The American Spectator

FOR THE KIDS
Re: W. James Antle III’s Marital Discord:

W. James Antle writes, “ideally children should be cared for by both biological parents and abandoned by neither.” It might also be noted that this ideal not only proscribes same-sex couples but also single parent households, so it is manifestly not an idea reverse-engineered simply to deny “rights” to same-sex couples.

The difficulty in making the case that Mr. Antle suggests be done is that most Americans have been inculcated to deny the above-mentioned ideal. I haven’t seen a formal poll of it, but I suspect that a minority of Americans would subscribe to it, and an even smaller minority would agree that government should favor it, e.g., grant tax breaks to the ideal and not others, or grant privileges (adoption) to the ideal and not others.

A not insignificant element in this denial of the ideal is the mass “day caring” of children whose career mother isn’t home in the first place. Since we’ve already rationalized away the need for even one parent to be home for a young child, and accepted as gospel that anybody can serve the role of parent of a young child, what’s so special about a natural father and mother unit?

In the name of “live and let live,” we have denied and destroyed our ideals, and with that the ability to do what is best.
— Frank Natoli
Newton, New Jersey

The California decision clearly illustrates the danger in electing democrats. The radical Left has controlled that pitiful party since the time of George McGovern and never has been able to significantly advance its anti-Christian, anti-American agenda through the legislative process, because Americans won’t vote them back in.

So they appoint far-Left, activist judges, to whom nothing is repugnant, to accomplish their goals by judicial fiat. Within a year after Mr. Obama is elected there will be two and perhaps three resignations from the Supreme Court so that he may appoint the new majority. They, unelected, unrestrained, and unfettered by principles of law, will control the country for the next 30 years and we, the people, have no recourse save revolution.
— Jay Molyneaux
North Carolina

PREACHER MAN
Re: Ralph R. Reiland’s Obama’s Gospel of Envy:

Ralph Reiland is right; the Democrats are indeed the party of envy.

And the Democrats get a double hit by playing the envy card. The first and most obvious is envy’s appeal to those who feel slighted by society or nature. The liberal message to these people is: “Envy the rich, envy the successful, envy the middle class, envy men, envy white skin.”

But what makes this deadly sin such an effective political force is that joined with the above mentioned group is another distinct group that, too, is motivated by envy… or more specifically, motivated by the fear of envy.

These are the liberals and many well-to-dos. They don’t envy others as much as they are responding to the deep primordial human fear of being envied. And it is this fear that compels liberals to denigrate their race, the success of their forefathers, their civilization, their nation, and even religion.

The liberals will grovel in the gutter to say to the politically correct approved underprivileged groups that, “Hey. Look at me. I’m okay. Please… don’t envy me. I’ll darn near commit suicide to appease you.”

Yes, this is white guilt, but what’s behind it is the psychological and often subconscious fear of being envy.
— Peter Skurkiss
Stow, Ohio

Obama’s useful idiots are the same type of people who consider advice from celebrities as intellectual thinking. Image, style, and propaganda win over truth and facts. Thanks to our Democrat controlled public education propaganda service, we increasingly have a nation of useful idiots who follow Obama like lemmings. Obama is the Joel Osteen of politics.
— Howard Lee
Bogalusa, Louisiana

CAVEAT
Re: Robert Stacy McCain’s Simple Questions:

It’s not polite to talk about the dead, and I extend my condolences to his family, but, give me a break already! Tim was a glorified political hack, who got his position only because he was a Democrat hack. He brought little to the table except gotcha politics. The stupid politicians, instead of saying, “I’ve grown in office,” displayed their stupidity to the audience.

For every tough question he asked a Dem, he put 20 to Republicans. Playing gotcha doesn’t display depth of historical knowledge and background. And he displayed little of that, aside from 20 year old tapes and clips. His gotcha moment of Hillary (no supporter of her am, or was, I) was designed to help Obama. Obama would have never gotten such questions from Tim!

So enough already with the false praise, praise journalists hope reflect well on themselves and their profession. His accomplishments were personal, rising from humble beginnings to fame and money. Too bad he didn’t learn the lesson that hard work is the path to success. It might have influenced his political outlook. Russert’s lasting imprint on America will be negligible. No towering intellect. Just a McClellan-like spokesman who made good. No Morrow he. Not that Morrow was truly Morrow, either.
— Wolf Terner
Fair Lawn, New Jersey

A number of people have spoken to Russet’s effective means of asking tough follow questions and uniformly agreeing that he was a decent human being in a field where such are few on the ground. Personally I have no first hand knowledge since I stopped watching network television about the time I came of age in the fifties. I do know however Russert did Scooter Libby no favors in his testimony in Mr. Libby’s recent trial for perjury when there did seem to be at the most simple differences of memory where honest men could differ. As my late wife used to say, “at the end of the day we are all tribal in our allegiances” and it appeared to me that he was always a Democrat (his tribe) as fair as he might have tried to be.
— Jack Wheatley
Royal Oak, Michigan

THERE HE GOES AGAIN
Re: Jay D. Homnick’s Throwing the Book:

Jay Homnick writes: “This all strikes me as a perfect example of what the Talmud calls: ‘He came to teach about others and ended up revealing about himself.’ A person of decency does not publish personal attacks against a family where no social or political purpose is achieved. Nor does he treat the office of the Presidency so dismissively. The political debate deserves better, as does our literary culture. Even the Yiddish words chosen are of the lowest caliber, used only by people who have no breeding. Indeed this pretense at education is a base exercise: class is dismissed.”

Are you willing to impose the same standards on the Right, Mr. Homnick?
— Mike Roush

I wish to express my appreciation for Mr. Jay D. Homnick’s well-executed evisceration of the so-called “humor book” of the above title. It left me, too, spitting and fuming and nearly incoherent with indignation and outrage.

My only criticism is that Mr. Homnick was perhaps a bit too lenient. Nonetheless, it was good of him to defend President Bush from the inappropriate attacks of this “book” and, in so doing, to remind us all of what a person of decency does and what our literary culture deserves.
— Renee Willis

That twits would write such a book is not any more shocking than the crime, hardships and comedy that one experiences each day. Our interest and hope should be that no one is silly enough to buy the book much less read it.
— Howard Lohmuller
Seabrook, Texas

WHAT’S UP, DOC?
Re: Mark Tooley’s Religious Need Not Apply:

This is not a disagreement with Mark Tooley’s article itself, but a man’s got to wonder: Why is it America needs a Surgeon General, again?

I’ve yet to hear of Everett Koop ever doing any surgery, or whoever our chief surgeon is right now. I would like to see more appendectomies, tracheotomies, addadictomies (a specialty of the San Francisco City Hospital — Lady of our Transgendered Brethren), full-auto anal rectoscopies, and the like, as opposed to a lecture from some million-dollar nanny.

I would like to see less talk about washing our hands before dinner, and more “Forceps, Stat!” “We’re losin’ em. Intubate! Ventilate, 100cc of pure nitroglycerin, Double-Stat!” “Get that damn junior mint out of his body cavity,” “250 V DC, Clear!” — you know, some real surgical excitement.

If we could get a real surgeon, general or colonel or even buck private, I would even be willing to check the box on my IRS form to allocate a buck or two towards the CLP,* as maybe a real surgeon could handle it.

* Oh, sorry, CLP is the Congressional Lobotomy Project, sponsored by Americans for Smarter Government.
— Jimmy Antley
Gadsden, Alabama

SUPREMELY EMBARASSING
Re: Larry Thornberry’s Supreme Cowardice:

Now that the Supreme Court has basically given un-uniformed terrorists rights similar to American Citizens, they have changed how prisoners of war have been historically handled. In keeping with the Court’s thinking, the government should charge these prisoners with the crimes of murder or attempted murder and process them through the legal system in that manner. Previous options of release or confinement no longer apply.
— Al Zvinakis
Lemont, Illinois

I am a lawyer, and one who knows this Constitution as well as anyone on the U.S. Supreme Court. I am ashamed of my profession as a result of the Boumediene decision, and am outraged at the Court’s pure and simple usurpation of Constitutional executive and legislative authority in this case. I believe it is President Bush’s political and moral responsibility to resist and ignore the result in this case, to direct the members of the executive branch to not cooperate with any habeas or other proceedings that occur as a result of this decision, and to refuse to carry out any of the Supreme Court’s orders in connection with this and other cases. The opinion should be treated as a mere nullity, contrary to established precedent and the clear wording and original intent of the Constitution itself. I know some may think this will precipitate a Constitutional crisis. The crisis, though, is already at hand, and our liberties and our security are at stake. If this result is allowed to stand here, what other areas of the Constitution will the unelected Court trample on in the future?

This is a coup d’etat. It must be stopped, now. By ignoring the result, impeachment, or whatever means become necessary under the circumstances. Perhaps impeachment would be a viable option, if not for the craven and cowardly Democrats.
— Larry Scalf
Arlington, Texas

GO FIGURATIVELY
Re: Eric Peters’s Hummer’s Done:

In his column about GM’s Hummer problem Eric Peters writes, “(Toyota)… is literally swimming in black ink.” I seriously doubt that they drained the corporate swimming pool and re-filled it with ink of any color for a refreshing noontime dip at Toyota headquarters. There’s “literally” and “figuratively” and it pays to know the difference.

As for the Hummer, I hereby make this offer to one and all: sign over the clear title of your clean, low mileage H3 and I will give you cash. The first one to respond with a vehicle to my liking will receive $500 cash and I’ll come pick it up anywhere in the lower 48 states. Second response gets $400 and you bring it to me. I will only take two of these gas hogs so hurry and make your offer. Mr. Peters says that soon driving H3’s will be like driving the “modern-day equivalents of chocolate brown metallic, landau-roofed ‘68 Sedan de Villes circa 1975: ungainly relics of a time still within living memory but fading fast.” You do NOT want that! Act now!

Hey, that reminds me, the same offer above applies to your fully-loaded Yukon Denali. But it must have fewer than 20,000 miles on the odometer. Literally.
— Terry Sautter
Lake Wylie, South Carolina

COURTING CHARACTER
Re: Jack Park’s Crossover Redistricting:

Maybe before the five “do gooder” Justices decide to ram “Crossover Redistricting” based on racial compositions of the electorate down the throats of the American public, they may want to consider some immortal words, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Yes, Rev. King had it quiet right.
— Ira M. Kessel
Rochester, New York

MR. PATRICK GOES TO WASHINGTON
Re: The Prowler’s Profligate Patrick:

I am all for Deval Patrick going to Washington. It may be the only good thing that happens to a MA resident in an Obama Administration. The way Deval Patrick tells it, fiscal problems here are all because casino gambling was not approved and the projected fees he’d already allocated are not to be. He’ll serve Obama well. Godspeed, Deval.
— Christopher Roberts
Bernardston, Massachusetts