The American Spectator

Reader Mail

A Masterful Stroke

9.4.08 @ 12:02AM

(Page 4 of 6)

Ron Paul, for all his faults, is right about one thing. If Libertarians want to get anything done, we're going to have to work within one of the established party rather than outside of them. The Republican Party is a far better choice than the Democrat. It's no secret that I consider myself a libertarian in outlook (if not in party affiliation, where I still consider myself Independent). And Mr. Antle is correct to say that the libertarian movement needs more cohesion and direction, but I think the Republican Party stands to greatly benefit itself by taking a listen to its libertarian wing. We often hear about 'small-government' conservatives. Why don't people just come out and call them for what they are? We're not 'small government' conservatives. We're libertarians and proud of it.

I never supported Ron Paul for President; his foreign policy was too isolationist for my tastes. And while I know he's a free-trader, I'm talking about military and cultural isolation, not free-trade. Just as it took the power of the British Empire to provide for open trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, it took the power of the American military to provide for the current era of free trade, and it will continue to take American military might for the 21st century to be the first true Century of Free Trade. This is something else that libertarians need to keep in mind.

And...on drug policy...okay, I do understand the conservative position. Yes, these substances are harmful and they can be dangerous, but only to the user. Drug use is a self-correcting problem. It may sound cold, but the drug user either stops, controls, or dies. While I do not advocate drug use, it should be important to realize that the Drug War has been used to justify greater and greater infringement on our rights, can create foreign policy nightmares (Columbia, Afghanistan?), costs billions of dollars, creates an entire black-market worth billions more (that is untaxed) that supports the gang wars that are killing thousands of young men and women every year. There are studies that demonstrate that you can spend a fraction of the money and get far better results by focusing on treating addiction than on using police force to try and stop people from using in the first place. And considering that most illegal drugs have an addition rate of less than ten percent, we really must ask ourselves a question...is the current drug policy actually worth its cost?
-- Charles Campbell
Austin, Texas

ZEPHYR WITHOUT HIS COWBOY
Re: Jonathan Wilcox's No-show Schwarzenegger:

Arnullllld came into office on the zephyr of "hope and change" coupled with a bit of macho rhetoric. He'll leave office like a beaten kitten. He was an excellent body-builder, and an actor who knew his [substantial] limitations. Sort of a quasi-serious Jesse Ventura. As it happened though, he lacked a few indispensable attributes: vision, guts, and tenacity. Funny, he could come up with those qualities when it lent aid to his early career, but couldn't or didn't when it came to being the tribune of the people. Californians could have predicted this failure...perhaps some of them did. Arnulllld's conservative bona fides were never really much in evidence, his candy-assed attitude toward stemming abortion, fighting teacher [or any other kind of] unions, and engaging liberal opposition from an ideological parapet were all anathema to this robust political cipher. We would be mistaken though to get too depressed over this guy's disappointing performance. Some he-men do make good leaders [think Washington] and so do some actors [think Reagan]. It's just that the good ones give us little clues early on...Arnulllld's clues were that there weren't any.
-- J.C. Eaton
Wisconsin

WRITE ON
Re: Jed Babbin's What Will Rumsfeld Write?:

Like Jed Babbin, I cannot wait for the Rumsfeld memoirs. Even discounting Rumsfeld's years serving Ford or his influence with President Reagan; he is the one man who could probably fairly describe what occurred with our military during the post-Clinton/Bush era. My biggest questions lay with the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks up to his resignation in 2006. The Afghan Campaign was brilliant up to the Tora-Bora Operation; the Iraqi Invasion was anything but brilliant. Thus far there hasn't been any books written "from the top", which discussed the many operational problems both campaigns entailed. There was also the political aspect. Why did the Army insist on a World War Two style invasion of Iraq when the insurgency model in Afghanistan worked so well, and our conventional military was just a shell of its Cold War strength? How much back biting occurred between the Department of Defense, State Department, and the CIA? Was Rumsfeld forced to keep quiet about the insurgencies both Syria and Iran supported against our efforts in Iraq?

These are just a few brief questions I would love to have answered. Rumsfeld is that rarity in our post-modern, Beltway driven politics: a brilliant civil servant. He also has honor. He took his lumps and graciously retired when it was required of him to do so. He retired with his reputation in tatters taking most of the blame for the series of bloody insurgencies that plagued Iraq from 2004-2006. Those Army field commanders and State Department officials who were responsible for order in Iraq either were transferred or retired with their reputations largely intact. Rumsfeld's memoirs should clear the air a bit.
-- JP
Indiana

All due respect to Toby Keith, whoever he is, I think Bob Seger is credited with the line: "I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then." As an entrepreneur who is now old and was once young I remember the line well and think of it often.
-- Tom
St. Louis, Missouri

The editor replies:
It's not too late for Tom to discover the work of country rock sensation Toby Keith, among whose many famous hits is one that includes these lyrics:

I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then
I wish I could start this whole thing over again
I'm not sayin' it's you could never be true
I just don't wanna know how it ends
You'd still have my heart in the palm of your hands
I'd still look like a fool in front of your friends
Yeah I wish somehow I didn't know now what I didn't know then

The song in question, "Wish I Didn't Know Now," is included in volume one of the "Toby Keith: Greatest Hits" DVD, which notes it was written by Toby Keith.

AUDITIONS OPEN
Re: Robert Stacy McCain's 'Punished With a Baby' and Reader Mail's The Leave Baby Alone Coalition:

In reading the responses to the Robert Stacy McCain column, I have been nearly as uplifted as I was by Senator McCain's choice of his vice-presidential running mate.

Governor Palin is dealing with Life on Life's terms, and doing a spectacularly ordinary job of it. Like so many other Americans in flyover country, small towns and "unimportant" small cities all over the Nation, she and her husband do what needs to be done and seek no glory for it. Surely playing politics in Washington won't be as much fun as mothering a teenage daughter (or two), but I think she has what it takes.

The woman has grit. She has heart. She is Real. Your readers seem to see that, and it makes me proud to be one of them.
-- Karla Cassel Duffy
Jacksonville, Florida

I was very disappointed in Mr. Robert McCain's audition for the New Republic. I hope he finds employment there as opposed to further submissions to TAS.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Foreign Policy, Education, Trade, Health Care, John McCain, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton, Satire, Abortion, Books, Movies, Constitution, Law, Military, Iraq, Iran, Israel, NATO, Alaska, Oil, Unions