PRO SPIRO
Re: John Corry’s Moving
On and Jerry Carter’s In
This Corner…:
Thanks for John Corry’s piece on New York and Washington — as
usual, highly intelligent and acutely perceptive. As for Jerry
Carter, all writers on deadline know what it is to try to make
something out of nothing or to round off a trite observation with
strained wit. But please, no more gratuitous whacks at Spiro Agnew.
Conservatives may not always retrieve their wounded. But we don’t
need to shoot our dead.
— John R. Coyne
GERMANY’S SLOW RECOVERY
Re: Hans Nichols’ An
Anti-American Election:
Those topless billboards sound Weimar-ish; this is all the more
reason to be concerned, for after Weimar comes the reaction.
— Jim Stevenson
I was very interested to read Nichols’ article. Here is Hans
Eichel’s reaction to
Bush’s UN speech today:
“In Germany — where the government has been Europe’s staunchest
opponent of an attack on Iraq — Finance Minister Hans Eichel
warned that a military campaign on Baghdad was the only thing that
could wreck Germany’s economic recovery.”
The only thing, huh?
— Brian Hoffman
While your article raises many good points, there is one element in
the current mix that the author passed over. The impact of the
conversion to the euro on the average German cannot be
underestimated. My parents, both of German birth (and now proud
Americans) recently visited their kin. One of the bits of news they
brought back was the near-universal anger (at least amongst their
friends and kinsmen) over the euro’s impact on their pocket
books.
To put the problem into the simplest of terms, imagine waking up
one morning and finding your paycheck slashed in half, and the
prices for everything you need suddenly 10-50% higher. To put it
mildly, they’re p.o.’d big time. It’ll be interesting as the
election gets closer to see if either candidate plays the “euro
card” against the other.
And you thought Florida was fun.
— Charles D. Ahner
Cincinnati, OH
SO SIOUX ME
Re: Lawrence Henry’s First
Name, Last Name:
I read the thing twice, and I still don’t know if Mr. Henry is
in favor of the use of last names for adults by children or
not.
Personally, I abhor the current “friendliness” because it seems
that everyone, particularly some snot-nosed little kid, starts
addressing me by my first name the instant he/she finds out what it
is, and that, in my humble opinion, is a sign of disrespect.
Sorry, Mr. Henry — if you like it, I don’t, and I find at the
age of 63 that it is simply another way to bypass etiquette. I
correct it every chance I get, and I will continue to do so. My
kids aren’t going to address me by my first name, and even other
adults aren’t going to, unless I allow them to do it first.
It’s well past time to get back to basics.
— (Mr.) Alan R. Huber
Sioux Falls, SD
PUT GOOD THINGS TO LIFE
Re: Michael Craig’s Jane
Welch’s Sour Grapes:
Right on.
— Alfred Stanbury
(Non-whining GE investor)
The Prowler must be hard up for subject matter if we have
to suffer through such a long-winded defense of good old Jack
Welch. I hope Ms. Jane take the deep thinker for all he’s worth.
Let’s stick to the enemies of America, native and foreign.
— Gary Hannah
Shalimar, FL
CONSENSUAL CONFIRMATION
Re: The Prowler’s Judicial
Despair:
I know this idea is not new, but why can’t Bush insist that his
nominees get the benefit of a full Senate vote? They get to advise
and consent, not the judiciary committee, according to the
Constitution, I think.
What the heck, I could be wrong.
— Eugene Hauber
Meshoppen, PA
COLD TURKEY
Re: Jed Babbin’s The
EU’s War on NATO:
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
Jed Babbin claims in “The EU’s War on NATO” that Turkey is made
to jump through hoops before it can become a member of the EU. This
is not the case, there are clearly defined criteria for all
candidates. The most important of these criteria are those
concerning human-rights. Use of torture is even today not uncommon
in Turkey, and it was even more often used in the past. Those
responsible have not been brought to justice.
Turkey’s parliament has just ratified some laws to reduce
human-rights abuses and to abolish the death penalty. If they are
put into practice, there won’t be a serious obstacle for Turkey’s
membership, even though income per-capita in Turkey was below that
of Mexico’s even before the current crisis and is even lower
now.
Turkey and the EU have had a tariff union with each other for
some years now. Turks will probably be able to enter and leave the
EU freely even before membership. I can’t deny that this causes
some trepidation in Germany, because millions of Turks are already
living here, many of whom are showing no signs of assimilation or
at least integration into our society. When their children are put
into schools, they are quite often not fluent in German or they
don’t speak German at all. Even worse, their command of Turkish is
also insufficient, so they won’t be able to take advantage of the
opportunities presented to them by Turkey’s entry into the EU.
Regards,
— Ralf Goergens
Munich
Greatly enjoyed the subject article. I completely agree with your
suggestion of admitting Turkey to NAFTA. But why stop there?
Wouldn’t it be to our advantage to also extend invitations to
England, and of course Australia and New Zealand, along with
Russia? Not only would such a course be good for all involved, the
EU would then merely collapse of its own weight. Its members have
never gotten along, and never will. The French and Germans alone
are enough to make the EU unworkable.
— Douglas L. Allen
“EUnuchs”: Whoever thought of this word is brilliant.
— Michael Greenberg
