The American Spectator

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Tormented Souls

5.31.07 @ 12:01AM

(Page 2 of 4)

Quin Hillyer replies:
Judith Beumler asks, quite reasonably, how we went off course. The short answer is that we became more interested in holding power than in promoting our principles -- and in the process, we (quite predictably) lost both. The fall from grace began in earnest in the autumn of 1998, with the combination of bloodlust against Clinton with a major increase in spending. The spending orgy was the first of eight years of the same. For a longer and more eloquent explanation, I commend to her the letter from Jay Molyneaux. For the solution, meanwhile, I commend the first two sentences of Mr. Carneal's letter. And to Mr. Karr, whose letter is also much appreciated, I urge him not to give up hope. Sometimes leaders creep up on us. Our job is to do the work to prepare the way and make the political soil more fertile for him (or her).

BIG SHOULDERS
Re: G. Tracy Mehan, III's Still My Kind of Town:

I am a small town Southern boy, but since my first visit to Chicago 25 years ago, I have loved the place and your article hits the nail on the head. I was taken aback by Chicago's friendliness, cleanliness, and smorgasbord of activities to choose from. "City of Big Shoulders" truly describes it. I recall a quote from a turn-of-the-20th-Century alderman: "This ain't no sissy town." Chicago, my favorite big city in the U.S., has everything any other city can offer, but without the pretense.
-- Warren Mowry

Thanks for a pleasant review of a great town to visit. I enjoy every trip to that city.

Unfortunately, those of us who live south of the city (southwestern Illinois) have to live day-to-day with the political side of Chicago, the one "owned" by left-leaning Democrats. The Governor's Mansion is in Springfield, but the Honorable Mr. Blagojevich lives in Chicago. Does that tell you all you need to know about Illinois politics?
-- Mike Mawhorr
Mascoutah, Illinois

Chicago also has many of the other ills of great American cities. It has many streets that require a moon rover to traverse (as bad as any blighted urban area in the country), first class corruption, and some of the worst public school systems in the country. Most Illinois citizens living outside of the city would not miss it if a giant chain saw carved it away from the state and let it float in the middle of Lake Michigan where it would promptly head for the bottom.
-- Anonymous

The article about Chicago is very good, but Sue is not a girl. Sue is a boy.
-- Bill Bothner

PROPAGANDA PROS
Re: Lisa Fabrizio's Media Muddles:

Ms. Fabrizio is a fine writer and an astute observer of the "main stream media" as some have chosen to call outlets such as Time magazine, ABC, NBC, CBS, the New York Times, et cetera. I would take issue only with her apparent belief that a significant number of conservative oriented thinkers actually pay attention to what these outlets publish. I know that I have paid virtually no attention to any of these propaganda proselytizers for lo these many years since I outgrew my youthful leftism.

I suppose that part of the reason I pay no attention to these people is that their naked bias offends and annoys me to the extent that my blood pressure alone would dictate that I avoid them. The more important and more salient reason is that they are so wrong in their analyses of happenings all around the globe. Times, dates, places, numbers of participants, and other statistical information is frequently incorrect. I know this from discussions with liberals (I am a teacher, therefore, I know many of them). One of the best ways to quiet them is to give them the accurate data that usually gives the lie to their arguments and launches them into an ad hominem against whomever they are attacking this week.

I have been steadfastly amazed that these TV networks and newspapers have not lost even more viewers and readers than they have. You try not to buy a second lemon, to stay away from a place you have found to be dangerous, and to avoid obnoxious companions. Why would you continue to read "main stream" publications, knowing how flatulently wrong they are?
-- Joseph Baum
Garrettsville, Ohio

The news media lift the veil from its collective face? That'll coincide with the first flight of pigs from your nearest airfield.

As for "hapless Americans bound by their power"? C'mon. That part of the public that wishes to remain deaf, dumb and blind because of the misinformation and pap they ingest from the media does so by its own free will. They're just being real American victims. They've got no one else to blame, though. Regrettably, the rest of us have to suffer for their unwillingness or inability to open their eyes and ears.
-- C. Kenna Amos
Princeton, West Virginia

CONVERGENCE
Re: P. David Hornik's Chattering-Class Blues:

P. David Hornik's experience with what he calls the "chattering classes" in both the United States and Israel gives rise to worries about "the long-term viability even of the world's last two fighting democracies. With eerie similarity, in both countries this sector makes up for its smallness in size by taking control of the media, academic, and judiciary spheres and so wielding disproportionate power. They do so partly out of a similar ruthless disdain for the country's traditional ethos and alternative sociocultural sectors."

Letter to the Editor

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