The American Spectator

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Another example. A good friend, and "Washington Insider," once told me that a certain Republican candidate for the House of Representatives would not defeat the Democrat incumbent. He cited two things: The Allentown Morning Call had endorsed the incumbent, and everybody in Washington was saying that the challenger could not win.

He did win, however, and by the exact margin that I had said he would (52-48, if memory serves).

The point? Pennsylvanians, like most voters in this country, don't vote the way their local newspapers want them to. Pennsylvanians, like most voters in this country, don't vote the way the Washington insiders think they will. Pennsylvanians, like most voters in this country, don't vote the way the all-knowing media mavens dictate.

The signs and portents, then, are good for John McCain, aren't they?

Really good.
-- A. C. Santore

BEEN THERE, DONNE THAT

Re: Roger Kaplan's John McCain and John Donne:

Pure Objectivists may decry Donne as a Romantic and dismiss him for seeing what is inaccurate reading of reality. Certainly Donne's devotion quoted and interpreted so beautifully by Mr. Kaplan is diametrically opposed to Rand's writings on rational self-interests. What would Rand make of such beautiful transcendence of these lines: "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main"? Or "any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee"? She would dismiss such words as pure sentiment and without a basis in reality. Would she not ask Donne to offer some manifest and visible proof that another's death has diminished her in some measurable way?
 
Rand brought much good to this world with her philosophy. She trashed many a treacly philosophy and punctured, though not fatally, socialism, but she did not believe in transcendence. Rand clearly stated the only things worth believing is hard and cold reality; one's loyalties are owed only to oneself. But a philosophy, like a child, may have many a father but only one birth mother. Since each human being is limited, the truth they speak will reflect this limitation. So one is wise to adhere to much of what Rand has taught but not to the exclusion of other complementary writings.
 
John McCain's life reflects a mixture of both pure self-interest and a well-documented belief in a higher order and greater good than just his own happiness. As been mentioned numerous times, a young McCain was bit of a lout but with age came wisdom and a grounding sense of patriotism. McCain may have joined the military out of a sense of tradition or to please his family, but his actions in war not only distinguished him but also molded him into a better man. While a man purely invested in rational self-interests would have left his brothers in arms imprisoned while taking full advantage of his name, a man of transcendent belief could (and did) not. If fact, a man who held pure Objectivist views would never have joined the military; joining the military for such a man is contrary to his core beliefs. But a man who understands that he is "involved in mankind" does join because his self interests transcend the limited self; to truly serve his own interests he must serve the greater good. (This greater good is not to be confused with the power grab of Obama and the Left; their greater good means bringing down the highest in the service of the envious and undeserving so the great unwashed masses, of whom the Left sing hosannas but in their hearts deplore, can crown their new messiah king and bask in the glory of their false god.) While McCain has often espoused an unhealthy mixture of political philosophies and has taken many offensive steps to accommodate the Left, he has consistently acted with the intention to serve the greatest good. McCain is a flawed human being (not that any other kind exists) but he is one that believes his best interests are the ones that serve his country and humanity. He is a man worthy of the presidency. Can the other candidate truly say that?
-- Ira M. Kessel
Rochester, New York

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Voters with assets and jobs to lose, while standing in the polling booth next Tuesday, recall that "R" after a candidate's name stands for "Recession," and "D" after a name stands for "Depression."
-- David Govett
Davis, California

KEEPING THE 'O' OUT OF OHIO

Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.'s Who Will Protect America?

We read your inspiring, truthful article, and quite agree with you. And thank you for writing it. Obama is an alleged radical, so full of hatred, as is his wife, who parrots Rev. Wright, almost word for word. We would sure like to know who recognized his manner of speaking, and sponsored him at Harvard and Colombia. A good speaker does not a President make, if it's your only asset. He has his speeches written for him, and makes them, almost like a robot as he can't make a speech without monitors. That's the reason for the big hullabaloo, that Obama got caught out, by Joe the Plumber, he answered, off the cuff, about spreading the wealth, which in reality means "Reparations," and now Joe the Plumber is being victimized by the State of Ohio, sadly.

And for poor Joe the Plumber, who didn't win the lottery as did Obama, with his questionable donations, to say he would like to buy out his employers business, which was his dream of the future, why, the State thought he had a hidden agenda. So they checked to see if he ever drew welfare, got unemployment benefits, owed back child support -- pathetic. Just because he one-upped Obama. And this is before Obama wins the Office. Is this a sign of his actions, should he win? This is very scary. If the State of Ohio, or the liberal leftist main stream media, had vetted Obama, as they did Joe the Plumber, assuredly Obama wouldn't be on the ticket for president. Why all the cowardice of the media? Why is Hawaii denying us proof of his Birth Certificate? 

-- The Moore Family, Relatives and Friends
Newark, Ohio