The American Spectator

Reader Mail

REICH'S REMARKABLE CAMPING TRIP
Re: The Prowler's Unsafe At Any Speed:

A 1978 motor home? Good Lord what with all his Greenie friends and supporters think? Will they say anything at all? The pollution from a 25-year-old unit like that should be a great way to tweak the little man's nose. Next will come the comments to pick on someone your own size.
-- Roger Ross

Ain't no governor's mansion in Mass. One lives on the economy, theoretically.
-- Bill O.

NO NEW COMPASSION
Re: The Prowler's Will Christie Be First to Leave?

Just a question. Why won't Dubya clean house and get rid of all the Clinton / Gore holdovers? Is Bush 41 still president? I don't know why Dubya is surprised with the way things are going considering all the Clintonites still in office. What's the difference between this administration and the last? As it's turning out, not much. Too bad. I think Dubya had a golden opportunity presented to him to really make a difference in this country. Squandered! Maybe we can get the real deal in 2004. No more Bushes in the White House! Two is enough! What did Bush 41 do to help the economy? What is Bush 43 doing? About the same thing -- nothing! Dubya's economic team is a joke. He won't replace Alan Greenspan. It's like he doesn't care. Will he care after November's election? I hope he's satisfied with his accomplishments thus far, because, I think that's just about all he's going to do. I think the House will be returned to the Democrats plus, the Democrats in the Senate will probably pick up 2 -3 extra seats. All I can do is just wish Dubya the best of luck. This economy is doomed until 2004. Thank you George "can't we all just get along" W. Bush.
-- Ron Norfleet

CNN SIN
Re: George Neumayr's Kill the Rich Politics:

Why am I not surprised that Gray Davis's claim that Bill Simon is not paying his "fair share" in taxes has been echoed -- in exactly the same terms -- by Judy Woodruff on CNN's "Inside Politics"?
-- Warren Mowray

MISSED SIGINT
Just one point of clarification in Jed Babbin's Recovering From Operation Chaos: He writes: "After Watergate, our intelligence community became dependent on 'elint' -- electronically-gathered intelligence…" The more precise term is SIGINT -- signals intelligence, of which ELINT is a subset usually reserved for intelligence derived from non-communications electronic emissions such as radar. Rounding out the traditional categorization of electromagnetic waves zipping around in the ether is SIGINT's other component, COMINT -- communications intelligence -- which is what Mr. Babbin may have meant to emphasize.
-- Mike Cakora
Columbia, SC

GARCETTI CITY
Re: Reid Collins' "... the Law's Delay":

Another wonderful piece. We live in L.A. County -- you are absolutely right about Gil Garcetti and O.J. Another crucial decision which doomed that prosecution was as to venue. Ordinarily the trial takes place where the crime occurs (Santa Monica). Garcetti, for no solid reason, decided the case would be tried "downtown," with predictable consequences. When the civil suit was tried in Santa Monica, the Goldmans prevailed. There also has been speculation that Johnnie Cochran, supposedly a longtime political supporter/contributor to Garcetti, was able to extract this "favor" --the downtown venue.
-- A & D

DALEY DOUBLE
Re: The Prowler's Big Jim and Little Jim:

So Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert suspects treachery over the fundraiser that former Illinois Republican Governor Jim Thompson recently threw for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rod Blagojevich? How come Hastert's instincts aren't so good when it comes to supporting the O'Hare Expansion bill, which virtually gives $6.7 billion to the Daley family (and Terry McAuliffe and John Sweeney) to spend on O'Hare and on defeating Republican candidates across the country for the next generation. Mr. Speaker, this is the same Daley family that tried to steal the Presidential election in Florida! Why are you backing a bill loaded with Daley kool aid?
-- Jack Hughes
Chicago, IL

MISSING EQUIPMENT
re: Mark Goldblatt's Real World Security Testing:

I agree with Mark Goldblatt when he writes, "Maybe, in the future, the Transportation Security Administration will conduct a study that accurately reflects what we know about the demographics of terrorists -- rather than maintaining the pretense that terrorism is an equal-opportunity enterprise. Until then, it can spare us the alarmist results."

While this is valid, I would have hoped the TSA was also testing the equipment and the personnel manning the equipment. If a large percentage of testers are getting through with guns and knives I'd think maybe the focus would be on the x-ray machines and metal detectors at the gate entrance.

But of course I still think it's ridiculous to be answering those Al Gore-like questions, "Has your luggage been in your possession the entire time?" Unless a terrorist was hiding in the trunk of my taxi, I usually answer "yes."
-- Greg Barnard
Franklin, TN

ONCE MORE
Re: Lawrence Henry's The Middle East War Nobody Knows:

Lawrence Henry should be commended for his insightful account of Palestinians who cooperate with Israeli security forces to thwart terrorist violence. Commonly referred to as "informers" or "collaborators," these individuals operate at enormous personal risk, help save lives, and effectively serve as an underground opposition to a system built on little else but violence and hatred. As Mr. Henry suggests, their activities augur the real revolution in Palestinian society.
-- Bruce Warshavsky
Beit Shemesh, Israel

NICELY, NICELY, THANK YOU
Re: Enemy Central's Klay Pigeons:

Should Senator Feingold have responded to Senator Hill, lyrically with, sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down you're rockin' the boat?!
-- Edward Del Colle

topics:
Taxes, Transportation, Law, Israel, NATO