The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Eagle Eyed

4.21.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 3 of 4)

In all of this, it should be remembered that it was men who failed. The laws of the various states, and the standards of the Church are clear. The actions of honest men can go a long way to repair the damage. It should also not be assumed that this was only in the Catholic Church. I think it likely that the Democrat Party has decided that "the Catholic Vote" has evaporated to the point that it is disposable, meaning that the faithful are no longer being taken for fools.
-- Anonymous by Request

HERO OR FOOL
Re: Shawn Macomber's A Time to Deny:

One of the reasons that there is so little resistance to the premature correction of a situation that is not a proven problem is the belief that it matters not a whit on what the government spends its money. Further, it is believed that even if Global Warming turns out to be a hoax, there will still be a lot of people who will make a lot of money from it and be able to do great things with it.

The government should have a pretty good idea before even collecting the money that the purpose of the money has some kind of productive component. Spending money on diverting a comet that never would have hit the Earth anyway would be considered wasteful or consumptive. If consumptive spending was just as good as productive spending, then there would be no moral justification for arresting and prosecuting con artists. Productive spending lets the whole of society step up from a lower level while consumptive spending builds no or a much smaller step.

If there is uncertainty but agonizing possibilities of disaster, the calculation is a little more difficult. But, as a general rule, the more uncertainty of a negative effect, the less one should spend on it. This is particularly true if the act has negative possibilities. If you do not have the resources to compensate the innocent for the mistake, your pocketbook is not big enough to play hero or fool.
-- Danny L. Newton
Cookeville, Tennessee

THE REAL DEAL?
Re: Russ Ferguson's As the World Churns:

With all due respect to Russ Ferguson's assessment regarding the value of reality TV shows, he managed to omit the one "value" that stands out above all the rest: in comparison to regular TV shows, reality shows are dirt cheap to produce.

And how is it a law student has so much time to watch TV?
-- Arnold Alert
Boca Raton, Florida

Well, Mr. Ferguson, that was fascinating stuff, but you forgot all the professional wrestling shows.

They're just as much "reality" TV as the reality TV shows.
-- A. C. Santorum

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL
Re: Jay D. Hummock's Not Doing Too Much:

Reading Jay Hummock's take on John McCain's likely opponent brought to mind a long ago bumper sticker I read while vacationing in Louisiana. It read VOTE FOR THE CROOK -- WE NEED HIM. Edwin Edwards was running against David Duke, if I recall. The bumper sticker was pro-Edwards. He was either on his way to jail or just out, a high roller whose motto was "laissez le bon temps roller".
-- Diane Smith
South San Francisco, California

ALL QUIET ON THE IRAN FRONT
Re: Roman Brackman's Iran Can't Wait:

Roman Brackman's plea to do something about Iran will not be answered. Much like the prevailing attitudes prior to WWII, nothing Iran does short of launching a nuclear warhead -- not merely acquiring
nukes -- will spur the West to take concrete action against this terrorist state.

Much like WWII, it will be too little, too late.
-- Arnold Alert
Boca Raton, Florida

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Trade, John McCain, Business, Islam, Abortion, Global Warming, Law, Iran, Socialism, Oil