The American Spectator

Reader Mail

The Agony of Victory

11.28.05 @ 12:01AM

SENATOR STEIN
Re: Ben Stein's As Thanksgiving Approaches:

Ben Stein needs a sabbatical so he can run for office. Really. I love him. Give him the boot and make him run for the Senate.
-- Maureen Beattie

COURANT AFFAIRS
Re: George Neumayr's The Origin of Speciousness:

I read with great interest Mr. Neumayr's article "The Origin of Speciousness" in the November 18 edition of The American Spectator. It may not surprise you that I do not agree at all with the substance of the article. But that is not why I am writing you today. There is a serious error in the article which I respectfully request that you correct in the on-line version of your publication. The article reads:

"Theistic evolutionists like Kenneth Miller, who has said that his Catholicism gives his Darwinism 'strong propaganda value,' are misrepresenting the theory for rhetorical reasons."

The direct quotation attributed to me is False. I have never said or written such a statement. I would hope that the standards of your publication rise above false quotation, and that you will make a full correction immediately.

I look forward to hearing from you before this false quotation is used to misrepresent my views further.
-- Kenneth Miller
Professor of Biology
Brown University

P.S. It is possible that your author lifted the words "strong propaganda value" from an article written in the Hartford Courant. If that is the case, I would suggest that Mr. Neumayr re-read that article. In that article those words are (correctly) attributed to "another veteran of the evolutionary war," and not to me.

The Editor replies:
Professor Miller is correct. Here is the relevant excerpt from the Hartford Courant: "Miller is both one of the [evolution] science's most clever and tireless defenders, and a practicing Roman Catholic. His religion gives him, as another veteran of the evolutionary war observed, 'strong propaganda value.''' We regret the mistaken attribution, though it's not clear to us how those words misrepresent Professor Miller's views.

NOT SO DESPERATE
Re: George Neumayr's Desperate for Defeat and Reader Mail's The Ecstasy of Defeat:

I am writing in response to the "Desperate for Defeat" article of 22nd November and a number of comments from other readers.

The article and its respondents all appear to believe that an American victory is imperative but none of them discuss what set of circumstances would constitute such a victory. Taking the public utterances of America's leaders at their word (and leaving aside the President's declaration of "victory" aboard an aircraft carrier in the summer of 2003) I assume an American victory would be at hand when a stable democratic government, the rule of law and a peaceful civil society were established in Iraq. If a politician expresses the view that withdrawing foreign troops will hasten the achievement of the coalition's aims, how is he or she being cowardly, unpatriotic or defeatist?

I am very surprised that such a respected journal as the Spectator and its well-educated readers chose to cast aspersions on John Murtha's patriotism and that of his party, rather than engaging in the more important debate about the merits of his suggestion.

Yours faithfully
-- Jonathan Proudfoot
London, United Kingdom

I have read with tremendous disbelief the article written by Mr. Neumayr. It is also incomprehensible that anyone could still support the Republican Party and this power-hungry President. He is the first President in American history to single-handedly change the policies of the United States to such an extreme, that we are actually becoming an imperialistic form of government.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Foreign Policy, Bill Clinton, Mainstream Media, Business, Sports, Religion, Catholicism, Hollywood, Law, Military, Iraq, United Nations, NATO