The American Spectator

COLOR BLIND
Re: Jeffrey Lord’s Answering Peggy Noonan: Why Sotomayor Should Withdraw:

Wow! What a powerful piece by Jeffrey Lord. It brought back several memories of my own childhood in segregated Virginia, most notably the bomb threats against the integrated private grade school I attended, at least one actual bomb attack on a residence of a black family interloping in a white neighborhood, and the discovery that my black classmates lived on dirt roads well inside the limits of what was then Virginia’s largest city. During my freshman year of college in 1967, a fellow student always walked under an umbrella on sunny days because he was convinced that skin pigmentation was inversely related to intelligence. I wish that story were fiction, but it is not.

Mr. Lord is exactly correct. The thought processes that allowed these events and attitudes to develop are not restricted to any ethnic group and need to be defeated whenever they rear up, even if the proponents belong to special protected political classes. As a wise man recently said: “Freedom is for everybody.”
— Jerry Magri

Great work by Mr. Lord. It was one of those really long pieces that as you read it one hopes it would never end. Mr. Lord keeps on coming up with fresh insights on every page and paragraph with his personal memories and observations. I doubt it, but perhaps it will help poor Noonan to find her way, which she lost sometime ago. I continue to read her column in the WSJ praying that she will return to form but I’m losing that hope week by week. Her unrelenting attacks on Sarah Palin were almost too much. It seems her attachment to the Ivy league academic elite trumps most of her conservative instincts. But enough of the negative comments. I applaud Mr. Lord and his family for their efforts against racism when it would have been much easier, I’m sure, just to go along to get along. As a child of parents who came to Michigan from Tennessee in 1940 to find work I was spared the grinding poverty and race attitudes of that era and place. I was recently gratified when my son told me that he grew up with no prejudice either for or against any group strictly on the basis of what group or race people were. I certainly give my dear late wife a lot, if not most of, the credit for that, since she was a devout Christian in every sense of the word. I must confess I would much prefer Dr. Thomas Sowell as Chief Executive of our great nation to the current know-nothing, half-educated, full-of-self-esteem-for-no-good-reason person who currently occupies that position. Of course I would also prefer Dr. Sowell over McCain, and, come to think about it, over anyone else.
— Jack Wheatley
Royal Oak, Michigan

In Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech, he said, and I’m paraphrasing, “I have a dream that one day my children will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” To me that means, race should not be part of the public discussion. Whether someone is white, black, brown, or Asian doesn’t matter. What do they think and believe? What are their values?

I believe that now is the time for conservatives to stand up for this fact. People are people no matter their color or ethnic origin. Liberals have gotten away far too long using the race card both ways. 

In Acts 10 verses 9 through 16, the Lord tells Peter through a vision that He wants the Gospel taught to all people, not just the Jews. All people are equal in the eyes of God; we then should view all people as equal and treat them as such.
— Randall Allison
Abilene, Texas

The congressional Republican leadership seems most unwilling to fight over the nomination of Sotomayor. The question arises: just what will they fight for? And is any of that something the Republican base would approve of?
— Robert Nowall
Cape Coral, Florida

Mr. Lord’s article is one of the most salient responses to those who believe The Right must stoop to conquer. His article is rich in personal history and responsibility without ever being shrill or dishonorable. With deliberate and clear logic he deflates Sotomayor’s ideology but avoids attacking the woman herself. Mr. Lord is tactful as well as tactical in his response. He leaves no question that Judge Sotomayor’s legal perspective is based upon racist vision, but he is equally clear that he hold no personal animus against her. His rebuke of her judicial activism is based on history and precedent. Both are fertile ground for the Republican and Blue Dog senators to plant their objections: racism is anathema to all that is held sacred in our courts.

Now is the time to be guided by our better angels. Now is the time to put down our cudgels. Now is the time to rebuke racism no matter what form it takes or its messenger. Now is the time to let the voice of reason be heard.

Let us raise our voices with conviction, reason and truth. Win or lose, let us fight with honor.
— I.M. Kessel

Never has a political article made my eyes tear up, but this one did. I was moved by Jeffrey Lord’s description of his father’s actions, his sturdy moral compass and ability to do the right thing in very difficult circumstances. Are there folks like him now? Mr. Lord, thank you for your thoughtful article on the nomination of Judge Sotomayor and the intersection of racism, history, and the Democratic Party — a lot to ponder. I am grateful for your perspective and capable analysis.
— Kristi Heft

VENAL PRESCRIPTION
Re: Jerome Arnett, Jr., M.D., & Gregory Conko’s FDA’s Bad Medicine:

A major problem with modern government is how our elected officials (and non-elected bureaucrats) truly, deeply (madly) believe they are smarter than the rest of the world. (How did those old white wigged men who knew so little and died so young ever know about government?!? Sure, they wrote The Constitution, but we, the living, know what it means.) At least the elected were smart enough to get elected. What evidence of intelligence can be offered for our bureaucrats?  Doctors spend years of painstaking study, internship and practice before they are allowed to earn their living as physicians. Even then, the best doctors understand that they know just a jot and tittle about the human body and condition. Yet, despite, lacking notable expertise and knowledge of medicine, the government (specifically Representative Waxman) plans to outlaw the practice of off label prescriptions. The question is why?

The answer is simple: follow the money.
— I.M. Kessel