The American Spectator

Reader Mail

On the Ball

5.24.02 @ 12:01AM

STEADY PROGRESS
Re: Jackie Mason and Raoul Felder's American Jews and Israel:

I for one, gentlemen, and my nephew for another, and perhaps my son, too -- are avid Jewish supporters of the Republican Party -- and I am optimistic that we are among a growing group of converts from Democratic Party idiocy.
-- Robert Kirsh

FREELY AVAILABLE
Re: Jeremy Lott's The Real Paper of Record:

Outstanding piece on USA Today. One addition about distribution: You mentioned that readers in your small home town can buy USAT at various outlets. My parents, who live in rural western Pennsylvania, actually have it delivered. This supplements our local daily, which is ambitious but unable to focus any resources further afield than the county level.

I might add that although me an' the kin are simple yokels, the folks would probably prefer the WSJ or NYT. Despite being ensconced in Red State wonderland, they know all about the foibles of the various national offerings. Unfortunately for them, any of the others would be prohibitively expensive -- and probably arrive days late. Kudos to USAT for providing a product that people can actually track down -- even if the coast-bound elites look down their noses at people who would dare form their world-view over a double-meat sausage McMuffin with egg, two hash browns and extra-hot coffee minus the -ccino/-latte conceit. I'll point your article out to them -- they will be glad to hear that the rumors about USAT's inferiority are mostly just silly exaggerations. They were beginning to suspect as much anyway.
-- Sam MacDonald

USA Today is given free at nearly every major hotel chain in the country. I would not buy the paper as I still think it leans to the left, however when someone gives me a copy I tend to page through it. I wonder how this free distribution affects the legitimate readership numbers.
-- Skip Davidhizar

SOCCER TO ME
Re: Jerry Carter's Meet Philip Anschutz:

I'm a conservative and I'm not suspicious of soccer. It just bores my
backside off. I don't find the game un-American. I just find it narcoleptic.

Soccer is the metric system of sports. It's a game for people who visited Europe once and should have stayed there. I guess the game is all right for women, children, and the clergy. But I can't imagine why grown men bother with it.

An otherwise sound friend of mine who played soccer in college is fond of telling me that more people in the world play soccer than any other sport. Perhaps so. But I'm just as fond of pointing out to him that they play it so they don't have to watch it.

OK, I'm being uncharitable. The games we love are the games we learned when we were children. I love baseball (the real beautiful game) because my dad had a baseball glove on my hand before I could stand up. That's why for me baseball is still the most fun you can have with your pants on. So, if there are grownups who get actual pleasure from watching 10 men (or is it 12?) with unpronounceable names dash about in their underwear for hours kicking a checkered ball to determine who wins 1-0 (while their low forehead fans maim each other in the stands), well, there's just no accounting for taste. Heck, I understand you can buy sushi in some major league ball parks (most of them on the planet California). Life is nothing if not mysterious.
-- Larry Thornberry
Tampa, FL

P.S. Speaking of soccer moms -- let us all pray that they never stop worrying about their weight long enough to realize what a complete lock they have on the political process in America.

SILENT TREATMENT
Re: George Neumayr's Momentum Stopper:

Mr. Neumayr's article is pretty much on target, except for one omission: the state's press outside of the Los Angeles Times. I'm a resident of California's middle portion and therefore have the McClatchy family's (NYT Sulzberger wannabes') Sacramento Bee as my primary print media news source for state and local happenings.

In this organ of the Democratic Party William Simon seems to not exist, except as a peripheral to Davis. Just today, an article, based on a Simon accusation of incompetence and malfeasance on the part of the governor and his cronies, had one paragraph, out of dozens, with Simon's name in it. All other paragraphs were spins by Davis appointees and consultants.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Sports, Hollywood, Military, Israel, NATO