The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 3 of 15)

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It seems to me, as I observe my beloved country from the "cheap seats", so much of what we see, hear and read is predicated on an emerging expectation of extreme behavior and aberration. I fear this will lead us down a cultural road upon which America's critical solutions and progress are battered by cheap spectacle and selfish stalemate. Where is our overwhelming demand for reason and tangible effort... for the common good of us all?

Common sense and basic courtesy are immensely valuable traits in our everyday lives as "fellow" citizens and contributors in general. As these traits become political rarities and the Mr. Webbs become the expectation... apathy and disgust, in the cheap seats, could very easily erode a "United" States of America into ineffective fractions.

p>This country is a bona fide miracle and worth the effort to preserve. Sacrificing some ego and resolving to be American's, in the sense we all know we should, would be well worth the effort in results. br> -- John Curtis br> Paradise, California /p>

Mr. Tyrrell is usually on the mark. Not this time. The Republicans have as many or more people who act this badly as the Democrats do. Examples:

Dick Cheney telling Sen. Patrick Leahy to "go **** yourself" on the floor of the Senate.

Ann Coulter calling for the execution of... well, just about everyone not white and Republican, so far as I can tell. Her response: it was a joke! Ummm... yeah.

Rush Limbaugh choosing to ridicule and mock Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's on the air and then choosing not to apologize for this behavior.

Rep. Don Young telling a correspondent that anyone who thought "bridge to nowhere" money should be redirected to Katrina victims could "kiss my ear!"

And of course, just about every political talk show on TV has now denigrated to "he who can interrupt the loudest and most obnoxiously wins."

p>This sort of rudeness is an relatively recent American epidemic which does not discriminate between red and blue. There are people who I would not want to spend a car ride with on both sides of the aisle.

topics:
John McCain, Harry Reid, Bill Clinton, Television, Religion, Islam, Abortion, Hollywood, Law, Supreme Court, Military, Iraq, NATO, Africa, Oil