The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Season's Jottings

12.20.06 @ 12:01AM

STRICTLY NEUTRAL
Re: The Washington Prowler's Mormonism in the Spotlight:

In its article "Mormonism in the Spotlight," the usually dependable American Spectator widely misses the mark. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has absolutely no plans for a "public education campaign" because of a possible run for office by any political candidate including Mitt Romney. The Church has a long-standing advertising program. Its latest phase, now three years in planning, has nothing to do with the campaign described by the article's unnamed source. Had The American Spectator contacted the Church before posting the story, it would have found its information to be erroneous. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is strictly neutral in partisan politics, no matter who the candidates may be.
-- Kim Farah
Church Spokeswoman

PUTIN'S POISONS
Re: Ben Stein's A Scary Russian Bear:

Ben Stein's thoughtful -- and alarming -- article about Russia's increasingly aggressive behavior is an apt reminder that other, serious threats exist besides Muslims and radical Islam. In fact, this concern is really a product of the Clinton years, when it was proclaimed -- contrary to all historical experience -- that the threat came from loose networks of Islamic extremists. This was accompanied by a refusal to consider the possibility that one or more hostile states may have penetrated and inserted themselves among such networks, including al-Qaida.

Stein's words are an appropriate caution. We can reassess our current understanding of the threats we face and recover our prior understanding of the primacy of states in international affairs -- or developments will likely oblige us to do so later, when the dangers will be much greater and we will be less able to deal with them.
-- Laurie Mylroie

Ben has to put in the obligatory put down from the right for France in his article about European dependence on Russian oil. Perhaps he doesn't know about 90% of France's non-auto energy needs are met by nuclear power in which she has been a leader for forty years. That's not to say his comments about the rise of Russia are ill founded, an issue, along with the rise of China, we should be much more concerned about than "Islamofascism" and all the other myths much beloved of writers at the American Spectator.
-- John Ellis

So, let me get this straight -- Western Europe is now subservient to Russia on a scale unimaginable in the days of the cold war -- all because of oil? If that is the case, and after extrapolating Ben's convoluted logic, the good 'ole US of A would be would be a second class citizen to the likes of Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and (Yikes!) Nigeria.

Mr. Stein, is that cherry-flavored or carbon-based Kool-Aid in your pantry? Shouldn't really matter, because after you hike taxes on the rich, you can upgrade to peppermint Schnapps or Amaretto and become subservient to the US Government.
-- Owen H. Carneal, Jr.
Yorktown, Virginia

Ben Stein hit the nail on the head. Western "experts" on Russia have been trying to paint a happy face on that country for decades in an effort to convince us that Russia is our friend if only we could be open minded and forget about the repression, mass murder, assassinations, and periodic invasion and intimidation of any smaller countries unfortunate enough to be close to Russia.

What's amazing is that a smart guy like Ben Stein has just figured this out. Russia did not become a "rogue nation": it has been one since 1917 if not earlier. The events of the 1980s and 1990s did not change that fact, only made Russia a weaker rogue. One wonders at the brilliance of Western business leaders who continued to pour investments into Russia after the financial meltdown and organized theft of the late 1990s, lured by the prospect of access to Russian oil. In the past few months, the Russian government has made moves to confiscate foreign assets in Russia's oil industry, proving the old adage about a fool and his money.

However, Mr. Stein is wrong about one thing. There are Europeans who will stand up to Russia. They are not to be found in London, Paris, or Berlin, however; rather look to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Georgia for moral courage. Poland has earned the ire of "old Europe" yet again by refusing to bow to Russian extortion and using its seat in the EU to force that otherwise hapless organization to confront the issue of energy security.
-- John Radzilowski
Minneapolis, Minnesota

I think Ben is being a bit paranoid about the Russians -- somehow I don't think it's quite so bad, and one does have to look at the world through a Russian filter.

Don't take me for a Pollyanna -- I've been a Russian linguist now for 32 years and have read a lot of really repulsive tripe about the "new Soviet man" and why he should have dominated the planet. Too bad most of those of the left still believe it.

Europe has gotten really lazy, and socialism is, as is usual, the root culprit. But Russia has still been suffering for its Communist past.

Part of the problem was the fact that when it collapsed a handful of greedy entrepreneurs, dubbed the "Oligarchs," grabbed up all that was useful, became overnight billionaires, and the smarter ones like Berezovskiy fled the country to safer climes. Result: a wannabe capitalist country with no capital -- you can't buy goods in the real world with T-72 tanks and AK-47s.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Education, Trade, Television, Business, Sports, Religion, Islam, Global Warming, Law, Military, Iraq, Russia, Socialism, Communism, Fascism, Energy, Oil