The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Good as Gold

4.19.06 @ 12:01AM

(Page 3 of 6)

NEWT NAYSAYERS
Re: Shawn Macomber's There's Only One Newt and "The Speaker, Reconsidered" letters in Reader Mail's Advisor in Chief:

I agree with many of the observations made by Mr. Macomber and several readers as to what a political and intellectual giant Newt is. Truly, this is a man of enormous intellect and political complexity. I have been privileged to be mesmerized by several of his speeches (sans text) live. His books, both fiction and non-fiction, are the works of a nimble mind in action.

At times however, his policy wonkishness/professorial manor, gives me a bit of the Al Gore chill but his ideas are far too solid to be tarnished by a comparison to Gore's fever swamp tirades. His recent tango with Hillary has been a bit annoying, but I'm hoping there is a good reason for this. While I agree with some readers that Newt would make a better inside man, I'm convinced that his ego is too high octane for him to play the role of a Rove or even a Mehlman. He is a leader and not an advisor.

That said, other readers are correct that Newt has stumbled politically when up against Bill Clinton's slickness or a cheap shot from some leftist media hack, but then again, ankle biters have a habit of doing that to those superior to them. One reader, Mr. Mellinger in particular, raises some very interesting insights into Newt that are indeed worth mulling over. To answer his question on the Contract, I think it contained 10 points, but other than the breath of its sweeping overtones, I can't recall specifics. Newt has often said that they accomplished 70 percent of the Contract but that's a hard figure to quantify. Mr. Mellinger insightfully points out where the Contract lost steam and how that happened. Even Newt fell prey to the sirens song of power that wafts over D.C. One point in the Contract that I specifically recall not getting done was term limits. After its inclusion, it silently went away without a whisper of discussion. Human nature being what it is, it's indeed hard, nay, next to impossible, to hand over the baton of power once you've finally seized it. The tax code and the permanent political class are fixtures in D.C. to be sure. But that was the level of statesmanship I always hoped Newt was able to demonstrate. Dare we ask this from a mere mortal?
-- A. DiPentima

REMEMBER THE CONTRACT FONDLY
Re: George Mellinger's letter (under "The Speaker, Reconsidered") in Reader Mail's Advisor in Chief:

This guy has a bad memory. I was watching C-Span everyday in wonder at how fast the House brought each item to the floor for a vote in the first 100 days. And it was a lot more than two or three passing. I remember at least seven passing the house. The one most disappointing was the term limits item not passing. However, they did pass term limits for committee chairmanships. The Senate is where most of the stuff died, remember? Almost all legislation dies in the Senate because they are all "little presidents."

Kind of interesting how Mellinger says all the other things are what caused the House turnover from Dem to Republican. I am sure that had something to do with it, but he didn't mention the anti-gun issue. That was much bigger among folks that didn't protest or complain about Clinton.

Mellinger has a pre-occupation with Clinton and still wanting him impeached and removed from office. I hated Clinton and still do, but you have to get over it.

There is no politician, including Ronald Reagan, I agree with 100 percent of the time. Not even close. I would love to hear how time has deluded Mellinger's memories of what Reagan did? Reagan was my favorite president of my lifetime, but he gave in over and over again with Congress, especially in his second term. Sure he made great speeches at the Berlin Wall.

He had things most people agreed about to fight like communism. Funny how communism still exists in the most populated country on the planet and shows no signs of slowing down. They have more missiles than ever. A big blue water navy is emerging. That wasn't much of a victory. And they are working with Iran and North Korea against us. I think we can rest assured the Russians were never going to use Nukes, but the Chinese believe a war like that is winnable.

And of course as a conservative I loved his small government agenda. I am sure with a Republican Congress he would have vetoed some of he spending bills. But, I digress. I do know Gingrich is a whole lot more intelligent than Mr. Mellinger because of this statement: "I would vote for anybody but Lyin' John Kerry before I'd vote for Newt." So, Hillary anyone???
-- Kendall Eskew

MAHONY'S PRIORITIES
Re: Ben Stein's On This Good Friday:

Great article as usual.

It galls me that Cardinal Mahony supports this nonsense -- basically a kooky march for illegal immigration. But when it come to supporting Pope Benedict XVI or the unborn, or the tough love teachings of the Catholic Church -- he will have to get back with you

Thanks, you're the best.
-- Kristi Heft

Letter to the Editor

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