The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Pumping Iron Man

5.21.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 2 of 3)

Ronald Reagan is an appeaser by Mr. Lords definition. He traded guns for the hostages held by Iran, and he held talks with Gorbachev. And how about Nixon who held talks with China, opening it to the West. Or George Bush who held talks with North Korea and Libya. How about Secretary of Defense Gates who has called for talks with Iran, or John McCain who called for talks with Hamas? Does that make the Republicans the party of appeasers?

Mr. Lord needs a refresher course on the history of his own party. And he needs to reconsider his definition of appeasement. It's not appeasement to call for talks, and everybody, except for a handful of hysterical right-wing conservatives like Mr. Lord, knows that.
-- Ron Schoenberg
Seattle, Washington

Another excellent history lesson from Jeffrey Lord. I wish every American voter could read this.
-- Doug Helland
Lakewood, Washington

One of the best right-on articles I've seen. Keep up the great work.
-- Dan Foree
Phoenix, Arizona

Appeasement may be the most misused and abused word in the arena of political discussion today. Chris Matthews exposed Kevin James, a right wing talk show host from L.A., by asking him to define appeasement and to distinguish between appeasement and negotiation. All James could do was huff and puff and offer up a tautology as his final answer. I must confess that I have wondered if our president would have deported himself any better had he been occupying Mr. James' chair. A few questions: (1) When Eisenhower met with Khrushchev to discuss the nuclear arms race, was he negotiating or appeasing? When Nixon went to China and met with Mao Zedong, was he laying the groundwork for bringing China, a rogue state at the time with nuclear weapons, into the world community or was he appeasing a terrorist nation? President Reagan had friendly relations with Gorbachev. Does this make Reagan an appeaser? Republicans opposed Clinton's foreign policy in the Balkans. Appeasement? As usual, Mr. Lord writes an entirely one-sided account. My criticism is not primarily with what Mr. Lord reports, only with his lack of balance.
-- Mike Roush
P.S. This blind hog denizen of DailyKOS would like to acknowledge Mr. Shreve for his temporary recantation. While It is flattering to be judged "absolutely, 100% right," this is not an accurate assessment. My judgment, couched in hyperbole, was a mere approximation of reality. It obviously ignored the countless Americans who work for no level of government and own or work for companies that execute no government contracts. In other words, they have no direct, personal interest in pork. Betrayed by the President and the GOP for the past nearly eight years and having no well financed K-Street lobby to advocate their interest, these people effectively have no real voice in the current process. Little wonder that as I drive through the Carolinas, I see Ron Paul signs in abundance. While he is getting no more oxygen from the MSM than Ron Paul, it will be instructive to see how well Bob Barr does this November.

One has to wonder what level of atrocity will have to befall America before Democrats: a) recognize evil per se, and: b) realize that evil cannot be accommodated or appeased. The execution of 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11th was apparently insufficient.

Would a nuke do it? The bet here is even a mushroom cloud over an American city would only temporarily interrupt Democrats from once again wringing their collective hands and asking, "Why do they hate us?"
-- Arnold Ahlert
Boca Raton, Florida

Mr. Lord has it partly correct. The Democrats have a long, glorious, and continuing history of appeasing (actively supporting) our sworn enemies. The more deadly the enemy, the more blatantly and forcefully they side with them. Take their 70 year love affair with the Russians, for example, which continued up until the Communists folded. Where he goes wrong is in going on to assume that they are appeasers by nature.

They are not. When it comes to all out attack against our friends, the Democrats are famous for their 'no quarter, take no prisoners' tactics. In light of the Democratic treatment of our friends, Sherman's relationship with Georgia appears positively benign and the Japanese treatment of the Chinese in Nanking a model of benevolence.

Other than that, he has it about right.
-- Bob Ludwick

I am currently reading a history of the Copperhead movement prior to and during the American Civil War. This movement was principally located, but not restricted to, the Ohio River Valley states on both sides of the river.

The Copperheads were almost totally Democrats who were opposed to military action by the Union in the Civil War. It is actually eerie to read this -- except for the names and dates, it is as if I am reading the current newspaper or watching the news and listening to current-era Democrats.

In over 150 years, there is no change in attitude, "ideas," or words between then and now.
-- Charles Brown
Maryland

WHAT A MAROON
Re: Jeff Emanuel's The Lessons of Annapolis:

I disagree with the view that George W. Bush learned anything from Annapolis, or anywhere else for that matter. After watching Bush for far too many years, it is crystal clear that this man is incapable of even
admitting he made a mistake, yet alone learning from it. Bush has a mind like a locked box -- nothing goes in and nothing comes out. What happened at Annapolis and what happened in Israel was that Bush was telling his audience at the time what they wanted to hear. Political banalities with no ideas and convictions of their own do that all the time and Bush is a banality writ large. It takes a huge leap of faith to assume that just because Bush said something different, he had learned a lesson. As soon as his audience changes, he will say whatever is convenient.
-- Christopher Holland
Canberra, Australia

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Foreign Policy, Trade, John McCain, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Economics, Environment, Hollywood, Movies, Law, Military, Iran, Russia, Israel, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Oil