The American Spectator

Reader Mail

NEA BASICS
Re: David Hogberg's No Lefty Left Behind:

I thoroughly enjoyed David Hogberg's piece on our "friends" -- no, not the Saudis, but the NEA. One sentence he quotes from the coalition website aptly sums up all that is wrong with the edu-tariat today:

"...we're failing to provide too many children with the basics…"

Indeed. One assumes, having had a rather intense exposure to grammar in primary school, the goal of this group of loons must be to provide too many children with the basics. I applaud their generosity of spirit, but it seems to me a more laudable goal would be to provide enough, or all, children with the basics. Anyone speaking or reading the output of most modern survivors of the education gulag could only borrow a line from Macbeth "Hold, not enough!"
-- Frank Stevenson

Most of the quotes attributed to NEA President Reg Weaver and to the "National Mobilization for Great Public Schools" website are inarguable. We do need to make education a higher priority; we are "...failing to provide too many children with the basics"; and the schools do need "...adequate and equitable funding, qualified teachers, and technology."

But the solution is certainly not for the NEA to align itself with such far-left fringe groups as mentioned in the article. Radical thinking and actions rarely accomplish anything positive. And that's one reason the NEA has gotten such a questionable reputation amongst much of the populace.

If the NEA would do what they should, i.e., concentrate on quality education through support of quality teachers, then they could be a fine organization. As it stands now, they are getting more radical every day.
-- Gary Johnson
Madison, Alabama

NUTS ABOUT KEYES
Re: Hunter Baker's Stop the Keyes Bashing:

I have watched with some apprehension the Illinois Republican Party violate one of the cardinal rules of politics: nominate someone who occasionally makes a stop on planet earth. The Alan Keyes saga took an unexpected turn yesterday when our candidate reached deep into the nether regions of his psyche and came out for reparations for descendants of American slaves in the form of a federal tax holiday extending over one or two generations. Who knew?

This man is not a conservative, he is a nut...and he would be scary if he ever actually could come close to being in any position of power, which he can't because he is a nut.

The Illinois Republican Party has no one but itself to blame for bringing this man among us. Your Hunter Baker had better call his office. Presumably there is a message there telling him to stop making a fool of himself.
-- Leland E. Hutchinson
Chicago, Illinois

Hunter Baker replies:
I've seen a statement from the Keyes campaign on this issue and have to admit I'm puzzled. Giving tax freedom to descendants of slavery for a period is an innovative notion, but I can't see it as part of a campaign for the U.S. Senate. Maybe it makes sense as an idea to be developed further by think tanks, but even then I suspect there are major issues with the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

The essays I've written in favor of a Keyes run for Senate in Illinois have been predicated upon his record of conservative thinking and outstanding ability to articulate the ideas that animated the founding of the nation. I believe if Keyes will re-focus his campaign on those simple values, he'll be able to mount a campaign worth following.

KERRY CREEP
Re: Thomas Lipscomb's Swimming From Cambodia:

Having read your recent "Swimming from Cambodia" article I can state that you are doing a great service to both Vietnam veterans and the American public by researching and documenting the extent of the lies that John Kerry has presented to the public over the last 35 years. Many of us were aware that his charges of war crimes against all Vietnam veterans were false, that his support for a withdrawal from Vietnam, under his terms, would have resulted in the sacrifice of our POWs, and that his support and leadership of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War group made our disengagement more costly and complicated than was necessary.

When a military man serves honorably with others, it is very disturbing that 35 years later, 90% of the men in his unit will question his honor and integrity. Many sources in the news are dismissing John Kerry's fellow veterans as partisan attack agents, bought and paid for by the current administration, but my own investigation has convinced me that they are what they claim to be: sailors that served honorably in the same unit with John Kerry (before, during and after his curtailed tour), and their agenda has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with preventing John Kerry from becoming the next President.

I feel you should continue to investigate this story and press John Kerry to make his official military records available to the public, so that they can see what actually occurred, and when. Then the public can decide if John Kerry is being unfairly attacked regarding his combat performance and decorations, or if he has had some other "memory failures" and "misstatements" from his service days. Thanks for covering a story the mainstream media has chosen to ignore, hoping it will go away. I respect that.
-- Mark Bilger
Albany, Oregon

John Kerry got 3 Purple Hearts in 90 days of combat in Vietnam. He didn't stay a day in the hospital. My hero, George Patton, got his nose broken 3 times and arm broken twice just playing football for West Point. He received a Purple Heart in WWI by almost dying from machine gun fire.

John Kerry opted to go home after 3 Purple Hearts and 4 months of duty (one month in training). George Patton was with Pershing in Mexico where he shot and killed General Cardenas, one in Pancho Villa's body guard. He shot him with his western, ivory handled, Colt 45 Model 1873. He took tank training from the French in WWI, then trained our men and led them. After the war he wanted Congress to build tanks but they didn't listen until the blitz. Between the wars he learned to fly and led the way in light-plane flight observation of the battlefield. You know what he did in WWII. Maybe you didn't know that after the Germans were defeated he volunteered to fight in the Pacific. Can you imagine MacArthur and Patton together?

George Patton had a son named after him who graduated from West Point several days after he died. He fought with honor in Korea and Vietnam. He died last month and the Boston Globe reported that Patton II said Kerry's anti-war action "gave aid and comfort to the enemy and probably caused some of my guys to get killed."
-- Harold Reimann
Lucerne Valley, California

The Christmas aspect of Kerry's Cambodia story, the timing of it is one thing, but he made reference to Nixon which no change as to when he was in Cambodia can address. When he addressed the Senate, he said he was in Cambodia, on Christmas Eve, while President Nixon was telling America that not troops were in Vietnam. Problem is, Nixon did not give that speech until Nov. 1971. Bottom line, he made the story up for dramatic effect and to elevate his status. Just like everything else he has done. I suspect when it all gets washed out we will discover that he had big ideas, high and lofty goals, but lacked what it took to achieve those goals honestly.
-- Pat

Seems the Skipper recommended himself for honors in a dubious manner. MY question is, "How many of his men did he recommend for any citation??" A leader would not be focused on himself, but the men who are under his command.
-- unsigned

Thanks for the great article. Yours is a "searing - searing" analysis of the phony prevarications of this goofy candidate. What were the Dems thinking? Please, keep up the good work!
-- unsigned

LONG FUSE
Re: George Neumayr's Cell Phone Intifadists:

Let's have a little fun! Let the Jihadists have their cell phones, but suggest the jailers order this. Just think of the psychological frustration of wanting to reach "Dial a Bomb" but never being able to get out the word.

(And I possess no financial interests in the product.)
-- John McGinnis
Arlington, Texas

APPLES TO SUVS
Re: Eric Peters' SUV Rollovers:

I'd say that Mr. Peters probably does not know the actual circumstances that cause the drivers of SUVs to lose control of their vehicles, resulting in rollovers. I can imagine some, as can he, and we would both probably be right, not just imagining it.

That said, it is also certainly the case that many, who knows what percentage of all SUV rollovers, are the result of sudden moves that are undertaken to avoid some danger upon on the roadway. Large tractor-trailer crashes are typically caused by such situations, and tractor-trailers are far less stable than SUVs.

It therefore stands to reason that SUVs would likewise be prone, given their high center of gravity, like tractor-trailers, to tip as the result of sudden swerving.

We certainly have our share of fools driving SUVs around, and to be sure, the huge bulk of them are not professional drivers, and licensed as such, who have been trained to drive trucks. Perhaps they need to be, but that is not necessarily my call to make. But I think it is perfectly reasonable to compare SUVs to "regular" passenger cars because that is how they are both marketed and perceived by the buying and driving public.

Both of those vehicle types share the same roadways and are operated by drivers who carry identical licenses. The comparisons are fair, just and deserved.
-- Steve Rigby

RAT GORBACHEV
Re: George Neumayr's Reagan's Useful Idiot:

It is interesting to note that among principled Communists Gorbachev was always, even early on, considered lacking in personal integrity. Not a few believed that at Reykjavik he betrayed his beliefs for personal betterment. Solidarity with other Communist regimes and leaders meant nothing to him; treaties and friendships let alone communist philosophy only complicated the personal arrangements he made with Reagan. More and more scholars like David Kotz, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, are claiming that the ruling party-state elite of the USSR itself moved to dismantle the Soviet system, again for reasons of ego and personal gain. Useful idiots perhaps, pigs yes.
-- Rick Ficek
Oshawa, Ontario

BLOODLESS
Re: David Weigel's Bloodsucking Fiends:

You are just scared to death of progressive organizing online apparently. Iowans didn't vote for Dean ultimately because they were concerned Kerry would beat Bush but Dean wouldn't. They loved his message, and you're ignorant of Democratic Party sentiment if you believe that voters rejected Dean's message.

We are not wasting our money. As evidenced by your energy expended on this article, we're doing our job.
-- B.K.Gibbs

Good heavens. David Weigel is surely crazy.
-- Kathy Curry

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