NAP BEFORE THE STORM
Re: Jeremy Lott’s Worst
Case Scenario:
I’m both a two-time ex-Washingtonian and a survivor of Hurricane
Hugo, so I do feel for y’all.
Get a good nap today. If the weather forecast holds for tonight,
you won’t be getting any sleep. Whatever happens, believe me, it
will be easier to bear if you get a nap before the commotion starts
instead of no nap and no sleep between now and maybe noon
Friday.
I faced Hurricane Hugo 200 miles inland from a town just west of
Charlotte, North Carolina, and on three hours’ notice.
Compared to a lot of my neighbors, I got off pretty lightly, but
some of the memories aren’t going to go away.
After 14 years, I still get twitchy and irritated when I hear
chainsaws — because I heard chainsaws constantly for a MONTH after
Hugo hit….
— Elizabeth Whitaker
Easley, SC
TELL IT TO THE INTERNATIONAL COURT
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.’s Arafat
Removal:
Mr. Tyrrell’s suggestion that the Israelis ship Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to Paris to negotiate with Jacques
Chirac shows that Mr. Tyrrell is a typical American cowboy and
unversed in the sophisticated ways of the French and other
important European statesmen.
Mr. Arafat is the duly elected leader of the Palestinian people
having withstood a Democratic election process that would surely
have passed muster with Al Gore and the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals.
As such, Arafat, with the rights afforded and guaranteed to an
international statesman by the UN, cannot simply be exported, like
a case of French brie, to a country not of his choosing, without
the action of the UN Security Counsel, or the approval of Muammar
Qaddafi or Saddam Hussein.
In the event that Chairman Arafat is deprived of his due process
by the Israelis and actually sent into exile in Paris, we would
expect that the Israelis would face charges in the International
Criminal Court in Brussels.
In addition, the suggestion that M. Chirac should have the time
to engage in years of endless negotiations with Chairman Arafat
fails to appreciate the accomplishments of Chirac on the world
stage and reduces Chirac’s status to that of an inconsequential
bureaucrat. Mais, non! He is certainly as accomplished as Kofi
Annan or Howard Dean.
Finally, Mr. Tyrrell’s gratuitous swipe at Chancellor Schroeder
is unconscionable. The Chancellor is a busy European statesman as
well, often engaged in high level negotiations with the German
Foreign Minister. Does Mr. Tyrrell honestly think that Chancellor
Schroeder has time to waste with Arafat between all those
appointments at the beauty parlor and tanning salon?
— John Patterson
New York
ACROSS THE TORRENTS AND INTO THE SPRING
Re: Bill Croke’s It’s
Fall!
Bill must not have run afoul of the worst of all of Hemingway’s
novels, The Torrents of Spring, which was his very first
one. Rumor has it that this was written specifically to break his
contract with a major publishing company and was written by
Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald over a four-day period while both
were roaring drunk. They reportedly took turns on the chapters and
it shows! (Hemingway was fired and then turned A Farewell to
Arms over to his new company for a lot more money.)
— Cookie Sewell
Aberdeen, MD
POWER JUDGING
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.’s Butchered
by Schumer:
Mr. Tyrrell seems to have forgotten the nineties, when
“bitter-end” Republicans held up scores of Clinton’s judicial
nominations, denied him fast-track trade privileges and turned
politically motivated obstructionism into a fine art. Much as he
might like, many Americans of all political stripes simply do not
want to roll over and play dead as the current administration grabs
for yet more power —particularly since it becomes progressively
clearer that it isn’t making our nation safer or more
prosperous.
— Karen M. Foran
I just loved the editorial by Mr. Tyrrell on the selection of
judges. I was wondering if you could reprint the editorial he wrote
when the Clinton selections were held up by the GOP. If memory
serves me correctly, the GOP said that the D.C. court didn’t need
any more judges because it was not hearing a lot of cases. And to
my shock they now want to fill those spots. That would be okay if
the workload had gone up but it hasn’t. The latest numbers show
that the workload has gone down. So why does the GOP want to fill
those spots now? It couldn’t be that the D.C. court is a stepping
stone. It couldn’t be that they want to spend more money by putting
another lawyer to work for the government. I got it now its all
part of Bush’s new employment plan. Gee, I can’t wait till that
plan trickles down to the working class.
— Thomas Scott
SENATE SPLASH
Re: The Washington Prowler’s In
Their Dreams:
Interesting report on Republican difficulties recruiting quality
Senate candidates for ‘04. Probably the reason is candidates follow
the news, too. And they see that while Democrats are busy rousing
their base, the Republicans are doing their darnedest to tamp
theirs down.
I sense a big Republican belly-flop next November.
— Jed Skillman
Winfield, IL
I wanted to ask a question about an item in Wednesday’s “Washington
Prowler”:
“Allen has been putting the hard sell on restaurateur Herman
Cain, an African American, to challenge for that seat. And several
state party officials have thrown their hat in the ring.” Does this
mean that Sen. Allen is encouraging Herman Cain to run for the U.S.
Senate seat in Georgia? Mr. Cain recently announced he was doing
exactly that. Should we then assume that Sen. Allen is supporting
Cain in this race?
I have no dog in this fight, as they say, but there are two
sitting Congressman in the Ga. Senate race on the GOP side.
Cong. Johnny Isakson (Ga. 6) and Cong. Mac Collins (Ga. 8). It
would surprise me if Sen. Allen supported anyone in that race.
I’m just looking for some clarification. :-)
— Buzz Brockway
Lawrenceville, GA
The Prowler replies: It’s not Allen’s
job to endorse or support a candidate but to encourage strong
candidates to run. It’s our understanding the Cain fits the bill,
in part because it’s thought he will have the financial wherewithal
to wage a serious campaign. Money isn’t everything, but there’s no
pretending it’s not a central factor in everyone’s
calculations.
PUNCH DRUNK
Re: George Neumayr’s One
Minority, Two Votes:
Regarding “One Minority, Two Votes,” by George Neumayr, isn’t
the 9th Circuit Court’s — and the ACLU’s — fear based on the
understanding that more blinkered and confused people tend to want
to vote for Democrats, and that they should be given voting
technology that will override their ineptitude? As I recall, this
was one of the problems in Florida in 2000 — that a massive
Democratic voter drive was not followed up with a
“how-to-read-the-ballot-and-punch-the-card” seminar. If the
liberals of California admit this to be the case — that too many
of the voters they’re courting are either stupid or stoned out, or
just plain goofy, or can’t really speak English — one should have
no problem with postponing the referendum.
— Jeffrey S. Erickson
Davidson, NC
I enjoyed your column today. Anther point to consider is the
possibility that under the 9th Circuit’s ruling any jurisdiction
with punch-card voting (or any other form of “unacceptable”
tabulation) can preemptively defeat an election or ballot issue by
simply refusing to update it’s machinery. It’s my understanding
that all California counties will have new machines by next March
but if they do not implement and/or operate them correctly will be
more claims of disenfranchisement, giving rise to more liberal
claims of illegitimate elections. One last point, the law requires
every vote to be counted. However, not every ballot constitutes a
vote if not completed correctly. Liberals either ignore this point
or are ignorant of the difference.
— James G. Aldrich
Troy, MI
For the record, Beverly Hills (LA County) will use punch cards, and
Oxnard (Ventura County) will not.
FWIW, Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley) will use
perfed punch-cards, Orange County (Defense gulch) won’t. Glamis
(Imperial County) also won’t.
— Paul Sarvis
Thane of Glamis
STRUCK BY TEACHERS
Re: Heather Roscoe’s That’ll
Teach ‘Em:
I am thoroughly ashamed and disgusted with the union antics of
my former profession. There was a time when all of the
professionals in education were members of a professional
organization, the NEA (National Education Association). Teachers
and administrators were united in a single national group and its
satellite state associations. Then, in the wretched 1960s, the
split happened. The administrators where tossed out, literally, of
the NEA and the teacher unions held the old organization hostage. I
recall the seminal weekend when all of the furniture, files and
equipment owned by the elementary principals’ sub-organization was
hauled out of its offices in the NEA building in Washington, DC,
and dumped on the sidewalk. The office doors had a new set of
locks.
The partnership in education dissolved. The trade unions had
taken over. The AFL-CIO cabal was on the march. Strikes were
ordered. I was sickened. I was a university educated professional
and dedicated to teaching. Professional teachers do not strike,
period! I moved on to a series of appointments as a school
principal. There was no way I could be a part of a union.
Today we see the tragic results of teacher unionism. The death
of education in America with our children paying the ultimate
price. It is time to dissolve teacher unions and their power to
strike. Our children are much too precious to be mentally
slaughtered on the alter of union greed, corruption and
irresponsibility.
— Al Martin
Depoe Bay, OR
IN MINT CONDITION
Re: Mark Delles’s letter (under “Star Turn”) in Reader Mail’s
The
Perfumed General:
When Mark wrote, “The Clintons will use General Clark like Bill
used Monica,” it reminded me of how quickly we make word
associations. Recently at work I offered an Altoid to my fellow
employee and simply stated that “Monica Lewinsky made the mint
famous.” Our boss turned beet red and whispered, “NOT IN FRONT OF
CUSTOMERS!”
— Kitty Myers
Painted Post, NY
