The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Wings of a President

7.1.04 @ 12:01AM

OVER THEIR HEADS
Re: Reid Collins' Centigrade Conversions:

Moore's movie wants to make us believe George Bush is an incompetent dunce who was unable to act decisively when informed of the 9/11 attacks. Moore and Strawberry, er, Raspberry, ignore the fact that the duty George Bush volunteered for, flying jet interceptors, requires the highest job qualifications in the military and is some of the most dangerous duty available. No military service, anywhere, entrusts an expensive, sophisticated jet aircraft to anyone unless that person possesses levels of intelligence, coordination, courage and decisiveness far above average. Only the brightest, most competent men and women serve our country as military aviators.

Many become airline pilots, an honored and respected occupation in America; we routinely entrust our lives to them, relying on the intelligence and skills that earned them their wings to ensure our safe transit. An Internet search for "most dangerous occupations" confirms that pilots rank very high, with airline pilots in third place; and flying high performance military aircraft is far more dangerous than flying passenger jets. Ask an airline pilot. Ask your insurance agent.

Yet that is exactly what our president did, the same man that Moore would have you believe was an ignorant, indecisive shirker. Isn't it strange how a tough, brilliant, political operative like Bob Bullock, the late, legendary lieutenant governor of Texas, a DEMOCRAT, saw Bush so differently? He saw him as strong and savvy and became his close friend and political ally. Ask Texas Dems who knew him: Bob Bullock was no fool; he knew how to take the measure of a man far better than some effete filmmaker or a snidely superior columnist.

So, Moore and Strawberry and their ilk should consider the fact that such uninformed criticism reflects far more poorly on them than on GWB. They are free to attack his policies all they want, but spewing contempt for his intelligence and courage exposes their own ignorance of reality; dummies don't get into flight school and indecisive cowards don't fly jet interceptors. Of course, these arrogant critics who hold Bush in such contempt would know that if they'd been smart, brave and decisive enough to become military aviators themselves.

Hey, Moore; hey, Strawberry; the man earned his wings; where the hell are yours?
-- Russ Vaughn
Lakehills, Texas

I think John Ford said something in 1942 to the effect that "if you add more than two feet of fake footage to a documentary it becomes a travesty." He -- along with other greats like Capra and Huston -- proved you don't have to use the MSU (Make Stuff Up) system of production to get a good film.…

As for Moore, the only award this thing deserves is the Leni Riefenstahl Hubris Award.
-- Cookie Sewell
Aberdeen, Maryland

PEAS IN OUR TIME
Re: Jeremy Lott's A Bad Night for Conservatives:

I take issue with Mr. Lott's prediction that the Liberals, the Bloc Quebecois and New Democratic Parties will tear each other apart in the upcoming Canadian minority parliament. All are one form of socialist party or another and the Liberals and Bloc exist for the sole purpose of bettering the position of Quebec in confederation. Their target will be Alberta and its premier, Ralph Klein.

The big election winners in the short term were Quebec separatists. The Liberals must have Bloc support to pass legislation. They will go to the Bloc who will naturally require a payoff for Quebec in money or decreased federal involvement in the province in return for keeping the Liberals in power.

The second and longer term winners were the Alberta separatists. After having been caught in a mire of scandal, corruption, incompetence and crime, Liberals were still elected by Ontario and Atlantic voters. This will seen as proof that there is no hope of working within Canada. Upcoming battles over health care between Ottawa and Alberta will increase tensions already strained by gun control, lack of democratic reform and most importantly the Kyoto accord.

Stand by -- if we're lucky Alberta should be an independent country within four years. A Conservatives' victory would have been the best thing for national unity -- their defeat may start the house of cards to topple.
-- Michael Shannon
Edmonton, Alberta

Jeremy, just as you'd usually avoid using the terms "towelheads,"
"jungle bunnies," or "beaners" in The American Spectator, it would be polite not to refer to us French Canadians as "pea soupers." Try to preserve a little dignity.
-- Craig Burley

AS HEARD ON RUSH
Re: Paul Beston's Blood for Power:

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Health Care, Constitution, Law, Supreme Court, Military, Iraq