The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 3 of 15)

p>So, excuse me while I prepare to ready for the final assault on family....that of a feckless country sending my son to a war that it has already decided to lose. br> -- Beverly Gunn br> East Texas Rancher br> Once Proud American, still a proud mother of serving pilot /p>

Lawrence Henry's agonizing observations and conclusions come close on the heels of his recent prissy indictment of speech habits of the Great Unwashed in America. It is clear that Mr. Henry believes if only George Bush spoke half as well as Henry's son, Bud, he could communicate to the asleep-at-the-switch nation, who seem to have forgotten Bush's one eloquent moment as he stood amid the rubble of WTC, embracing a wizened, weary firefighter. In fact, have forgotten the little we knew of the event itself -- having had most of the horror of it sanitized for television viewing.

Wake up, Mr. Henry - -the audience has changed. If Franklin Roosevelt rose from the grave for a fireside chat and appeared opposite American Idol, I would put my money on American Idol for ratings. The oratory of Lincoln lives, but if Bush made a stirring speech today, it would be distorted by the press and parodied on late night TV. We have no honest reporters and few unbiased opinion columnists. One thing that never seems to change, though, is the carrion crow "journalist" who sits on a wire, waiting patiently for his "road-kill" story. Never has to actually work at his trade.

I hated to see Rumsfeld go for that reason alone -- he was capable of skewering and serving his inquisitors up en brochette at every press briefing. Delightful.

p>I have an idea! Get yourself a temporary press pass. Join the cream of journalists at the White House briefing, rise and say "With all due respect, President Bush, your problem is you can't talk." And offer to tutor him. It would be a service to your country. br> -- Diane Smith br> South San Francisco, California /p>

Lawrence Henry is a prime example of a conservative catch-22 -- mythologizing Ronald Reagan. By mythologizing Reagan they're making it impossible for any conservative leader to measure up. The real Reagan cut and ran from Lebanon, raised income taxes twice to appease the Democrats and warmly embraced James Baker with open arms. The less than eloquent, but real George W. Bush is the only U.S. President to actually fight Islamic terrorism, has never raised income taxes and seems to be politely telling the "Iraq Study Group" and majority of cowardly Americans -- "thanks, but no thanks" when it comes to surrendering to Islamic imperialism.

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