The American Spectator

Reader Mail

MORE OF A YAWNING CHASM, REALLY
Re: Philip Klein's Wither, Iowa:

In the wake of his brutal putdown of Iowa, allow me to suggest the following 2008 travel schedule for Phil:

DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H.: "...grim-visaged tightwads huddled around a woodstove hardly deserve their distinction as..."

SOMEWHERE IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN: "...GREAT Lakes, the locals insist, and geographers timidly play along..."

MT. RUSHMORE: "... but really, what did Teddy ever do to merit inclusion in..."

ARIZONA: "... as canyons go, it's rather large, although 'Grand' might be a bit of stretch..."

PALOMAR OBSERVATORY: "...after all, and despite its undeniable largeness, once you've spent some time looking at it, the universe's reputation as 'vast' seems decidedly overrated..."
-- Robert Stacy McCain
Hagerstown, Maryland

GORE MORE YEARS
Re: Enemy Central's Enemy of the Year 2007:

All due respect to Michael Wilbon, I am disappointed that Rev. Gore did not receive top honors. I often tell friends that I hope the Almighty has reserved a special place in Hades for Al Gore.

While Richard Nixon was arguably one of the most power-hungry politicians of our time, in 1960, he did not contest the election results in LBJ's Texas and Richard J. Daley's Cook County for the good of the country.

On the other hand, forty years later, so intense was Gore's lust for the Oval Office, that he took the county on a month-long odyssey that was the foundation for all manner of public disturbance by his party for the last seven years on the theme that the Bush presidency was illegitimate. He opened for the door for many in the United States of Sound Bite, including many who know better, to claim that Bush was "selected not elected." He opened the door for buffoons like Nancy Pelosi to engage in foreign policy. In general, he opened the door the Democrats and their cohort groups to blame Bush for every social malady and to attempt to undermine his every policy.

God only knows how much more successful Bush might have been without the leaks, the scandal mongering and Monday morning quarterbacking that were amplified by a hostile mainstream press. And, again, I believe it was Gore's post-election antics that got the ball rolling on the circus that the Democrats have subjected us to for seven long years.

Please keep Al on the short list three years hence when you bestow the Enemy of the Decade Award.
-- Herman Ziebell

What? No mention of Patrick Fitzgerald, the fearless prosecutor? First the Libby travesty. Then the Black persecution. In the meantime, corruption in Chicago flourishes and Fitz is looking the other way.
-- Liz Doheny
Chicago, Illinois

RICHARDSON LOSES WEIGHT
Re: Sean Higgins' Nose-to-Nose With Bill Richardson:

Bill Richardson is a vacuous intellectual lightweight of such little understanding that he would make an excellent Democratic President, Republican Senator, or Nobel Prize Recipient.
-- David Shoup
Augusta, Georgia

Thank you for Sean Higgins' clever and witty book review of Bill Richardson's Leading By Example. It is a real gem.
-- Paul Curley
Hong Kong

PHARISSESSMENT
Re: Mark Tooley's Trapped in 1968:

Admittedly, it has been a few years since I read Jim Wallis' book, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. My recollection is that it was an interesting critique of both the right and the left. He roundly criticized the left for being hostile to religion under the guise of respecting the constitutional guarantee of separating church and state. Without saying it in so many words, he exposed some high profile "Christian" leaders on the right as modern day Pharisees -- those folks Jesus condemned for their highly public self-righteousness, their greater concern for rules than for the welfare of real people, their hypocrisy and their readiness to use political power to compel people to their agenda.

I would suggest that people read Mr. Wallis' book instead of relying on Mr. Tooley's assessment of the man and his work.
-- Mike Roush
North Carolina

WE WANT A SHRUBBERY
Re: Robert VerBruggen's Bang Bang Kiss Kiss:

This letter is in regard to Robert VerBruggen's article of Decemeber 31, 2007, regarding potential judicial appointments. It may shed some light on what Mitt Romney would actually do, based on his own record.

During his campaign for Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney promised judicial reform for Massachusetts. The reality is he left the system more broken than it was before his term in office. Judge Tuttman is not an isolated incident. Governor Romney also nominated and pushed for the confirmation of Judge Mitchel J. Sikora to the Massachusetts Court of Appeals. When Romney did this, he was made personally aware by me that Judge Sikora had a track record of "outrageous" leniency toward violent criminals.

By way of example only, prior to the judicial confirmation hearing, members of the public made Governor Romney personally aware that Judge Sikora had:

* Acquitted the man who killed Jacqueline O' Donald finding that, giving her the date-rape drug GBL was not "reckless or wanton" enough to sustain the charge of manslaughter because Dolan "did not know the drug was dangerous to the point of grave bodily harm." (See Boston Globe article dated December 31, 2003, "Plymouth Man, 34 Cleared in Death.")

* Released a rapist from the Treatment Center for the Sexually Dangerous in Bridgewater, over the strenuous objections of the Department of Corrections. Governor Cellucci called Sikora's decision "outrageous." Shortly after Judge Sikora released him, the rapist/pedophile was arrested for stalking girls with a rope, rock, and knife in his car --- his weapons of choice. (See Boston Herald article dated March 12, 1999, "Freed Mass. Rapist Arrested in UConn Stalking Incidents.")

* Conducted Monty-Python type trials complete with jurors dressed in Halloween costumes. (See Boston Herald article dated October 31, 2004, "Judges Trick No Treat for Litigants.")

The above are merely a few examples of the abhorrent behavior of Judge Mitchel Sikora. The public record documents that Judge Sikora was untruthful during his confirmation hearing. In spite of his personal knowledge of that kind of record (and I have the documents that prove it), Governor Romney elevated Judge Sikora to a higher court. If Romney becomes president of America, we will see a callous disregard for the quality and integrity of the federal judicial appointments and the protection of the public.
-- Stefano Picciotto
Salem, Massachusetts

SORE ABOUT SOROS
Re: George Wittman's Happy New Year, Mr. Soros:

President Bush should put pressure on Nicolas Sarkozy to demand the extradition of international criminal and drug lord George Soros to France for his insider conviction. Then the bold American loving pro-Israeli FrenchMAN (sounds absurd, but is true) should demand the reinstitution of the death penalty and execute Soros a scourge to freedom and humanity while demanding Butros Butros-Ghali, Kofi Anan, Bill Clinton and French socialist Edouard Balladur stand trial at the Hague for abetting genocide in Rwanda. Of course, this will not happen, but it is fun to dream of real international criminals on the left paying for their crimes against humanity.
-- Michael Tomlinson
Jacksonville, North Carolina

Certainly Mr. Wittman may dislike George Soros's politics, but as an ideological conservative, how can he object to privatized actions intended to overthrow oppressive, anti-democratic regimes? By God, Soros is saving taxpayer money! Perhaps Mr. Wittman secretly supports the Burmese military junta. After all, military dictators have often been conservative favorites. Reagan was a Saddam Hussein hugger, George W. Bush is buddies with Musharraf, and none other than William F. Buckley, Jr. once said "General Franco is an authentic national hero" (National Review, October 26, 1957). Am I missing something? Is Burma holding up the dominoes, or what?
-- Paul Dorell
Evanston, Illinois

WHY STOP AT SECOND?
Re: Nicole Kurokawa's Bottled Water Blues:

Ms. Kurokawa's article on the ninnies and nannies in the Chicago City Council was interesting. No telling what else they'll come up with to make the "Second City" second rate.
-- Jon Hagenson

GRAHAM WEIGHED
Re: Ken Shreve's letter (under "Perfectly Sensible Graham") in Reader Mail's Strike Two:

The problem with getting close to the political leaders to have them help you set up your revivals is that it is not the example we have. Jesus took as little notice as He could of the entrenched political leaders of his time; He just took His message to the people. He preached to the leaders when He got the opportunity, but He waited for them to come to Him. He didn't seek them out as if they were special. ("All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.")

His disciples in the early church followed the same pattern. They knew that the Gospel message was true and compelling enough that people would come to It without the intervention of established political leaders. I still have admiration for the way Graham lived his life and the dedication he had to getting the Gospel out, but that doesn't mean he got it right all the time.
-- Troy Harmon
Albuquerque, New Mexico

DISTURBED
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.'s Season's Jeerings:

Yes, but why do liberals need to disturb the peace???

I suggest that it is a need to feel important. To stand out from the crowd. To "make a difference." To put it in one word: ego. I picture that Farside cartoon with the one penguin in the crowd of lookalikes singing out "I gotta be me." This less you take a liberal seriously the louder it will scream.

I read somewhere (maybe here?) that T.S. Elliot once said that 80 percent of the world's problems were caused by people trying to be important. I would change the word "people" to "liberals."

Have a merry Christmakwanzukuh! and a happy new year,
-- James Mehigan

BAD SPORTS
Re: Paul Beston's Steroids and the Culture of Narcissism:

Once my own Baby Boomer generation convinced a majority of Americans that all morality was "relative" it was only a matter of time before sports became infected with the "integrity is for suckers" attitude. Now, as with everything else, we'll see new rules enacted because we longer trust our "heroes" -- and by extension ourselves -- to do the right thing when no one is watching.
-- Arnold Ahlert
Boca Raton, Florida

IT'S TIME
Is there any possibility of moving the Crybaby Kerry Clock to a less prominent place on your excellent web page? It was and remains a wonderful way to expose the phony fraud, but looking at his distorted face every morning when I read the great articles you post is getting distracting and depressing.

Regards and best wishes for the New Year.
-- Peter Bach

topics:
Nancy Pelosi, Bill Clinton, Sports, Religion, Constitution, Military, Israel, NATO