The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Post-Conventional Wisdom

9.8.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 8 of 10)

MAVERICK AND BARRACUDA
Re: Jay D. Homnick's Murphy's Loss:

Mr. Homnick's article was dead on good. The chattering class of old media elites, both Republicans and Democrats need to be thrown out with the bathwater.

I enjoyed Mr. Homnick's clear writing and will watch for more by him

Go Maverick and Barracuda. God is good.
-- Anne Burkart

UNCOWED
Re: W. James Antle III's The Right Lady:

The unaccustomed thrill we felt during Sarah Palin's speech was because -- at long last -- an uncowed Republican was confidently articulating what every American used to be taught: The United States is a nation of, by, and for the tens of millions of common Americans. Had our ancestors wanted to be ruled by supercilious elites, they would have remained abroad, under someone's thumb.
-- David Govett
Davis, California

MUNDUM CONTRA ROUSH
Re: Michael Roush's letter (under "Roush Contra Mundum") in Reader Mail's Poetry in Motion:

Mr. Roush, in my last letter, I compared your "intellect" to that of an undergraduate debater. Your response proves me wrong, and I offer my apologies to undergraduate debaters everywhere. You see, sir, I don't believe the Kent State students were children, so I intentionally didn't put scare quotes around "adults" when speaking of Bristol Palin and her soon-to-be husband as you do. They are above the age of consent in Alaska, so for the purposes of our discussion about their sexual choices, they are adults. Your childish scare quotes are unnecessary and inappropriate. But what is more important, you missed my entire point, which was a simple one, hence my apologies to the undergrads.

Mr. Roush, I don't have to bet "the ranch," or the farm, or my life's savings, nor my bottom dollar on their well thought out intentionality, because it is none of my business. And certainly none of yours either. Your "logic" seems to be "reproductive rights and the privacy thereof are sacred rights for women"..."Bristol Palin is pregnant"..."therefore Sarah Palin is unfit for office." Clearly, except for nuanced leftwing pseudo-intellectuals like yourself, this syllogism is, shall we say, lacking some important connective tissue. I asked what you would do when confronted with the fact that you cannot know all the facts of this situation, and I have my answer. You certainly didn't close your mouth. Instead, you conceded my point, and then tried to turn that around to my disadvantage with your irrelevant rhetorical question -- which question, sir, I have answered. It is, as I say, none of my business, so I have no bets to place, nor any right to place them. Would that you understood the same.

I said before that I don't like to shoot fish in a barrel. I would rather let them swim in circles, in their harmless belief they are crossing mighty oceans. Happy swimming, Mr. Roush.
-- Michael Jasper
Amman, Jordan

No projection here, but when a liberal accuses you of something they are frequently guilty. Could all Mike's assertions on what Republican's used to believe just be projection? I want to assure Mike Roush that I am very curious about Senator Obama's association with his racist, anti-American church. How could a normal human being subject his children or himself to that hate filled nonsense for multiple years? I know there are people of all races and ethnic groups that think like this but I was taught that they are doing evil. I also am curious about anyone who would give the brave Bill Ayers or his disgusting wife the time of day let alone associate themselves politically. None of my explanations make Senator Obama look like he has the character to be dog catcher. He looks like either a weak minded opportunist or a very evil man. I have charitably went with the weak minded opportunist. Maybe Mike could make this all clear but he seems incurious!

Mike's fascination with a particular teenager's pregnancy does however illustrate of what he is curious. It seems Mike just enjoys other's misfortunes if they meet certain political qualifications. To feel compassion for all involved doesn't make teenage pregnancy a neutral thing as Mike tries to float today. Those in our society who have created the casual attitude towards sexuality have greatly contributed to this problem and the related pathologies (disease, high prison populations, etc). Thirty percent illegitimacy is not a healthy thing for society or the individuals involved and as certain subsets within our culture indicate, things can get much worse. When will progressives admit that our thirty plus year experiment with abortion, birth control, and sex education while undermining morality has made matters much worse? Their typical simple-minded material solutions to moral problems always amplify rather than cure. What is really amazing about a progressive is that they never consider their handiwork beyond their intentions. In fact the unintended consequences from their last cure provide more opportunities for future simple-minded solutions.
-- Clifton Briner

Mike would do well to tread lightly when answering his detractors, who seem to be forming a militia to stamp out abysmal ignorance -- but that aside, it is fairly amusing to watch a bush-leaguer on the pitcher's mound with a lineup of heavy hitters like Chaplain Michael Tomlinson (who I believe once complimented me with a Bravo Zulu) and Clif Briner, who took me on for thinking I was the ne plus ultra of motherhood (I had to forgive him because he had nailed it!) That was way back when we were all a'twitter over the boys at Duke having their good names besmirched. My, what a long memory you have, Granma! I do. But had I been asked, I would have rather had curly hair than total recall. My stance was that the "boys" knew when they hired their entertainment, it wasn't going to be Shari Lewis & Lambchop. But then I am the mother who required her 19 year old to go to DMV and get a printout of his driving record monthly for a year, over a speeding ticket! He has two teenage sons now and has issued similar Draconian threats.

So, one man's constructive criticism is another man's character assassination. Mr. Roush should toughen up. One wonders why he bothers with his splenetic sharing of opinions, only to huff that a reader has no idea what he is thinking? Isn't laboring over his hot little keyboard nightly an effort to let us know what he is thinking?

If I ever need reassurance that the loose cannons on the left are misfiring, I have only to look for the Roush sig. Sadly, he cannot even fulfill the last ditch requirement: "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with b.s."
-- Diane Smith

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Foreign Policy, Education, Trade, John McCain, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Bill Clinton, Television, Business, Religion, Abortion, Environment, Global Warming, Books, Law, Military, Iraq, NATO, Energy, Alaska, Oil