The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Never Ending Swansong

4.24.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 3 of 3)

For any conservative who has ever been in a room with a bunch of liberal university "intellectuals," that elitism is apparent. Rather than arguing their case, they just assume everyone in the room agrees with them, and if one doesn't they are appalled at your stupidity and storm out of the room (or turn their backs) to get away from the plebe. That's elitism. That's what's on display with Obama.

Why won't Obama participate in another debate? Why won't Obama have press conferences? Why did he storm out of one a few weeks ago when they started asking questions he didn't want to answer? Why won't he sit down with any press other than friendlies? Elitism.
-- Deborah Durkee
Marietta, Georgia

You know, it's a real pleasure to entertain, or at least try to entertain others. Taking old songs, those from the '60s are most apropos, and rewriting the lyrics to spoof current politicos is a lot of fun. If you're a frequent reader of TAS Reader Mail, you may have seen my efforts. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't, but usually, I hope, there's a laugh or two for anyone who remembers the context of the original.

However, I don't think I even come close to the humor found in the contributions of Mike Roush, and oh, let's not forget, Paul Dorell. Together, they are truly without peer, and I believe such talent deserves the acknowledgment of this readership in some magnanimous gesture of appreciation.

My first impulse is to send both our honorees group tickets, so their families can also attend, to Ben Stein's movie, Expelled, or maybe a copy of Friedrich Hayek's book, The Road to Serfdom, or perhaps a copy of Milton Friedman's book, Capitalism and Freedom, but that's just me. Some of you will have even better ideas, I'm sure, but maybe this will get us started.

Except for the implied request of this letter, I've not asked permission of the editor to proceed, so I'm hoping I can catch a break here. If not, then be it known that I stand by my evaluation of the quality contributions from these two fellow travelers, and were it not for the saving grace of my purported "knuckle-dragging" intellect, I too, might've been an ardent advocate of the progressivist nostrums they set forth based on their nihilistic wit.

Nah!
-- Mike Showalter
Austin, Texas

SPEAKING OF MIKE ROUSH
Re: Mike Roush's letter (under "Hiss Majesty") in Reader Mail's Beyond Good:

"P.S. I'm still waiting for Marc Jeric's citations concerning the statement that 'no human activity' has contributed to global warming and the statistic concerning government scientists. Mr. Wladyslaw Pleszczynski: Ball is in your court, I guess."

Ottawa Canada April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- International Climate Science Coalition Releases Signatories to the Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change

The International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) today released the names of over 500 endorsers of the Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change that calls on world leaders to "reject the views expressed by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as well as popular, but misguided works such as An Inconvenient Truth." All taxes, regulations, and other interventions intended to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) should "be abandoned forthwith," declaration signatories conclude.

Included in the endorser lists are world leading climate scientists, economists, policymakers, engineers, business leaders, medical doctors, as well as other professionals and concerned citizens from two dozen countries. The complete declaration text, endorser lists and international media contacts for expert commentary, may be viewed at http://www.climatescienceinternational.org/media1.php.

Perhaps most significant among the declaration's assertions: "there is no convincing evidence that CO2 emissions from modern industrial activity have in the past, are now, or will in the future cause catastrophic climate change."

There is much more at the cited article which basically shows the religious superstitions of folks like Mike Roush are on the way out even behind enemy lines in Seattle.
-- Craig Sarver
Seattle, Washington

MALTHUS IS MY MUSE
Re: Mike Dooley's letter (under "Limits to Common Sense") in Reader Mail's Beyond Good:

Michael Dooley is right; but there will only be a respite. As commodity prices rise, idled farm land will be planted, and the supply of food will increase. As it does, human population also will rise (faster than the new supply, Malthus's formulas assure us). And always, just over the horizon, await the Four Horsemen, on their eternal chore of balancing the available proteins and carbohydrates with the number of empty stomachs (and gas tanks) seeking them.
-- Ty Knoy
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Letter to the Editor

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