The American Spectator

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Frothy Musical Numbers

6.6.07 @ 12:01AM

A FORGOTTEN MAN REMEMBERED
Re: Brian S. Wesbury's Abused and Depressed:

Upon reading this review, I immediately thought of the "My Forgotten Man" finale of the film, Gold Diggers of 1933. This Busby Berkeley choreographed musical number illustrates contemporary attitudes on the period of which Ms. Shlaes writes. A scene showing soldiers marching off to war is followed by the same men standing in a bread line as Joan Blondell and then Etta Moten sing, "Remember my forgotten man, You put a rifle in his hand; You sent him far away, You shouted, 'Hip, hooray!' But look at him today!" I have always wondered if the Bonus Army March into Washington in 1932, as well as President Roosevelt's speech, was on the minds of the songwriters. The plight of women is also related through the following lines, "Forgetting him, you see, Means you're forgetting me."

While the film also has its share of frothy musical numbers and wisecracking comedy routines typical of early Thirties musicals, it is this finale that is still powerful over seventy years later.
-- Christine Willett
Arlington, Virginia

MAKING NICE
Re: Andrew Cline's Eight Blind Mice:

I finished reading your short piece by the same name in the subject line.

The writer blames Bill Clinton for the Saudi extremist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. That's odd, he wasn't the sitting president at the time. I believe George W. Bush was.

The truth is, Americans are fatigued by Republican terror tactics. Democrats are ahead in the polls because they want to end this foolish war/occupation in Iraq, they know that Americans want to improve the quality of life at home, and they know that strong international alliances are better bets at gaining intelligence and fighting terror groups than "go it alone" cowboy belligerence and bravado that is the way of this current conservative Republican president.

Americans want a new way, and the GOP's promotion of terror from Islam is as limp as Bush's approval ratings.

Any one of the 8 Blind Mice mentioned in the opinion piece of your publication is preferable to the foolish, neutered rooster in the White House.
-- Roger Dier
Oshkosh, Wisconsin

This essay has made it clear, if it needed to be made any clearer, that Democrats or should I say liberals refuse to see the dangers in front of their eyes. With unconscionable unconcern they blithely move forward with ideas of immigration reform, educational reform, and health care reform that will bankrupt the country, endanger the country, and sign its death warrant.

My question is now and has always been: How can these educated, intelligent, informed people actually believe what they seem to believe? For many years I have sought an answer to this question, however, that answer has eluded me. Now, in light of the asinine way that these, the supposed best and brightest of the Democratic Party have answered the proffered question, I must conclude that for them, people, the country, even civilization are meaningless when placed next to power.

No one who has watched the massive failures of Socialism and Communism in the past 50 years could possibly believe that these systems can ever work, yet they are willing, in fact, eager to put them into play here. No one who has watched the amping up of hatred for the U.S. and all it stands for coming from the Muslim world, complete with its threats of our destruction could possibly believe that the danger from these fanatics is real and palpable. In the shadow of what were the twin towers, and with the several threatened terrorist plots uncovered recently, denial of the danger is almost criminal.

I am forced to conclude that this blindness to destruction, to History, and the deafness to the threats that are uttered every day by mullahs all over the Muslim world is deliberate. These people must see this disengagement from reality as the quickest most effective way to power, and they must have committed themselves to it.

If they gain the power that they seek, tragedy will follow and it is a tragedy that could be prevented.
-- Joseph Baum
Garrettsville, Ohio

What group of Americans do this collection of socialists, isolationists and world travelers think they represent?

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Education, Trade, Health Care, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Bill Clinton, Earmarks, Religion, Islam, Hollywood, Constitution, Law, Iraq, NATO, Socialism, Communism, Immigration, Oil