The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Roger That

2.18.08 @ 12:01AM

ONE MORE THING
Re: George Neumayr's By Obama We Were Saved:

Mr. Neumayr accuses Senator Obama of offering bogus hope and false promise. (Is it he alone who does this, do you think?)

But be assured that Hillary the policy witch cannot expose Obama's limitations by dragging him back to earth. Recall what happened when she said that Dr. King had the dream, but Lyndon Johnson delivered the goods. There was muttering, outrage and thunder; there was insurrection and the smell of sulfur; dogs formed into packs.

You don't seduce the public by making them read the fine print. They don't want to hear the facts from Lyle H. Barnstable, the shy fellow with a bachelor's degree in Urban Planning and a master's in Sincere. They want to be hugged by L. Harold ("Honest Harvey") Barnstable, the workingman's friend, democracy's last hope.

The only serious question about Dr. Obama's proposed new deal is this: Does he believe his own flapping gums? Is his hot air delivered willfully, or is it inspired by the fact that he doesn't know what such promises inspired during the 20th century? Are we watching a naif stumble into the spotlight, or is a child prodigy tickling the hicks as they have not been tickled since FDR died?
-- Edmund Dantes
Coshocton, Ohio

RARE BIPARTISANSHIP
Re: Michael Brendan Dougherty's The Waxman Cometh:

We can all be happy that Congress has nothing more pressing to do than get some face-time on ESPN. We can marvel that Mr. Waxman et. al. have solved our economic, social and military problems and now have time to kick back and investigate whether a few of America's most pampered people, right after actors and politicians, use performance enhancing substances.

I guess the VA medical care is fixed. Global warming, assuming it ever began, has now been halted. Finances are good and we'll all get free health care. I assume since Democrats can waste time on things like this, we can all stop working because heaven on earth has been created!

God Bless Democrats.
-- Jay Molyneaux
Denver, North Carolina

I like your articles, but think the steroid stuff in baseball is important enough for Congress to get involved. Baseball and the other sports have put up with it, kids copy these sports and it is very risky for them to take it. If Roger just won with spitballs and kids copied that I would agree Congress shouldn't get involved.
-- Kevin

The entire fracas with Clemens and McNamee on the Hill was an embarrassment for all involved: Clemens, McNamee, and the U.S. House of Representatives. And Andy Pettitte did not come out if this looking good either; he lied to the committee in his deposition and ratted out his best friend in a deposition so that he didn't have to face any questioning.

What you had was a proven liar in McNamee and a suspected liar in Clemens being grilled by publicity-seeking members of Congress, all of whom had taken sides long before the hearings started. This was not so much a hearing as it was a star chamber, where the Democrats had decided that Clemens was a liar and McNamee was some sort of flawed hero. But there were no heroes in this sordid mess.

As for the Mike Greenberg line about Shakespeare, he was simply trying to say that this situation had many of the themes that are evident in tragedy. Especially in the close relationship that Clemens and Pettitte had, and the seeming betrayal of one friend of the other for personal gain. And he acknowledged that his reference to Iago was not a good analogy and tried to find a more apt analogy. And the friendship angle was compelling, because it puts their relationship to the test: what lengths would a friend take to protect his friends?

All in all, this was a mess from the beginning and should never have been taken up by the Congress. I guess it is true of some of these members that the most dangerous place in the world is between them and a camera from ESPN.
-- Eric Edwards
Walnut Cove, North Carolina

I, for one, am eternally grateful to Rep. Henry Waxman for his dogged pursuit of the use of steroids by a few professional athletes. Had he not taken the time of the Congress with this matter, it might, even now, be watering down the protections for telecom companies in the new FISA extension, or raising taxes, or otherwise imposing itself in ways which would not be of benefit to the American people. The damage that they have done to the military every time that they have turned their attention to us is just one example of the mischief that a Congress run by liberal Democrats could make if it focused on its constitutional mandates instead of these sideshows. If, as Daniel Webster said, no man's life or property are safe while the legislature is in session, then these distractions serve a critical national interest, and they must continue.

Letter to the Editor

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