The American Spectator

Reader Mail

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1.30.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 3 of 6)

There has been a lot of unjustified poison spread about McCain which stems from a misunderstanding of him. For instance, he is the opposite of a maverick. Rush Limbaugh savages McCain for the non-combative methods that McCain is noted for. Rush's style is combat with Democrats, and McCain does not fit the pattern.
-- Rod Hug

THE ESSENTIAL CHOICE
Re: Philip Klein's Guns v. Butter:

It's again interesting that Mr. Klein mentions a Falcon 50 aircraft behind Romney and never mentions the millionairess standing behind McCain. Cindy McCain is probably worth at least as much as Mitt Romney. Why not mention her, Mr. Klein??? That would fit in your jealous little template of class envy, too, would it not?
-- Judy Beumler
Louisville, Kentucky

If you're naive enough to buy Philip Klein's guns vs. butter equals McCain vs. Romney, two questions: 1. How do you reconcile McCain's schizophrenia, as in he'll fight terror but grant 12-20 million illegal aliens amnesty? 2. How do you explain Mr. McCain's endorsement by The New York Times, arguably the most liberal newspaper in the country?

Here's hoping my fellow Floridians will have recognized the difference between genuine butter and phony guns.
-- Arnold Ahlert
Boca Raton, Florida

BALANCING LEDGER
Re: Sean Higgins's Ledger's Final Balance:

Heath Ledger may have not been Sir Laurence Olivier, but he was a pretty good young actor. And while the author may think he's being glib, actually he is being a tad mean-spirited in his efforts. He acts as though Ledger was supposed to be a fully formed actor at 28, when many great actors don't become great until later in life. And while his movies may not have been to your liking, that is no reflection on the quality of his work in them. You may think The Patriot stank or that Brokeback Mountain was over hyped, but that doesn't mean that his performances weren't strong. To take shots at his work because you don't like the scripts is nonsensical; you can have very strong acting in some very weak films.

And if you have a problem with how his death is being reported, don't make it about the deceased. he had no say in how the media covered his life, and he definitely has no say on how his death is being covered. It is understandable that the Hollywood press and his home press would react this way, since for the former he was an up and coming young star and for the latter he was one of their own. If you want to criticize the press, go ahead...but to somehow Ledger into that criticism seems unwarranted. You can criticize the press without criticizing their subjects. I know, I've seen it done!

And oh yeah, Brad Renfro played the lead in the film adaptation of John Grisham's The Client, and he was another young man in Hollywood who died way too young. Just so you know, smart aleck.
-- Eric Edwards
Walnut Cove, North Carolina

Though Mr. Higgins rather dismisses the film, Brokeback Mountain is an American cultural milestone that touched thousands of people and explains largely why so many are upset about his death. Ledger's performance in the role of Ennis, for which he received a best actor Oscar nomination at a young age, promised great things to come. Since BBM, he impressed in the Dylan biopic I'm Not There and appears to have turned in an inconic performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight (watch for another Oscar nomination). It's not a bad legacy for a man still in his twenties.
-- CJ

OH HAPPY DAYS
Re: Jennifer Rubin's Hold the I Told You So's:

Republicans should relish the spectacle Democrats are making of themselves. Happy days are here again! This has nothing to do with their racial or gender based politics. It has everything to do with a political party whose reason for existence is acquisition of power for power's sake -- an elitist oligarchy that feels entitled to control and rule over the American people. Clearly, Democrats do not believe in protecting the United States or securing its dominance in the world. They much prefer appeasing our enemies and pandering to our allies prejudices. Humiliating the US and destroying its economy are noting so long as Democrats dominate the country -- politics is all about them and never us.

While Ms. Rubin's article is interesting she still sounds like an arrogant Democrat when talking about President Bush and his administration. That is a recipe for disaster. Even the New York Times grudgingly recognizes this President and his administration have produced a thriving and resilient economy that any President would envy -- including icons Reagan and Clinton. As the only U.S. President to actually fight terrorism (not merely skirmish with it as Reagan did) the facts on the ground are vindicating his decisions as we steadily annihilate al Qaeda with an American body count lower than the peace time administrations of Carter, Reagan and Clinton. In the realm of taxes he also has real credibility, because he's NEVER raised them, only cut them (unlike Reagan who raised them 7 times). As for the weak housing market -- in comparison to 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 (the four best years in housing history) 2007 was only the 5th best year so one can appreciate how people are disappointed, but this is nothing like the crash of the market in the 1980's or the Carter depression.

Despite history finally catching up with political juggernaut that was the Bush/Rove team the GOP is in better political shape than when Ronald Reagan left the White House. Reagan may have left personally popular, but he left the party in shambles with a 100 seat deficit in the House and 10 seat Democrat majority in the Senate. Today, we're down 31 seats in the House (a historically moderate off year loss that can be reversed by picking up 16 seats) and only 2 seats from a majority in the Senate. In the State Union by going after earmarks the President squarely kicked the Democrats in their collective genitalia (something Reagan never did by compromising and raising taxes and growing the bureaucracy) and set the party up for victory as the party of fiscal maturity. As for the stimulus plan more money in American's pockets is a good thing under any circumstances. It makes one wonder why so many conservative pundits resent letting the people have more of their money?

The only thing holding back Republicans in 2008 is that too many conservatives are thinking like losers and ready to hand power over to the Democrats, because they don't get their way all the time. Unless, conservatives abandon this myopic pity party and perpetual blues they can look forward to Democrat majorities raising their taxes, bringing back Reagan's blanket amnesty for illegal aliens, mainstreaming homosexual relationships as marriage, surrendering the world to Islamic imperialism, stifling the free market, socializing health care and sundry other bad ideas becoming reality. Even worse we'll have to spend four years hearing and seeing Hillary or Obama mouthing banal platitudes and the media declaring them genius -- when my dogs are smarter than Hillary and Barack combined.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Education, Trade, Health Care, Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Bill Clinton, Business, Earmarks, Religion, Islam, Abortion, Hollywood, Movies, Constitution, Law, Supreme Court, Military, Iraq, Iran, NATO, Immigration