’ve seen, means nothing to Democrats! And when the law goes against them they feel “like we were screwed”?
Add childish to my list of adjectives!
— Greg Barnard
Franklin, TN
P.S. Bob Clement is down 15-20 points in Tennessee vs. Lamar! Alexander — time for another switch-a-roo?
I am so sick and tired of these manipulative tactics, I could puke. The only solution to this mess and the corrupt politicians is term-limits, period. No power, no pension, no graft for favors, 2 terms in and they’re out, period.
But of course, this will never happen in my lifetime. The N.J. Supreme Court will do what the Florida Supreme Court did, change the rules in the middle of an election; it will go to the U.S. Supreme Court and the demorats will have another cry-baby session. Wake up America!…
— MaryAnn Hogan
Freedom, NH
As a casual observer of our political culture I was confounded by the Torricelli thing. With time to reflect, I have drawn my own conclusion (without witnessing any of the endless talking heads in our media). It became clear because the Carnahan and Torricelli stories came out so close together.
Here it goes:
If a dead man can win a Senate seat in Missouri, then there’s a good chance a nonperson Democrat can win in New Jersey. Both states have Democrat governors with power of appointment. Torricelli was losing because as his rap sheet grew he became a less and less attractive candidate. He could surely lose the race. A nonperson has no rap sheet, only party loyalty. Again, if a dead man can win why not a nonperson?
I predict the soft money attack ads against Forrester will be unprecedented. The National Democratic Committee will flood him with negative publicity and he will have no one to respond to. Clearly there’s no gray area regarding whether you’re advocating a candidate when there is none. All the soft money of the DNC is now New Jersey’s candidate’s money. The spin of “Forrester has no positions only that he’s not Torricelli” was starting right after the tearful press conference.
We should all beware of the ensuing legal wrangling over a replacement candidate — it’s a red herring. It’s a great vehicle to stir the base with and there’s a bigger Democrat base in New Jersey to be stirred. Republicans should not respond to the replacement issue in public debate only quietly pursue the legal issue in filings.
— Howard Wimbrow
Ocean City, MD
