The American Spectator

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Heckling Sounds

5.27.04 @ 12:01AM

DOCTOROW'S MEDICINE
Re: George Neumayr's The Heckler Heckled:

The problem with liberals of E.L. Doctorow's ilk is that they are too full of themselves and their perverted sense of righteousness. I witnessed a similar occurrence at our recent graduate commencement ceremony. But unlike Hofstra, we were honored to have President George W. Bush speak to our graduating seniors. Instead of boos, there were 30 minutes of nearly the entire assembly cheering and giving standing ovations and not just to the President, but to the subjects of his inspirational speech...the parents, the graduates, and the many men and women sacrificing for our country. Hundreds left early to line the street and catch a glimpse of the motorcade. The Democrats need to wake up and realize that today's youth are not inspired by their constant negativism.
-- Michael J. Kearns
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Among other interesting observations, you made one that the Bush team could develop into a campaign sound bite, such as:

"The same people who accused Ronald Reagan of lying about Communism are now accusing George Bush of lying about Islamic terrorism. Vote for the party that has consistently defended America's interests and freedom: Republican."
-- Michael G. Novak
Ellicott City, Maryland

So. Free speech is free only when it is Liberal speech. Most of us who have spent our careers in "Education" have always understood this principle. It is an unofficial bylaw of the NEA. I have taught English and Spanish at the high school level for more than thirty years and have seen firsthand what the "progress" in education (read: the new math, the sight reading method, the self -esteem movement, etc.) has done. When I tell a group of Spanish II students that their low test scores are the result of their refusal to memorize verb endings, they respond that this is my fault because if I were teaching the material, they would know it. The fact that they do not know it is the proof that I have failed to teach it. I have explained to them that they, like their parents, have misunderstood the function of public education. That function is not to educate them, but rather, to OFFER them an education, and to HELP them to take advantage of that offer. They must realize, I remind them, that in the society created by the liberal educators, politicians, and social philosophers of the '60s, '70s, and '80s, their freedoms ALWAYS trump their responsibilities; consequently, they must bear the responsibility for their own willful ignorance.

I illustrate this for them with this parable: A man with a relatively serious illness goes to his physician who prescribes a course of medication and diet designed to cure his illness and eradicate his symptoms. The man decides that he doesn't really need the medication and that the diet is too restrictive and rigorous for his taste so he abandons both. When his condition worsens and he returns to his physician, he expresses great indignation because the physician "didn't cure him." I then ask them who bears the fault for the exacerbation of the illness. When I get all through dumbing it down for them by defining every poly-syllabic word, they are usually more receptive to my message of self-reliance and responsibility. Unfortunately, it is far too late to help their parents.
-- Joe Baum

Bravo, George, for your enlightening and entertaining article on how E.L. Doctorow verbally took it on the chin at Hofstra University recently. Few liberal numskulls are more deserving of such abuse as "Doc." I was glad to see that the crowd wasn't about to stand for his left-wing lunacy.

I would have loved to have had that crowd at Al Gore's "Howie Deanesque" rant and rave at NYU today.…
-- Jim Bjaloncik
Stow, Ohio

THE AMERICAN MONARCHY
Re: Marina Malenic's Dynasty:

Monarchy is the more natural form of government, it is republicanism that is an artificiality. As an Indian-born republican who became a monarchist after coming to America and being converted by an American, I say Ms. Malenic is wrong when she says "...and few would argue that we are the worse for it."

There are two types of monarchists in America:

1. Those who still regard the king of England as the king of America. How else do you explain the huge interest in the British royalty in America?

2. Those who regard the American presidency as a monarchy in the Hamiltonian tradition.

The challenge in America has always been to construct a Hamiltonian state in a people with an increasingly Jeffersonian mindset. The current state of George Bush is pure Hamiltonian.

The only way the loyalty of the American people to W. during Iraq war can be explained by the monarchical principle that it doesn't matter what hundreds of howling fools think about the necessity of war; it only matters what the man sitting in the oval office does. "Trust me and I will not fail you" says Bush like a wise king. When Clinton had sex in the oval office, the conservatives were aghast that "the throne" may be desecrated that way.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Education, Islam, Law, Iraq, NATO, Communism, Conservatism