The American Spectator

The ESPN announcers mentioned the curse during the game. McCain blew his chance again. When interviewed, he should have put in a strong plug for the Steelers, while pointing out that a Steeler victory against the Skins would give the Philadelphia Eagles a bit of a boost. God only knows how many votes he would have picked up in Allegheny County, and the counties surrounding Philadelphia. Of course, he would have risked losing the half-dozen supporters he had in D.C.
— Dan Martin
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Jeremy Lott was right on the money in his comparison of the Redskins defeat with that of the McCain presidential bid. But he left one important aspect out. Were the referees, writers and commentators covering the game openly cheering for the Steelers?
— Peter F. Killie
Ridgefield, Connecticut

PARANOID
Re: Quin Hillyer’s Saul Alinsky Takes the White House:

Wow. Quin Hillyer’s “Saul Alinsky Takes the White House” reminds me of a man I once knew who thought everyone he met was out to get him and distrustful simply because he was out to get everyone else and was distrustful. He was projecting his beliefs on others.  It seems that Hillyer believes the Democrats will act in the manner he outlines precisely because this is how the Republicans would act if they were in this position. But there are moderates in both parties and hopefully, they and their level-headed thinking will prevail.
— Sharyn Taymor
Norwalk, Connecticut

Quin Hillyer replies: I hope Ms. Taymor’s last line is correct. For anyone who is familiar with my work, the rest of her letter is laughable.

PROOF’S IN THE PUDDING

While a guest on “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross, (10-21-08) Paul Krugman, the recipient of the Nobel prize for Economic Sciences, stated that McCain who pushed for deregulation, wants to frame the financial crisis as excessive government and places “Fannie and Freddie,” government sponsored lenders, at the core of the crisis when five minutes with the numbers tells that they were not major players.”

Republicans controlled Congress for 12 years during which time they created this colossal financial crisis. Republicans controlled all branches of government in 1929 during the stock market crash, followed by the depression. The Savings & Loan debacle happened during Ronald Reagan’s administration. This crisis could have been avoided if regulators had enforced rules and officials had dared to question risky lending and other dubious practices. America is experiencing a crisis in banking/housing because of deregulation during the Reagan administration and because Alan Greenspan kept interest rates too low. 

The regulatory failure is grounded in the Bush administration’s magical belief that the market, with its invisible hand, works best when it is left alone to self regulate and self correct. The country is now paying the price for that delusion. (editorial — NY Times)

The surplus left by President Clinton has been squandered by giving the richest Americans a tax cut during war time for the first time in our history and we now have the largest debt in history! When Mr. Bush took the oath of office in 200l, the nonpartisan CBO projected $5.6 trillion in federal budget surpluses through 2011. Bush will leave behind a trail of deficits and debt that will sharply constrain his successor, President Obama.

Democrats are compelled to follow Republicans with pooper-scoopers.  Hopefully, President Obama can emulate Roosevelt and clean up the mess Republicans have made and restore America’s credibility and standing in the world and provide the American people with jobs, health care, security, education and HOPE!
— M. Delphia Block

IDENTITY CRISIS
Re: Ed Morrow’s letter (under “How Does It Feel?”) in Reader Mail’s The Worst Is Yet to Come:

I was just contacted by a friend who asked me about a post by “Ed Morrow” on this site. Since I am also an “Ed Morrow,” who has advocated conservatism elsewhere online, he was surprised at its contention that conservatives don’t know the value of “inclusiveness, diversity and empathy.” He feared I might have contracted Christopher Buckley-itis or Peggy Noonan Syndrome. The post remarked negatively on the “sea of white faces” at the Republican convention. This oblique insistence that anyone who didn’t vote for Obama is a racist is itself a glaring example of racial divisiveness. While there are kooks in every corner of politics, legitimate conservatives base their acceptance on ideology, not skin color. Any ethnic group is welcome if they share conservative views. If you believe otherwise, please identify a conservative non-white who has been barred from conservative circles because of their race. 

On the other side, liberals love identifying themselves with virtue while demonizing anyone who diverges from their way of thinking, using race- or sex-based tactics they would bitterly decry if used by conservatives. Ask Michelle Malkin how vile Asian stereotypes have been used to attack her. Ask Walter Williams or Thomas Sowell or Clarence Thomas how many times they’ve been called “Uncle Tom.” In addition to race-based attacks there was plenty of sexism in the attacks on Sarah Palin’s appearance, “Caribou Barbie” intellect, and wardrobe (Obama spent twice as much in a single hour on TV ads and no one asked how much his suits cost) or the criticism of her daughter’s pregnancy or Palin’s decision to keep Trig or even her choice to have a career outside the home. For that matter, ask Hillary Clinton if she thinks sexism was used by the Obamaites to attack her. There was precious little “inclusiveness, diversity and empathy” in any of this — just a lot of sanctimonious hypocrisy.
— A different, conservative Ed Morrow

OFF THE BANDWAGON!