The American Spectator

Reader Mail

YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN
Re: Quin Hillyer's Saul Alinsky Takes the White House:

Quin Hillyer terrifies us with his stunning preview of the impending Obamalinsky administration. It sounds like it came right out of Rules for Radicals (of course it does, because it did).

Note that what he described had already started even before He was elected! (Note to Editor. The capital "H" was intentional. Deities get their personal pronouns capitalized, you know.)

All you have to do is to consider the pro-Obama state Attorneys General who threatened prosecution against anyone who wrote unkindly about Him, or the three reporters who were booted off The Angelic Express because their editors had (shuddddder) endorsed his opponent, John (sacrilegious language deleted).

The worst is yet to come, as Hillyer so well described it.

The worst is yet to come.
-- A. C. Santore

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Well put, Hillyer. And for you Alinskyites out there, since when did you start carrying the torch for dead white guys? Oh yeah, only Jefferson, Madison, etc., qualify as dead white guys, not Saulie or Karl. BTW, Quin, this may be a time more suited for a George Patton, instead of an Omar Bradley. But, I'll take what I can get.
-- Mike Showalter
Austin, Texas

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The successful use of the "Big Lie" in blaming GWB for Liberal caused problems(e.g. sub-prime mortgages) is just beginning. As the Main Stream Media is now a tool of the far left, we can expect many more totally false contrivances. As our Democracy rapidly evolves into Socialism, can National-Socialism be far behind ?
-- Joseph Haverty
Clearwater, Florida

Problem is, the Republicans flat out refused to hear any voice but the one they insisted was God speaking directly to them. This is a country of citizens engaged in Democracy. Reasoning Americans were up against "the Decider" and rabid evangelicals attacking with such overbearing righteousness that they refused to discuss anything, judging others while holding themselves arbiters of good and evil.
 
The mute button became the tactic of choice every time Bush spoke because you simply couldn't endure his disregard for the contributions of his fellow citizens. Responsibility for the choice to elevate, support and endorse these tactics is now the Republicans who closed ears, hearts and minds to their friends, families, neighbors and colleagues.For the first six years of Bush /Cheney, so divided were we that people wouldn't even admit they were Democrats for fear of losing jobs or sustaining a verbal beating.
 
Their CHOICE to abuse power, position and trust drove the Republicans here. Don't blame the Left, the people who were disrespected when they endeavored to disagree had no choice but to go to the other extreme to restore balance. Observe some inward thinking for a while. Find your own center by listening to the divinity within. There you'll also find most of your fellow, center -- stable -- Americans.
-- Ann Augustine
Butler County, Pennsylvania

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Remember the militias (Posse Comitatis) of the '80s? Your article makes the case for their return, such will be the desperation of those who feel completely disenfranchised.
-- Mark D.

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Much too negative. We won WW2, we won the Cold War, and we can win this one. Despair is a self-indulgent folly we cannot and need not engage.
-- Art P.

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HOW DOES IT FEEL?
Re: Philip Klein's The Future of the Right:

I could not help but laugh at your description of "two-dozen conservative leaders" meeting at a rural retreat in Virginia.

Here we have a group of white guys and at least one white woman getting together to bemoan their fate, to commiserate on how the American people let themselves be led astray by shifty-eyed liberals.

These people need to get out more, see more people, and learn what is happening in this country. They have a bizarre and limited notion of what is the "real America."

Do you think the Republican convention was a mirror of the real America? The sight of that sea of white faces staring up at John McCain sent a message that no amount of campaign spin could correct.

Regardless of how elegant their philosophy or the correctness of their views, until Conservatives learn the values of inclusiveness, diversity, and empathy they will forever wander in the political wilderness.
-- Ed Morrow

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FAULTY INTELLIGENCE
Re: William Tucker's Strategy for 2012:

Affluent, educated voters chose Obama because he appeared to be the more intelligent candidate? I am not sure exactly how William Tucker believes Obama demonstrated this intelligence since he was very careful not to articulate specifics on any issue. Perhaps Tucker considers a slick advertising campaign promoting a product, in this case the brand of Hope and Change united with a glib spokesman in the person of Barack Obama, a demonstration of intelligence. It is more than likely the particular demographic Tucker concerns himself with voted for Obama because our colleges along with the mainstream media teach and promote left-wing political philosophy. Thirty years of indoctrination have born fruit. This is amplified by the fact that these are the very people to whom the trappings and appearance of intelligence are of greater importance than original thought. Therefore they will adopt and parrot those ideas that have been designated intelligent by the cultural elite. The media has been telling that us that Republicans are dumb since Ronald Reagan won the nomination in 1980 and nobody wants to appear lowbrow or greedy at a Westchester County cocktail party. The New York Times informs us that conservatives are both. While it is awkward for one to fit into a conversation that they hold a Master's Degree from Princeton without seeming to be a swell head, one can demonstrate their intelligence and worldliness to other sophisticates by repeating what Bill Moyers was saying last night or expounding on whatever Maureen Dowd had on her mind this week. That way the entire party can bask in the warm glow of superiority over the oafish masses.

By the standards of our college professors and television news editors, a Republican can never be intelligent. As long as we have a culture and media that trumpets left wing political philosophy as sophisticated and intelligent, the Republicans could run a ticket of a newly discovered Plato and a second Einstein and it would not make a bit of difference. They too would be deconstructed as a couple of dumbbells to be snickered at by new elite.
-- Peter F. Killie
Ridgefield, Conservative

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"SO DOES THIS MEAN the conservative cause is lost? Not at all. It simply means that conservatives are going to have to stop appealing to the frustrations of the inarticulate and start making a more intelligent case. The Democratic alliance that has won this election is bound to stumble over its own contradictions."

You must be joking. These educated professionals whom you would like to appeal are among the least likely to be persuaded by articulate arguments or to be concerned about the inherent contradictions of liberalism. For instance, the very same people who champion solar and wind power are also opposed to the construction of the transmission lines necessary to harness that power. With millions of new electric cars do any of them see increased demands on the electric grid? Even if they do, do they support the construction of new power plants? Fat chance. "La la la la LA, I can't hear you..."

I know this because I work among a great many people like this. They may be brilliant and grounded in their own fields, but their "education" insulates them from considering reasoned political arguments. They are the enlightened class. They already have the Truth. They are much more likely to be dismissive of alternative viewpoints. They see the holders of alternative viewpoints as uneducated simpletons. Their faith cannot be challenged.

Before you worship at the altar of the "educated" you need to realize that the Wal-Mart America which you seem to held in contempt is the largest segment of America which is still grounded in common sense. In addition to being values voters, they innately understand that the world does not run on unicorn farts and fairy dust.
-- Damien Blaze

Even now, Democrats and the mainstream media are compiling dossiers on future potential Republican presidential candidates, so as to be able to destroy their reputations and thus appeal in 2012.

America has become the Roman Empire. Which stage thereof will become apparent over the next four years.

It is now difficult to imagine a scenario that could unite the red and blue Americas, given such a broad spectrum of fundamental disagreement.

By the way, did anyone else notice that the red-vs.-blue map of the 2008 election results closely resembles the blue-vs.-gray map of the Civil War? If indeed Civil War II is implicit, was the presidential election Appomattox or Fort Sumter?
-- David Govett
Davis, California

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MCLAME BLAME
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.'s Oh, What a Beautiful Morning:

The conservative movement will not re-group with the present cast of characters in the Republican Party. What we need is a viable third party for conservative, libertarians, and patriotic Americans of all stripes. This is not the Republican party as it is presently constituted. The party leadership with the assistance of Mike Hucksterbee manipulated the primaries to force John McLame down our throats. McLame was a flawed candidate that never captured more than 30% to 35% of the republican vote in the primaries.
 
What you people should now be doing is establishing an alternative to the party that gave us Bush I, Bob Dole, Bush II and John McLame as presidential nominees. I like many of my friends will not be voting for stupid party any longer. I will be voting for a third party with conservative values that puts the country and it's citizens first. I will not be voting for the party that is a wholly owned subsidiary of corporate America and the big banks, including the Federal Reserve, which I am sure you are aware is a private institution.
 
My opinions are buttressed by the Republican establishments efforts to blame Sarah Palin for the party's stunning losses instead of looking to themselves and the flawed candidate they tried to push down the country's throat. I can't think of a worse candidate in modern history than John McLame. As for Bush II and his father, they were only slightly better. My advice to you folks is; get busy on a viable third party or get used to living in a country dominated by the Democrats.
 
OH! By the way, the stupidity of Republican policies can be seen in the statistics on the number of Hispanics that voted for John McLame. The party and McLame's pandering to Hispanics resulted in absolutely no advantage at the polls while alienating their conservative base.
-- Paul Martell

RET reminds readers that Obama is a product of the Chicago machine -- he promised the voters that he would bring hope and change to Washington and the USA. But, check out his DC team:
 
"Outlined against a blue-gray November sky, the Four Horseman rode again.

"In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death.

"These are only aliases. Their real names are: Emanuel, Axelrod, Daley, and Jarrett."
-- Jack Hughes
Chicago. Illinois

Yes, we Conservatives will be back. The Wash, DC "Country Club" GOP and the geniuses in the DC "Conservative" press caused the downfall of the GOP. We watched father and son Bush destroy the GOP. They both ruled more like FDR than Ronald Reagan.

McCain was a horrible choice and he proved himself to be a disaster. Conservatives do not lose elections when they run as Conservatives; it's fake Conservatives who get blown out.
-- Gene Deveney
Hoboken, New Jersey

THE GALLBLADDER OF SOME PEOPLE
Re: Peter Pitts's Health Care and Our President-Elect:

Mr. Pitts article on health care fails to touch on a very salient point. Doctors are taking care of many insured people for what would be slave wages in most societies. Reimbursement for a gallbladder operation on a Medicare patient is around $400 and includes the operation and THREE MONTHS care. The lawyers are charging $300 per hour. Law school, at last check, was about three years shorter than the path to surgery. So, maybe Mr. Pitts can explain what percentage of the money goes to the bureaucrats who run the system and how much goes to the guy who operates and gets sued if the scar is too big??
-- Robert Mandraccia MD
Ft. Myers, Florida

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OVERTIME
Re: Stuart Koehl's letter (under "KO'd?) in Reader Mail's Govern Us If You Can:
 
I ask for the patience of the editors of TAS one last time. The "filoque" controversy is probably an arcane matter to most of the reading public; but such is the way of the world that "little" matters turn out to be at the heart of many of the world's conflicts and tensions.
 
I have reread the very document Mr. Koehl last referred to ("Clarification on the Procession of the Holy Spirit") and found it to be an unexceptional example of such ecumenical documents -- especially those issued by the Roman Church. The very first part of the document seems to make a major concession; yet if one reads the entire document one learns that Rome is doing nothing of the kind. Mr. Koehl believes the Eastern Church is about to grasp victory in a centuries old disagreement; but even a casual reading of this and other publications from the Vatican shows that Rome still adamantly believes and defends the "double procession" of the Holy Spirit from both the God the Father and God the Son.
 
I still stand by my suggestion that John Paul II and Benedict XVI endeavor to bridge long standing doctrinal chasms by a faith that what appears to be two conflicting statements ultimately will be found to have "equivalent meaning" at some future date. This controversy is no different. Some may find this approach patronizing. I see it as respectful, generous, and a sincere effort toward a visible and united Church of all Christians. I don't believe it works "on the ground"; but it does help us understand what Rome is trying to do.
 
Lutherans are much more disposed to discussing and citing Scripture to explore questions in theology rather than calling forth ancient authorities. Nevertheless, as something of an outsider, it is apparent that the Latin Fathers are no less authoritative than the Greek Fathers within the deposit of the Faith. No less than St. Augustine taught the procession of the Holy Spirit from both the Father and the Son. Tertullian, Origen, and Ambrose the same. Among these one also has to consult the Athanasian Creed. These (especially the Athanasian Creed) are far more decisive for the Western Church than the fact the Orthodox Church is irritated and resentful that they hadn't been consulted a thousand years ago.
 
I am confused that Mr. Koehl is confused over Martin Luther's support/teaching/retaining the "filoque" in Nicene Creed. In spite of Mr. Koehl's snotty suggestion that Luther might have been ignorant, Luther's writings on the subject are readily available. Only a modicum of intellectual curiosity would put them at your fingertips to study.
 
Lutherans and the Orthodox have had a steady stream of discussions between them since the days of the Reformation. Lutherans have repeatedly offered a willingness to agree that the Nicene Creed in its original would be the only ecumenically binding version among all Christians. The Orthodox have one time after another refused these olive branches -- insisting "total surrender" as the only viable option. This attitude is puzzling to Lutherans. Equally puzzling is Mr. Koehl's triumphalism for the Eastern Church's "complete" theology about the Holy Spirit. Before the ineffable mystery of the Triune God, are we not all beggars?
-- Mike Dooley

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GETTING REAL
Re: David R. Bass's The Campaign for Change Starts Now:

Let's get real here. Republicans have become what we called moderate democrats in the 1970s. Ronald Reagan was the last living Republican and Conservative. Today's so called conservatives agree with the loony left's basis for their spending and taxing policies.
 
Is there a Republican who doesn't buy into the philosophy that EVERY American has a right to medical care? No, of course not. Acceptance of that ridiculous premise is the foundation for the rejoicing in the streets among African Americans. As one young woman put it: "I don't have to pay my mortgage, or food or gas anymore!"

Conservatism is dead. If you need proof, look at Mitt Romney. They call him a conservative.
-- Jay Molyneaux
North Carolina

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I'd like to keep Bobby Jindal in the Louisiana governor's office for a while, not have him chasing higher office right away. Besides the problems of perpetual campaigning and perpetual campaigners, so much so that by the time the election comes around you just want to be rid of them all...well, let's get Louisiana fixed first.
-- Robert Nowall
Cape Coral, Florida

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SEIZE THE DAY
Re: Thaddeus G. McCotter's Now, Seize Freedom!:

Those principles are a great place to start. The problem is the party will continue to lose votes as incomes continue to be depressed. We can't all be "C" level execs at S&P 500 firms who make millions in the name of private sector superiority, yet give such a horrible raw deal to their brothers on the lower levels. If they will not pay a wage to live on and prosper, the people will always eventually chase a promise of security. Also, you can't have family values when both spouses must slave to keep food and shelter.
-- John Cupo