The American Spectator

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Unfair and Imbalanced

1.26.07 @ 12:01AM

FAIR AND BALANCED?
Re: Ben Stein's The Lynching of the President:

Their isn't a sane man alive today who would not wish that Stein's article on the lynching of the President be read aloud to every man woman and child in America. Good insight, Ben, and more power to you.
-- Robert H. Mounce
Spokane, Washington

Ben Stein is correct in his article about the media trying to bash Bush into low approval ratings. The media Bush bashing played a large part in the last elections, sending many Republicans out of office as a consequence.

However, Mr. Stein sounds like a liberal Democrat with his class warfare rhetoric. In fact, he even sounds like Senator Webb on that point. There is no inequality in our economy. (That is a bunch of Leftist B.S. straight from their old Marxist rhetoric.). Our free market economy should be the only distributor of income and wealth, and our government should not interfere or try to reallocate what our free market economy has allocated. Mr. Stein calls himself an economist, but he is not much of one if he does not understand that point.
-- Carl Harris
San Antonio, Texas

I agree that our President is a good man who deserves our support. The amount of criticism and absolute cruelty directed his way is unconscionable. What can ordinary citizens do to counter this criticism?
-- Dr. Verna Benner Carson

While reading Mr. Stein's article I was waiting, breathlessly, for him to arrive at the logical conclusion of all his arguments about how the media are lynching the president. Mr Bush was correct to go into Iraq.

Mr. Stein needs to make that one final step and I believe he will find peace as to some extent he is a tortured soul. That final step is to understand that the Iraq war is not a blunder, a mistake and a huge misstep by Mr. Bush.

Why is the Iraq war not a blunder? It goes back to many things. First and foremost the festering sore of a UN unable to follow through on its own resolutions. Secondly, like a Darfur and a Rwanda where the U.S. was and is being criticized for not doing something, Saddam was up there with his atrocities. The payment of money to families who send their children into Israel to blow up innocent people and themselves. Yes, the WMD threat. All intelligence agencies, the Security Council as well agreed that he had them and that, based on past activities, he would use them. His pursuit of nuclear weapons which could be passed on to others. Then, and this is important, even in hindsight and not known at the time, the exposing of the oil for food debacle, to say the least, which was driving the inability of the UN to follow through on its resolutions because half of the security council were in bed with the murderer. The best example of unintended consequences. Then the no fly zone violations after his defeat in his Kuwait adventure.

All the above can be dismissed and replaced by the destruction of the Afghanistan Taliban and the logical next step, the democratization of both Iraq and Afghanistan. Why Iraq and not just Afghanistan? Simply because the foreign policy of the U.S. had been one of stability at all costs which meant supporting dictators as the trade off. Bush overturned the Yalta syndrome and put forth a policy of non support of dictators. Either the UN resolutions had meaning or did not have meaning.

Now Mr. Stein can find peace and with all his correct and courageous rationale as to what the media are doing he can now add the fact that he has finally seen the light about how the Middle East can and should be transformed.
-- Peter J. Paola

In a dubious defense of Bush, Ben Stein states, "But we all know we are getting out soon." Who does he think is responsible for us "getting out" and getting out "soon" (if that is even possible at this point)? Getting out is certainly not going to be credited to the Bush defenders and collaborators. This war will end only because of the persistence of its critics in congress and the American populace. And, with no thanks to Mr. Stein.

Also, let's face it, the media is not to blame for this debacle. The media is as fickle and transparent as Mr. Stein's cats and most of us know it.
-- David P. McClary
Traverse City, Michigan

Ben Stein seems to have conveniently forgotten that journalists sell newspapers (or web advertising) by exaggerating controversies. In fact, that is exactly what put The American Spectator on the map. Mr. Stein himself would have done the president a great service if he had implored him not to attack Iraq in 2003. Instead, Mr. Stein has been a patriotic cartoon of a troop supporter for nearly four years. Only now is he willing to say that the invasion was a mistake. For those of us who cringe at the sight of George W. Bush and enjoy listening to NPR with our cats, this is a moment of vindication. Don't worry, we're only going to shower Bush with the ignominy that he deserves -- we don't do lynchings, since we oppose the death penalty.
-- Abe Grossman
Pleasantville, New York

I too am utterly disgusted with the MSM, in fact I loathe it. My preference for media content has vastly narrowed over the years with my awareness of virtually any type of programming whether it is entertainment, news, or documentaries; conveyed through theaters, books, TV, or radio; all have their liberal ideology bleeding through.

I wouldn't mind it so much if conservatives had a fraction of the influence that liberals have over the MSM. But it demonstrates the power of media when a duly elected Republican majority is intimidated from using its own power vested in them by the people to do what they have been elected to do.
-- John Nelson
Hebron, Connecticut

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