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12.28.04 @ 12:01AM

HEART OF BEN
Re: Ben Stein's Gratitude:

I am 46 years old. In these years many experiences I claim, but your beautiful words left me with goose bumps all over. I thank you for reminding me of the many blessings given to me through the sacrifices of individuals I don't know.
-- Daniel Wesley
Greer, South Carolina

Please pass my profound gratitude to Ben Stein for his article "Gratitude." I will send it to my son who is spending Christmas in Baghdad.

God bless you, Mr. Stein. You truly know what it means to "support the troops."

Here's hoping for the beginning of peace in the Middle East, and the fulfillment of freedom and justice for the people of Iraq in 2005.
-- Sharon Johnson
(One of the Minnesota Moms of Jed Babbin's article)

How much do we owe our soldiers, past and present? Indeed, more that we can ever repay. But at least we can show gratitude, respect, loyalty, support, benefits-and, absolutely, a heartfelt "Thank you!" and "Welcome home!" for their service and sacrifice. We also should remember the sacrifices of their families, particularly the spouses, but also the parents. God bless them all, the soldiers and their families.
-- C. Kenna Amos Jr.
Princeton, West Virginia

Kudos to you and your staff for having a great American like Ben Stein on this site. What a guy!
-- Dave Logan

SHOCKERS
Re: Shawn Macomber's 50,000 Volts For Your Thoughts:

I would like to commend Shawn Macomber for having the courage to stand up for decency and common sense, and to face the wrath and hate-mail which is sure to follow. His article about the misuse of nonlethal weapons (particularly Tasers) by police in Florida and elsewhere performs a valuable public service, and I would like to thank him for having the guts to speak up on what will clearly be an unpopular issue.

Mr. Macomber does not, be it noted, accuse police of being thugs, or fascist pigs, or brute barbarians. He is merely suggesting that it is necessary, in a free society, to keep an eye on the enforcers of the Law, and to see to it that common sense and prudence prevail. He states "certainly it cannot be suggested that Police are misusing these weapons in every instance." What Shawn is doing is pointing out several disturbing instances where these weapons HAVE been misused, and suggesting that we need a more sensible attitude. I wholeheartedly agree.

Tasers work by electrocuting the "victim," triggering muscle spasms which quickly exhaust the person's blood-sugar; when the sugar drops too low the person passes out. Granted, it certainly is more humane than shooting them, or breaking their jaw with a nightstick, but it is not a pleasant experience. It is completely unacceptable to use on small children, bound individuals, or the handicapped. There is real risk involved; an individual with a bad heart could go into cardiac arrest, or the person could have a stroke. This is acceptable to cut down risk to the officers on the scene provided there IS a risk. It is absurd and wrong to be using it on a 6-year-old child.

This is political correctness run amok! Teachers and School administrators are so afraid of lawsuits they call in the police rather than take a piece of broken glass away from a child themselves. The police are equally afraid, and so use the Taser rather than simply walk up to the kid and take it away from him. The police don't want someone taking a snapshot of them bodily removing a pair of scissors from a guy in a wheelchair so they have to Taser him first! Where is the common sense, people? What kind of crackpot society have we become where the authorities electrocute the disabled and children?

We worry and fret about our treatment of Al-Qaeda terrorists, turning them loose to return to the front lines and attack our soldiers again while we defend the police for electrocuting our children! Let's all get a sense of proportion! Shawn Macomber is right about this; we should be concerned. That doesn't make us commie pinko peaceniks. I suspect the police actually WANT some guidance on what is expected of them. Supporting our police does not mean excusing every action. (My boss certainly doesn't do THAT with me!) The police work for us; we have a duty to remain vigilant.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. We fought against the arm of the law during the Revolutionary War because the British had gotten out of hand. Is Shawn so wrong to gently take these instances to task? Is a mild rebuke really out of order?

I think we should all thank Shawn Macomber.
-- Timothy Birdnow
St. Louis, Missouri

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Foreign Policy, Economics, Islam, Hollywood, Movies, Law, Military, Iraq, Conservatism