WEAR RED
Re: Ben Stein’s America!:
God Bless Ben Stein — he has done it again with his unique way
of putting things in perspective. He has a gift which he uses well.
Heat/keyless entry systems are annoying for sure, but nothing at
all when compared to what our fine brave men and women endure, and
thus ensuring that we continue to be annoyed by the minor things in
life. I’ve received several email messages over the past few days
suggesting that we who support the troops wear red on Fridays ‘till
they come home. How about it?
— Barb McCarty
Berlin, New Jersey
I just finished Ben Stein’s article “America!” After hearing some
disgusting accusations made about our troops by politicians and the
press, it’s affirmation of how most Americans really feel about our
young men and women serving this country.
After a period of time it became too automatic to say “Thank you
for your service.” So now, when I meet one of our young people in
uniform, I say “Thank you for giving me one more reason to be proud
of my country.”
— Larry
Pensacola, Florida
I am a veteran of the most useless war ever fought by this nation
(to my knowledge). That is Vietnam. I have been in an almost
constant rage since I returned from Vietnam to attend my father’s
funeral and was told, along with about 500 other GIs, that we
should not wear our uniform when we were off a military reservation
due to the anti-military feelings of some Americans. I don’t know
whether to hate the politicians who sent me there, the Americans
who hated me for being there, or the great silent majority who did
what they always do best; they remained silent. I suppose I’ll go
to my grave feeling this way, because I don’t intend to ever
forgive any of them.
I just wish I had known of someone like you when I came home. It
would have probably have made things easier.
You are a good man Ben Stein.
Thank you,
— Sam G.
AC/DIXIE
Re: Jeremy Lott’s Keep on
Cluckin’:
Geez Looeeze, Jeremy! Slow news day? I thought we were through
with these cranially challenged birdbrains.
Hope you don’t have any plans for an article on the most
courageous woman in world history, “Her Outedness,” Val-or-eee!
Don’t mind me, my A/C’s out.
— Mike Showalter
Austin, Texas
Mentioned in the article about some Americans had a “visceral
loathing for people who go to other countries and criticize their
nation in time of war.” That sums up my feelings about the
“Chicks.” The “Chicks” as well as other leftist celebrities (and
that includes Presidents Carter and Clinton) are too cowardly to
express their opinions on their home shores. The “Chicks” are
entitled to their opinion. They should express those opinions here
in the U.S. Won’t matter a hill of beans on their music sales,
though. No one I know who listens to country music gives a darn
about the “Chicks.”
— Clasina J. Segura
New Iberia, Louisiana
Any suggestion that the comments made in London were sincere is
laughable.
What happened in London was an effort to pander to their UK
base. The pandering worked, in the UK.
— Dave Ward
Washington, D.C.
Jeremy Lott writes about the “grand mall reaction” to the Dixie
Chicks. Unless he is arguing that they have triggered a national
shopping spree, I think what he meant was a “grand mal
reaction.”
— Glen Hoffing
Shamong, New Jersey
ONLY THE LONELY
Re: James G. Poulos’s Beside
Ourselves: The Lonely Lost in Our Social Labyrinths:
Garrison Keillor once did a searing little bit on the way
society fears those who “keep themselves to themselves” — among
other things, he pointed out that every mass murderer and terrorist
was described by his neighbors as “a quiet man who kept himself to
himself.”
As I have been one of those who enjoys her own company, all my
life, it has been a long and difficult road to explain to
well-meaning people that I am not “lonely”; I just want to be left
alone. Once after my sisters had dropped me off home after a family
party, one of them mentioned that “I felt so sorry for you because
you were all alone.” I told her that my own thought was “Thank God
they are all gone at last!” When I travel, I wear a badge that says
“Don’t Interrupt Me.”
My point is that the current splintering of the world into
niches, some of them holding only one of us, could very well be the
saving grace of the country. Gradually the desire to peruse the
archaeology of the Hittites or the possibility of establishing a
presence on Titan instead of obsessing about why Brangelina have
not shown their baby to anybody is becoming less a sign of
instability and more a sign of personal choice. Slowly the
preference to travel alone to old cemeteries and not to be deafened
and crammed into a nightclub is becoming evidence of interest in
genealogy or history and not a sign of mental illness. My
experience has been that the “life of quiet desperation” the poet
spoke of is not a function of too few contacts with the rest of the
world, but too many.
Now if we could just convince those who are incapable of
realizing that although they are absorbed in their own world, the
rest of us are still out here, to keep themselves to themselves!
There’s nothing funnier than the man howling loudly and tunelessly
along with his iPod who suddenly realizes that he is not alone and
that everyone in the train is laughing at him. Now we have to work
to impose that same sense of embarrassment on people who read
loudly to their children in airplanes, blabber on their cell phones
during Mass, and insist on talking to people who want to be left
alone.
Don’t assume that the person in your office who comes and goes
every day in silence is unhappy. She may be absorbed in creating a
masterpiece.
— Kate Shaw
Hey lonely conservatives —
Try a simple proven method to integrate into society — go to
church, every Sunday (or Saturday). This will address every single
one of Mr. Poulos concerns about isolation and the loss of
society.
The modern conservative movement has forgotten this historic,
key tenet of conservatism, of Americanism. Try it, you’ll meet a
lot of good, similarly responsible, respectful folks who know what
they are doing and WHY.
I’m sure that if the building is open for service, they will
welcome you.
Or look at it as investment — church usually lasts about an
hour; HELL lasts forever.
Respectfully,
— Dan Hirsch
Waukegan, Illinois
P.S. I would tend to avoid the churches in the news lately —
they are under the direct attack of those with a specific agenda.
Consider Poulos’s article and the fact that the two lesbian women
in Massachusetts for whom “gay” marriage was established have split
up in less than three years, and you might consider this advice
worth heeding.
GOOD LUCK
Re: Jed Babbin’s Dress
Rehearsal and Greg Richard’s letter in Reader Mail’s Exceptional
Work:
So, will all the missiles being launched at Israeli civilians by
Hizbollah, with the tacit agreement of the Lebanese government, who
will be the first to file war crime charges in The Hague against PM
Siniora and Nasrallah?
— Wolf Terner
Fair lawn, New Jersey
I have always liked Jed Babbin’s insights and he tends to be very
knowledgeable about his issues, but I think this time Greg
Richard’s letter has been more precise in describing what is
happening in the Middle East. There is something going on out of
the ordinary and, yes, Bush should encourage the Israelites to
continue their battle to destroy these thugs. In fact, I was kind
of hoping to see them link up with our forces in Iraq and thus face
down those other cowardly thugs in Iran. This is a battle whose
time has come and let’s have at it. I also would like to see the
traitors and cowards in this nation brought to their knees,
including those that are hiding in Congress. However, I know that
won’t happen given the level of ignorance on issues in this nation
among the general population. One encouraging sign, though, is the
acceptance by a majority now of the presence of WMDs in Iraq prior
to our going in. Maybe there is hope after all.
— Pete Chagnon
DOWNSLIDE
Re: Hal G.P. Colebatch’s Losing
Scotland:
My understanding of the situation in Scotland is that the
economy AND population are both declining — while the opposite is
true for England. Might this add to the Scottish vitriol?
— Michael Nevins
Oak Park, Illinois
TRUTH COMES OUT
Re: Letters under “Mensa’s Seal of Approval” in Reader Mail’s
Exceptional
Work:
Before I say my final goodbye, I would like thank David Gonzalez
for correcting himself. I know that I’ve provided entertainment for
some of you, but the interchange has regressed to uninteresting
character assassinations and rebuttals, without any substantive
discussion of issues. It was my curiosity about Ben Stein that
brought me to this site, and I see that he’s still on automatic
pilot churning out the same tear-jerking baloney. My grandfather
served in both World Wars, my uncle died in World War II, my father
was ruined for life by war, and my mother’s family escaped the
Armenian holocaust, but I still have no tolerance whatsoever for
Ben Stein’s self-serving message. He is an intellectual coward who
is skillfully leading you down the path of Zionism, a cause that is
of no benefit to Americans and that has come to represent little
more than ethnic discrimination, military bullying, and the refusal
to assimilate — the polar opposite of the American ideal. If you
want to read the opinions of someone who actually knows something
useful and cares about the truth, try Paul Krugman at the New
York Times.
Good luck to you all.
— Paul Dorell
Highland Park, Illinois
