The American Spectator

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR
Re: George Neumayr’s Cardinal Stonewaller:

You can almost hear Neumayr frothing at the mouth in this column. He hates gays; he hates Vatican II; he hates contemporary Catholic education; he hates the liturgy in languages that people can understand; he hates the new cathedral; and he hates Cardinal Mahony. I wouldn’t be surprised if he also hates air conditioning, automobiles, telephones and indoor plumbing, too.

Neumayr is a garden variety bandwagoner who is taking advantage of the sexual abuse situation to get in a few cheap, free swings at the church. He even admits to that near the end of his column! The column itself is so full of inaccuracies and falsehoods that it sets new, lower standards for journalistic irresponsibility.

When it comes to his misinformed and specious claims that the church is not seeking reconciliation and healing, Neumayr might as well be talking about himself. He doesn’t give a hoot what happens to victims, as long as he gets to use them to pummel the church back into the 14th century, where he undoubtedly believes it should have stayed.

The church will continue to reach out to help victims heal, and it will resist the exploitation of this episode in our church’s history by medievalists like George Neumayr.
— Tod M. Tamberg
Office of Media Relations
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

BELT WAYS
Re: Jeremy Lott’s Crash Test Dummies:

I couldn’t agree with your seat belt article more. Seat belts have become yet another intrusive campaign by the “Nanny State” for our own good. When the state of Maryland first passed its mandatory seat belt law here, we were assured that policemen (policepersons?) would not pull us over for not buckling up, although they might issue a ticket for just that if a malefactor were pulled over for something else. Oh, yeah, I was reassured. Sure enough, on the recommendation of regulators trying to justify their salaries, the law got tightened up a few years later.

Now we have “Click it or ticket,” which is both a sentence fragment and a guarantee that you are not safe from the state while otherwise legally trundling down the road eating your hamburger, combing your hair and talking on your cell phone. What’s next? Cameras at intersections that automatically send out tickets if you have not strapped on your vehicle, if your hands are not at the 10-2 position and if you are not wearing sun glasses to counteract the glare? Oops! Forget I said that; we don’t want to give the do-gooders any more ideas.
— S. Craig Taylor, Jr.

PERFECT LIES
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.’s Living Hillary:

You wrote a great column on Hillary’s claims about when she first learned of Clinton’s affair with Monica. Of all her many misrepresentations over the years, this is the most flamboyant, the most defiantly in-your-face, surpassing even her account of how she made $100,000 in her one and only venture into the futures market. But, sorry to have to say, she’ll get away with this one, just as she got away with the others.
— Fred Asselin
East Hampton, NY

Your article regarding Hillary Clinton’s new book and her propensity for untruths is marvelous. I hope it is disseminated far and wide. I know I am going to do my part.
— Carol Pollard
San Francisco, CA

HIRELINGS
Re: Wlady Pleszczynski’s All Kidding Aside:

“Paul Silas gets fired by New Orleans, and is quickly scooped up by Cleveland. Larry Brown quits Philadelphia and a week later is hired by Detroit. Maurice Cheeks wants to leave Portland to coach Philadelphia (which would create a tenth opening).”

Notice the hierarchy of hirings though. Paul Silas gets the worst possible job due to his being fired from an average team for an average record and probably his age and/or financial status.

Larry Brown, having earned respect over the last 31 years, goes to a team better than the one he left behind. This smacks of European soccer, only instead of Milan and Juve we have Allen the juvenile.