THANK BUSH: WHY NOT?
Re: Jeffrey Lord’s The
President: An Appreciation:
What a terrific essay by Jeffrey Lord. Many thanks.
— Thomas Paulick
Jeffrey Lord has to my mind pointed up the most important
characteristic of a great president. Mr. Bush has confronted a
major problem that has troubled the Middle East and, by extension,
the rest of the world, for hundreds of years. None of his
predecessors even attempted such a feat.
— Dr. Sam Martin
Connellsville, Pennsylvania
Honest Abe would be turning in his grave if he knew about Mr.
Lord’s comparison with the current president. I’m afraid that none
of the Bushes, past or present, have much of a handle on “the
vision thing.” Abraham Lincoln’s vision concerned the unity of this
country, not the unity of a country on a different continent that
was formed for expediency by foreigners after World War I. And what
is the president’s vision exactly? Is it to capture weapons of mass
destruction? Is it to remove a brutal dictator from power? Is it to
promote democracy in a region where it never existed? Abraham
Lincoln’s stature as president was so phenomenally greater than
that of George W. Bush that I consider Mr. Lord’s column an
un-American sacrilege.
— Abe Grossman
Pleasantville, New York
Thank you, thank you, thank you Mr. Jeffrey Lord. This is exactly
my sentiment but you found a way to express it in perfect verbiage.
Now if the rest of the world will just “get it” we’ll be in great
shape!
Thanks again,
— Veronica Redmond
Cathedral City, California
STAR WARS STORIES
Re: Hal G.P. Colebatch’s James
Patrick Baen, 1943-2006:
Thank you for the article about Jim Baen in today’s American
Spectator.
One contribution not mentioned in the article is the publication
on the web of the full text of Fallen Angels by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
Long before “global warming” became fashionable, Niven and
Pournelle wrote about a world destroyed by misguided attempts to
control the climate. To quote from the online summary:
“That government, dedicated to saving the environment from the
evils of technology, had been voted into power because everybody
knew that the Green House Effect had to be controlled, whatever the
cost. But who would have thought that the cost of ending pollution
would include not only total government control of day-to-day life,
but the onset of a new Ice Age?”
Having passed this link to countless friends over the years, I’m
delighted at the opportunity to pass it on to still more.
Your readers may be interested in the dozens of other books
available in the Baen Free Library.
— Harry M. Kriz
Blacksburg, Virginia
I want to thank you for publishing Hal G.P. Colebatch’s Memoriam to
James Patrick Baen. I have been an avid consumer of Baen Books,
with their beautiful full color painted paper back covers, for a
number of years and yet I had no idea about the life of its
publisher. The piece is a fine example of memoriam writing,
expounding upon the quiet contributions each of us make with no
expectation of worldly glory.
— Partha Mittra
I’m happy to see the late Jim Baen commemorated. I always knew he
did a great deal for science fiction, and, thanks to this article,
I now know how much he did for the United States and the world.
Also, I’m sentimental about Jim Baen for personal reasons. Long
ago, when he edited an SF magazine and I was a teenaged reader, he
was kind enough to print a badly written fan letter I sent him —
making me, in a way, a published writer.
— Robert Nowall
Cape Coral, Florida
WE WIN, THEY LOSE
Re: Quin Hillyer’s Listen to
Lieberman:
Quin, I believe you’re right, although my stomach is trying to
tell me otherwise. We can win, but there have been so many “if
only” moments with this President, I’ve about lost hope. You
mention some of the most important ones, leveling with the American
people about the scope of this war, including a little history
lesson, what’s at stake, and the consequences of failure. The most
important one to me, though, is “if only” he would aim some
criticism directly at the national Democrats who have barely been
challenged to defend their asinine position. It’s crunch time, Mr.
President, brass tacks brinksmanship crunch time!
Remember Senator Ernest “Fritz” Hollings (D-S.C.) telling us
several years ago, about how there was “too much consuming going on
out there”? Well, there’s been too much ASSUMING going on at the
White House about getting along with the Democrats! This isn’t
about some Kennedy “education” fetish, Social Security, drilling in
Alaska, or even immigration (although, I cringe when I think of
that one), etc., this is ultimately about the survival of the West,
and whether or not we will still have a free forum, like the United
States, in which to even debate our favorite domestic issues. I
know, I know, I sound alarmist. You’re #$% right, I am!
— Mike Showalter
Austin, Texas
P.S. I don’t know how you guys do it. The artwork has Hillary in
the immediate background, laughing. What a nightmare!
The “problem” with Iraq and the GWOT has never been can we win, but
whether the American people (the majority of whom like George Will
have sacrificed nothing) have the will to support the protracted
war that is necessary to win. Not surprisingly George Will and
company do not. The issue for the defeatists has never been the
number of Americans killed — that is merely a handy excuse to
justify accepting defeat and all that portends for the country. So
what is the real issue?
The issue we face as a nation is not one of information, but
character. As a people are we determined to secure our nation’s
freedom now and for future generations whatever the sacrifice? Be
under no illusion. The enemy we face is committed and determined to
win and force not only the United States, but the world to submit
to their tyrannical form of Islam. Unless we resolve to not only
resist, but defeat this foe America is living on borrowed time.
God bless our Commander-in-Chief, our military and God Bless
America! Land of the free, because of the brave.
— Michael Tomlinson
Brilliant. Love your work. Keep it going. I would have added only
one other quote:
“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well
or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any
hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure
the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge; and
more.” —JFK
Again, well done,
—
MLG
Bristow, Virginia
SILENT MAJORITY
Re: Lisa Fabrizio’s Miracles
Appear in the Strangest of Places:
Lisa Fabrizio’s article is a tiny little ray of hope on a very
bleak landscape. Yes, it is time everyone pushed back against the
radical Islamists in our midst. But what will we do with places
like Hamtramck, Michigan? The Muslim call to prayer plays five
times a day on loudspeakers in that tiny city.
In many cities, (and Hamtramck, too, I suspect) Christians are
not permitted to display Nativity scenes. Will the ACLU take the
city of Hamtramck to court on “separation of church and state”
charges? I doubt it. The ACLU is afraid of the populations of
Muslims in the United States.
— Judy Beumler
Louisville, Kentucky
PILL PROFITEERS
Re: Doug Bandow’s The
Democrats’ Favorite Target:
I realize the Pharmacy companies do real good work and if were
not for them a lot of us could not keep going. I do realize they
have to spend a certain amount on research.
That said, this does not give them a license to make a 200 to
500 % profit. They are taking advantage of people and it’s about
time someone stepped in and did something. My party, the
Republicans, would not do anything about it. I do believe in fair
enterprise but this just goes too far.
— Jack Carroll
Cartersville, Georgia
AIR MALE
Re: Ed Ahlsen-Girard’s letter (under “Aviation Men”) in Reader
Mail’s No Escaping
Iraq:
I will happily bow to Mr. Ahlsen-Girard’s superior knowledge of
the correct terminology for Swabbies that ride around in the air.
LOL! I used that term because it is the term a retired SEAL used in
referencing Adm. Fallon’s new job. So often the general public
hears Naval Aviator and automatically thinks of a heroic, Top Gun
rated, ace combat pilot, that can achieve incredible feats of
flight. You know, like the pilots in the Blue Angels. I merely
wanted to distinguish the job that Adm. Fallon did within Naval
Aviation, since he was not a pilot. Other than that, I thank Mr.
Girard for his kind comments, and since I was an enlisted puke,
Semper fi, Sir.
— Ken Shreve
Commander, no less a personage than Captain Frank E. Dully, Jr.
(remember “Super-Quack”?) used the term “Naval Aviator” to describe
all of those who served in flight crews — “pilot, designated or
student, Naval Flight Officer (Yo, FOE!), Naval Flight Surgeon
(which Dully was), officer or enlisted—-we are all in this
together!” (that quote is out of his famous “Sex and the Naval
Aviator” presentation).
You see, for everyone except single-seat fighter jocks (for
whom, every flight is an ego trip), the aircraft commander is
little more than a chauffeur. He (or, sometimes, she) gets the bus
where it needs to be to perform its mission—-then, the BN, RIO,
TACCO, ECO, (or even some lowly enlisted schlub) in the back of the
bus does whatever is necessary to perform the assigned mission.
During my Vietnam service, I was in photo A-3s. The enlisted
crewman runs the radios, the electronic countermeasures, and
services the cameras. No crewman, no mission. Later on, I was in
P-3s. The two drivers up front take turns steering the bus to where
it needs to be—-but they need the enlisted Flight Engineer to
monitor the engines and tweak the power-lever settings.
The TACCO might think that “the tube” is his personal fiefdom (a
great many of ‘em do!), but he needs the enlisted swine to operate
the sensory equipment and evaluate the signals. He might want to
drop a particular sonobuoy, but nothing happens when he presses the
release button unless the enlisted ordnance man has loaded up that
buoy in the appropriate tube. If his electronic gear goes TANGO
UNIFORM, he has no idea how to fix it — so the enlisted in-flight
technician does what’s necessary, wipes the TACCO’s nose, hands him
a lollipop, and tells him that “everything’s all better now!”
Oh, by the way — our A-3s had but one set of controls. The wise
Whale drivers showed the other guys — including the enlisted pukes
— how to fly the bird back home and land it. Arrogant fools who
believed that only commissioned officers who were designated Naval
Aviators should drive airborne buses could wind up in a big jam if
they were wounded or became otherwise incapacitated. It’s a team
effort, Commander.
— David Gonzalez, AT1 (AW), USN (TAR), Ret.
Wheeling, Illinois
GUTT CHECK
Re: Jay D. Homnick’s Why
I?:
Toby Gutt’s mistake was that he didn’t make his flight
reservation for Melbourne. This way he might have wound up in
Melboune, Florida instead — a little more bearable than Sidney,
Montana at this time of the year.
— Howard Hirsch
Dayton, Nevada
