The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Moral Confusion

9.1.06 @ 12:01AM

(Page 4 of 5)

IGNORANCE IS RIGHT
Re: William Tucker's Grotesque Ignorance Exposed:

Whose ignorance is being exposed? Tucker's article, and many of the letters that followed, seem to be glossing over the fact that this John Mark Karr frenzy was whipped up not by their hated "liberal media" enemies such as the NY Times, NPR, etc, but rather by conservative/tabloid news sources. Tucker almost concedes as much when he points out the ridiculous, sensationalistic headlines ("Sex Change Shocker", "Perv's Lair", etc) trumpeted by the NY Post and Daily News, but then backs off, complements their "sensible" editorial pages, and throws in a token jab at the NY Times. Talk about a misdirection!

This media circus was not created by your old foe, the so-called liberal media. It was spawned and fed by conservative sources like Fox News, MSNBC, the aforementioned NY tabloid rags, and many others. Sure, the NY Times ran some modest articles on the Karr fiasco, but it didn't run any gigantic front page photos coupled to absurd headlines. This is NOT a coincidence; your average NY Times reader does not want to devote a large portion of time to finding out about the Perv's Lair, or the Sex Change Shocker. Neither, I will concede, does your average TAS reader. But some people clearly DO want the scoop on such things, and the free market is giving it to them.

So who are these drones that gobble up sensational news from conservative tabloid outlets? I don't know exactly, but I can confidently say that they sure aren't electing any liberals into office.
-- Nathan J
Boston, Massachusetts

There is a little mentioned alternative to the "who killed Jon Benet," and that's that she killed herself and all we've seen since then has been a cover-up of that.

Please bear with me, I've only read one book on the topic, so I'm no expert. But from what I've heard Jon Benet was left alone on Christmas eve, while her parents went to a party and they didn't check in on her when they returned. That's a long time for an over-pressured little girl to be left alone on the biggest kid-holiday of the year. Suppose she committed suicide by crudely hanging herself. Suppose she wasn't discovered until the wee hours of the morning.

With a very Catholic mother and a wealthy businessman for a father, that suicide would certain to get lots of embarrassing news coverage. Blame would particularly attach to the mother for those beauty pageants. The strange way the girl seemed to die, garroted, would leave marks that would cover up the marks of hanging. Everything about the case that's odd would be the result of attempting to come up with an alternative story in the middle of the night, led by an emotionally distraught mother. The odd discovery of the child, the refusal to talk with the police would all be indications the parents knew their story wasn't very plausible but didn't want to be pressure into contradicting themselves. There's no need for an outside intruder, no need for a perverted dad, no need for a killer mother. Their behavior is well within the norm for those in their social position. The rich cover up things the poor would never think of hiding.

Something to think about anyway.
-- Mike Perry
Seattle, Washington

UNHYPHENED
Re: Elaine Kyle's letter in Reader Mail's Karr Wreck:

In common with Elaine Kyle, I am also tired of hearing and reading the almost always inaccurate term "African-American." I characterize it as inaccurate, because most people who call themselves "African-American," are not, but rather are simply "American," as Miss Kyle suggests.

Consider the reality of the situation. The term "African-American," can be applied to a person born on the continent of Africa who has emigrated to this country and become a naturalized American citizen. A person born in this country is an American, no hyphens involved. All of my Grandparents came to this country from Ireland, and became American citizens. They could have called themselves "Irish-Americans," had they chosen to so do. My parents were born here, and thus were simply Americans, or, "Americans of Irish Ancestry" if you wish.

There is also the matter of "race" to be considered. I am also tired of hearing about that topic as well. That is not to say that there are no longer people who are prejudiced towards people whom they perceive as "different" from themselves. That said, for many years, when confronted with a form to fill up in which I am asked to indicate my "race," and given a series of choices, I have always checked "Other" and written in "Human." That is also the reality that we are all, irrespective of skin color, bone structure, and facial characteristics, members of The Human Race, note the it is "The" Human Race, with the singular word "the" denoting that there is actually only one "race," not many. Of course, acceptance of that by those who maintain their positions of "leadership" by promoting divisiveness as opposed to unity will never happen. And as a closing comment, that whole concept of "diversity" being something to celebrate is complete foolishness. At one time in this country we understood that strength lies in unity. Prior to the American Revolution, the colonists were being told "Unite or die." We adopted as a motto, "E Pluribus Unum," which translates to "One out of many"(not "many from one," as that arrant jackass Albert Arnold Gore once said), and the rallying cry of the labor unions in the old days was "In union there is strength." Today, fools yammer away about "celebrating diversity," and our society is increasingly worse off for that idiotic notion.
-- W. B. Heffernan, Jr

LOOKING GOOD
Re: Kate Shaw's letter ("Change of Clothes") in Reader Mail's Salt of the Earth:

Oooh. It seems like I ruffled some fur. Meow!

Ms. Shaw would have us believe that gay men are to blame for the chaotic state of women's fashion?

Letter to the Editor

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