The American Spectator

EVEN OUR FRIENDS
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.’s The Journal of Public Trust:

The Wall Street Journal might well be the “Journal of Public Trust” — but as far as I am concerned, it was always suspect while it had Al Hunt on the payroll.
— Jack Hughes
Chicago, Illinois

How true and how refreshing to see a “defense” article. I started reading the WSJ when I was twelve years old. A very old “farmer” friend of my parents and grandparents got the WSJ and I got the “old” issues. I can now afford an annual subscription and cancelled the “Communist Journal” (Courier-Journal for some Louisvillians) and read the “Communist Journal” online. (This was in the 1960s — therefore, my love of the WSJ and the editorial page is over 45 years old!) I credit the WSJ, my grandparents, and my parents for shaping my views of my country ( which are very conservative — more so than the WSJ) and how I live my everyday life as well as how I raised my children. Thanks for the article.
— Jackie Zaring
Goshen, Kentucky

SIDESHOW CINDY
Re: Brandon Crocker’s Deja Vietnam All Over Again:

TAS had the best article on Iraq yet. Good job.
— Joel Pfyffer

Brandon Crocker should take heart. In all likelihood, mainstream folks aren’t taking mainstream media seriously these days. To illustrate my point, Associated Press Online reported some “68,000 wounded so seriously as to be unable to return to duty” — when, in point of fact, the figure is less than 7,000. This misreporting (reported by Brit Hume on FNC) was changed, after being called on it by Army officials, on a later report without calling it a “correction.” An obvious fabrication like this does not inspire confidence in the AP.

Why anyone takes seriously the Cindy Sheehan sideshow eludes me. A slow pan of the crowd gathered there daily, allowing the television viewer to “count the house,” would relieve most of the anxiety we are asked to feel about the impact she is having.

Look, the population of the U.S. in 2000 was 281,421,906. (That’s 281+ million for the Jay Leno crowd who don’t know who the vice president is.) In 1990 it was 248,709,873, so one may assume we have gained perhaps 20 million between 2000 and 2005. Compare the pathetic group down there straightening home-made crosses of the fallen, many of whose families do not even support Cindy’s cause. I’d say you could pretty well discount any imagined impact Cindy is having on the country. The COUNTRY, not the lugubrious left. Oh, wait — there is that negative impact — and for that I say Go, Cindy!

I read today that MoveOn.org claims a membership of 3.3 million. Well, we know what faith to put in anything MoveOn says. Shave whatever number you want from that and never come close to the truth. But, to be charitable, subtract 3 million from 281+ million to find the number of people who do not belong to MoveOn! Puts it in perspective.

Reminds me of an old saying about the fly on the carriage wheel, overly impressed with himself, remarking, “Just see what a dust I make!” That is Cindy. By assisting her in inflating her ego, we only encourage this deranged woman, who thinks she can browbeat the man she has called a lying bastard, evil maniac, etc., into giving her a second hearing so she can hurl more invective in his face. Dream on, Cindy and waste your backers’ money.
— Diane Smith
South San Francisco, California

I challenge the so called media to give the true back ground of these “Left wing” groups. Finally a reporter on Fox came out and gave the truth of “Code Pink,” a far left group of pro-Castro activists Medea Benjamin and Leslie Cagan. Late last year they traveled to Iraq to donate $600,000 in cash to terrorist stronghold of Fallujah. That’s just the short version of their escapades. I am now reading David Horowitz’s book Radical Son, the same left wing traitors are in the process of trying to bring America down with their Commie lies are back again, with the help of the MSM. History does repeat itself.
— L.D.
New Berlin, Wisconsin

INFORMED CHOICES
Re: George Neumayr’s The Inhumane Society:

You ask, “Why is the left going to such lengths to propagandize that abortion is painless, using the spurious scientific cover of a report produced by abortionists?” Because thanks to sonograms and microscopic photography, we now know that even at two weeks gestation, we have what appears to be, for all intents and purposes, a human being in embryo. Therefore, “A Woman’s Right to Choose” is no longer going to be as convincing. The abortionists are going to have to assure everyone that, yes, we are talking about a human, but the human (like Terri Schiavo, presumably) will feel no pain. Thus, the newest slogan of abortionists is “Every Child Should Be a Wanted Child.”

And I couldn’t agree more. Let’s start with Third World orphanages, the least wanted children there are, especially due to their darker skins. Once we’ve taken care of them, so that there will most definitely be “No Child Left Behind,” let’s take a serious look at the future criminals in our inner cities…

Do we all see now where this is leading? Are any “pro-choice” people waking up yet, or will the MSM-induced fog continue?
— Brendan R. Merrick
Budd Lake, New Jersey

Mr. Neumayr had no trouble administering a painful slap to a prestigious journal, JAMA, while having no doubt a good time exposing like a skeleton the ever present hypocrisy of animal rights activist “sensitivity.” Such naked truths must inflict pain, regardless of the intellectual age of liberals.
— Scott Horn
Akron, Ohio

Bravo! And ZING!!!
— DH

IT’S A CHOICE THING
Re: Patrick Hynes’s Bent Out of Shape:

I’m an engineer/manager, 51 years old, and I made the CHOICE to get up early every morning so I can exercise. I do stretching, abdominal work, Tai Chi, balance and rooting exercises, and body weight training everyday. But my work requires my presence at least 8 hours a day. And since I can find any excuse to not work out in the afternoon, I CHOOSE to do it in the morning.

The point here that George and I made a series of CHOICES: we CHOOSE to stay fit, we CHOOSE to exercise, and we CHOOSE when we’ll do it. At 6’2”, I weigh in at 185 pounds with a 32 inch waist. For 51, I look pretty good and I’m damn proud of it. For George and me, these were good CHOICES.

Are the Bushophobes now anti-CHOICE?

The critics need to ask themselves, is he getting the job done? Well, is he? Do you feel lucky, punks?
— Karl F Auerbach
Eden, Utah

Presidential activity has received press for many years, this is really not unusual. Hoover worked out for 30 minutes each morning on the lawn of the White House with his cabinet. If Bush were to go for a “Cabinet Jog” each morning, he would be lampooned for weeks in the press. If Clinton had done so, he would have been lauded for being a healthy example to American children.

We certainly live in a strange world.
— Raymond Rogers
Whitmore Lake, Michigan

“Most of us have more demanding jobs than he does.”
“Bush’s insistence that the entire populace follow his example…”

What drivel by Jonathan Chait! What drivel by the L.A. Times!

Is Chait’s character assassination considered a more “demanding” job? Is Chait proud of being a couch potato? If so, let him stew in his own juice, and if he isn’t then leave off the hypocrisy.

Before I retired I regularly had lunch with people who worked at the companies we did business with. If I took an “underling,” they would order the biggest, greasiest steak on the menu, plus all the ‘sides,’ but if I took an executive, they would eat a bowl of soup and a low-calorie salad. What is the purpose of making money if your health isn’t good enough to enjoy it? We would often meet, and sometimes eat, at a health club.

Dubya’s dad, George H.W. Bush, also keeps in shape. In his eighties he jumps out of airplanes. I’ll pay to see Chait jump off a table!

In 43 years with the same employer I missed work only a handful of days and averaged more than ten hours a day of “demanding” work. I can’t remember the last time I was ill, and I’m a WW2 vet. I attribute my excellent health and stamina to daily exercise and healthy eating.
— G.B. Hall
Marietta, Georgia

Look back and check the criticism of Eisenhower and his golf game.
— unsigned

President Bush may exercise all he wants to without any complaint from me. However, he completely lacks the right to suggest that I, or anyone should join him in his exercise program. Arrogance is not limited to the political left.
— Roy Hogue
Newbury Park, California

BASIC BALL
Re: Jay D. Homnick’s Zoning Variance:

If your solution were to be implemented, how long do you suppose it would be before the fans started to complain about the technician’s ability to accurately set the top and bottom of the strike zone? Or about the quality of software and electronic hardware needed to determine whether or not a miniscule fraction of the ball passed over a sliver of the plate?

Regarding the current need for pitchers to have to adjust to an umpire’s strike zone: Fact is, pitchers have to adjust to a lot of variables including an individual hitter’s ability, the count, the base runners, the fielders, the weather, etc. Ability to adjust is a necessary part of a pitcher’s skill set; why would you want to change that?

Thanks for an interesting article, but don’t forget the Law of Unintended Consequences!
— Mike
Boise, Idaho

NICE TRY, NO CIGAR
Re: Jacob Laksin’s Wanted: A Democratic Foreign Policy:

Sounds like they are only taking Bill Clinton’s advice, “You’ve got to remake your image.”
— Gordon Paravano
Sedona, Arizona

OF METHODISTS AND MADNESS
Re: David Holman’s Madison Avenue Methodism:

If the serious Bible student will take the time to study, he or she will discover that there was only one Church that Christ established. He prayed for unity, which lasted for nearly 300 years. Then came the denominations. We need to totally eliminate the doctrines of men and get back to that original Church and its teachings. Then we will be correct. As Jesus plainly spoke, “There is only one Faith, one Hope, one Baptism.” You may teach something else, sorry, but I think I will take the words of Jesus instead.
— K. Wilson
Morgantown, West Virginia

Thanks for the article from David Holman regarding the sinking attendance records at America’s so-called “mainstream” denominations. Actually the Methodists and other liberal churches are out of touch with those of us seeking meaning & truth in life. That’s why Southern Baptists (myself) and other conservative (true to the Scriptures) denominations are growing. And while this decline in attendance is nothing new it is remarkable that the UMC believes that a slick advertising campaign will stop the bleeding. Only a return to the Scriptures (literal reading) and ditching the liberal teachings of the past 20- years will draw visitors. If people are interested in “justice,” improved race relations, “peace in the world,” etc., they don’t have to go to church to involve themselves. The truth is in the numbers and that’s why conservative churches are growing.
— Dennis Vest
Tennessee

Thanks for your article on “Madison Avenue Methodism.” In it you mentioned our fellowship, the Assemblies of God. I came to this wonderful fellowship several years ago, and am so happy that I did. Our pastor preaches heaven sweet and hell hot, and gives us the road to the former. The Assemblies of God hopefully will point the way for all time to come, while we pray under our breath, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
— Joe Comer
Vidalia, Georgia

Some readers have been asking “what happened to John Wesley?” in response to your article. There are several church denominations with a worldwide presence that continue to take Wesleyan evangelicalism as their guiding principle:

The Church of the Nazarene (www.nazarene.org)
The Free Methodist Church (www.freemethodistchurch.org)
The Wesleyan Church (www.wesleyan.org)

As a former UMCer who left the church in the 1970s after its official rejection of Wesleyan theology, officially codifying the de facto rejection that occurred much earlier, I can assure dissatisfied UMCers that Wesleyanism is alive and well in these denominations. From the hymns of Wesley and Watts to the call to personal holiness with a social dimension, Wesleyanism is still changing the world.
— Mark Edward Soper
Evansville, Indiana

THE REAL HEAL
Re: Paul Chesser’s Divinely Naive:

Mr. Chesser has it correct! I have seen first hand the power of prayer from many devotees (of various faith groups) for the healing of my first husband, (at the time a 30 year old Air Force Security Policeman), from glioblastoma multiforme, a fatal primary brain cancer. He did not survive in this life, but he passed from it NOT afraid of what was to happen, confident that his young wife, (that’s me), would not fall to pieces, that his parents and family will continue and that his experiences and faith could help others.

It did, we were at Bethesda Naval Medical Center, his room-mate was another young man with a family (2 kids under age two), that survived his bout with a brain tumor that was found to be benign. When we met them, they didn’t know and feared the worse. Another, a Marine about the same age as my husband, was recovering from an accident. Missing two limbs, today he teaches high school, at the time he was ready to “give up.”

Prayer heals, even if only the soul is healed! “Lord, THY will, not my will be done.”
— Sandra Dent

HACK THE HACKS
Re: Lawrence J. Henry’s Cyber-War Misreport II:

Along with a little hackery to put their websites out of commission, I think a lot should be put into depleting some or all of their secret bank accounts around the world. Either steal their funds or make them disappear forever. I’m sure we could find the right personnel to do that.
— Gene Hauber
Meshoppen, Pennsylvania

I have a better idea. Let’s hack their websites, and keep them up with false information. Maybe tell the faithful it is time for them to attack a target. One carefully chosen that will do no damage, but will allow the police to round up the terrorists. Or maybe we just encourage terrorists to call a phone number that will expose who they are. In that way we can find out who is responding to these web sites.
— Tod Frye