The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Giuliani Jitters

5.7.07 @ 12:01AM

(Page 2 of 4)

First, ten candidates all lined up like pigeons is ridiculous. Running up and down the line saying 'answer yes or no' is pathetic. Need to reduce the list to five so there can be some real debate.

Second, Rudy is probably the only candidate who could have quickly answered the question about the difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. This was a gotcha question from Mr. Hardball, and Rudy knocked it back at him.

Third, the issue of abortion is not an issue for government. It is a moral and ethical issue, and if the various religions are not able to convince their members that abortion is bad, then government should not be the fall back enforcer. Rudy is the only candidate to say he hates abortion, but the choice is a woman's choice, not the government' choice. When will we get smart and drop this as a political issue -- it is not. This is a red herring the Democrats continue to force upon all the rest of us.

Fourth, there are only three viable candidates: Rudy, McCain and Romney. The rest are interviewing to be Vice President, or are there to make a specific point on a specific issue or two. Lets have a real debate with viable candidates.
-- Tuck

ME AND MY GUITAR
Re: Lawrence Henry's Stratocaster:

Like Mr. Henry, I gave up a vintage original Paisley Fender Telecaster (1968) for a less delectable model. I have come to realize years later that I didn't really lose anything. I enjoyed a "vintage" Gibson Hummingbird (1966) for over a decade until I walked into a guitar store and played a brand new Martin D-28 right off the rack. The Gibson was gone that evening! As a working musician, none of the instruments I use are more than 10 years old, all bought brand new.

There's little reason to spend the thousands for a "vintage" instrument with the quality of affordable instruments available these days. With a little patience, you can go through a number of instruments on any given rack (depending upon your budget) and come away with a truly fine NEW instrument for a fraction of a "vintage" costing sometimes thousands more. A guitar that's brand new, is yours personally, without having its innards swapped out, and without the "buckle-rash" of its previous owner. Some new guitars are classics right now, just hanging there waiting for owners.
-- P. Aaron Jones
Huntington Woods, Michigan

Let me begin saying that I've owned four Fender Stratocasters...and I've hated them all! They're gutless; they don't stay in tune; they are, in short, the most over-rated guitars on the market! Many rock and rollmainstays are garbage: Marlboro cigarettes (garbage!); Jack Daniel's whiskey (garbage!); The Fender "Strat" (garbage!)
-- Jon Lindquist
Las Vegas, Nevada

AWFULLY SPORTING
Re: Jennifer Rubin's Home Team Rooters:

Ms. Rubin's commentary struck a chord within me. Years ago, as a young man, I worked very briefly in Holland. Aside from being among the nicest people on earth, who fully and loudly remember the 82nd and the 101st Airborne Divisions' role in winning their freedoms back from the Nazis, a gentleman said something that resonates to this day about Americans.

He said "football is a metaphor for American life." When I asked him what he meant he told me that football is America on many levels. "Football is brute force used to solve a problem. Football risks injury for money and renown. Football requires toughness. Most of all football requires many to work as one and respect strengths and weaknesses and each much use his in conjunction with others. Each much work against those of his opponents as well."

I think that does some us up reasonably well, except some of our solutions are pretty damned elegant, as are well thrown long passes and that one step that breaks a long run.

Perhaps a President who understands sport and their place in our psyche actually understands us. That wouldn't be an entirely bad thing. I'm sure Ms. Clinton and Mr. Effete from North Carolina like sports too. Ms. Clinton enjoys those muscular, sweaty male bodies and Mr. Effete, well he does admire the coiffures.
-- Jay W. Molyneaux
Denver, North Carolina

RELIGIOUS LEFT BEHIND
Re: Doug Bandow's Chuck Colson's Short Circuit:

It's very sad to read Chuck Colson's diatribe against Circuit City. He's a great Christian man and has had an important impact on my life, especially his writings on apologetics. I hope that his word processor was half cocked when he fired. What I fear, however, is a leftward drift of evangelical thinkers that I have been noticing for several years. His quote from John Paul II is very revealing. The Catholic Church has always been anti-capitalist and it seems that Colson's long standing desire for reconciliation between Protestants and Catholics has led him to swallow the Church's anti-capitalist poison. A few Catholics, like Novak, Thomas Wood, and the Acton Institute fight the Church's anti-capitalist bias.

Letter to the Editor

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