The American Spectator

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Loose Talk

1.5.04 @ 12:01AM

LIP GLOSS
Re: David Hogberg's Loose Lips Sink Campaigns:

If Mr. Hogberg thinks America is safer with Saddam Hussein captured, then he is delusional. The Bush Administration just heightened the alert and made motions to tighten airline security because of increased fears about safety. It may be true that Howard Dean speaks what's in his heart before he settles for generic-talk, the stuff Mr. Hogberg undoubtedly thinks is the kind of talk we should continue to hear from Washington. But Howard Dean's loose lips have said a lot that needs to be said, whether it's that Democrats need to win the votes of Southerners on economic issues or that in our system of government, people, even Osama bin Laden, need to be proven guilty by trial.

The press is not allowed to talk to Mr. Bush freely. If they were, they would have more material than they knew what to do with, when it comes to lies and inanities. Meanwhile, they write about trivial stuff -- no wonder the country is in such bad shape!
-- Carole Glickfield

This is regarding David Hogberg's "As the saying goes, 'Loose lips sink ships.' Too many liberal pundits have forgotten that they can also sink campaigns." Everything Hogberg says makes sense. The problem is, people tend to forget.

Increasingly, elections are decided by current "image." The important questions are: What is the composite picture of a candidate, and how recent is it? It may have very little to do with words spoken, unless these are (1) utterly outrageous, and/or (2) spoken in the last few weeks or days before an election.

Most of us are afflicted with "attention deficit disorder." I suspect that the Iowans and South Carolinians are not even going to have much recall of Dean's gaffes, unless Dean himself regularly freshens the stream.
-- Jeffrey S. Erickson
Davidson, North Carolina

One point of view I have not seem regarding Dean's loose lips is that he actually is voicing publicly what a majority of Democrats often think privately. That the Democrat elites want to reign him in show that they really do know that the positions they hold privately are untenable to about 60% of Americans. That Dean does not obfuscate and yet has a considerable following also shows that at a certain point, what a good percentage of the Democrats hold inside MUST burst forth at some point. Hopefully they have been premature in this move and it will severely damage the party for many years to come.
-- Steven Cade
Wrightsville, Pennsylvania

Dean sure suffers from "foot-in-the-mouth disease!"

By the time the primaries roll in, he may have to roll in on a wheel-chair, as there will be no foot of his left due to his extreme leftist views.
-- M. D'Souza

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE
Re: Jed Babbin's Happy Rejectionist New Year:

A great summary of exactly how I feel. How did you know?
-- Rich Renken
Chesterfield, Missouri

I received Jed's article courtesy of a friend who asked "at what age were you and Jed separated at the hip?" I'd swear if I didn't know better I'd claim Jed picked my brain apart and dashed off his fine article. It is not often enough that we can read something written well that reflects our philosophy that gently pokes fun at the true idiots of our world, but, also, tackles the truth and exposes the naysayers for what they are: idiots!

Three cheers to Jed, and this New Year's toast will be with fine wine, Made in America!
-- Mike Jones
Upland, California.

Congratulations, Jed, on a great manifesto. It certainly matches my mood. We should be actively working to undermine the French more at home too. For a country that cannot build an aircraft carrier that works correctly, there seem to be opportunities in Europe. Anyone for an EFTA (European Free Trade Association) with the U.S.? And anyone who doesn't join (or isn't invited to join) we will start requiring visas and background checks and lots of other things when they try to visit the U.S.

Paris delenda est!
-- Bryan Mullinax
Monument, Colorado

Letter to the Editor

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