Reader Mail
Cap-and-Taxed to Death
One terrible bill. Lott and Yeatman vs. Pelosi. Obama’s Persian adventure. Plus more.
(Page 4 of 6)
OLD SCHOOL
Re: Larry Thornberry’s A Great American — a
So-So Book:
Of course, this is too far back to matter anymore, but the best
baseball announcer I ever heard (and I have been listening since
1941) was Red Barber. Barber never gave any indication of whom he
rooted for, unlike so many announcers today. He was quiet,
soft-spoken, and so easy to listen to. I used to admire Scully
years ago, but having heard him in recent years, he seems
terrified of leaving even a split-second of silence. He talks
endlessly, and wears the listener out. Too bad, because it was
Barber who taught Scully the basics of baseball announcing when
he broke in with the old Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948 or 1949.
— Dr. Edward Lowry
Arlington,
Virginia
SPLITSVILLE — NOT YET
Re: Mark Tooley’s A Tale of Two Churches:
Slow Down! The Episcopal Church has “split”? No, I don’t think so; rather another offshoot has been established and not for the first time.
Such breakaway groups have their origins among most, if not all, larger religious bodies globally.
100,000 members in the new, self-declared “Anglican” body? Incorrect, too. Perhaps two-thirds of that number — which represents a tiny fraction of The Episcopal Church in the United States.
To be sure, many Christian churches, even those that appear monolithic, are engaged in doctrinal/moral self-examination. The Enlightenment and Reformation continue. Virtually every religious body evolves; none is static — even though many clergy and laypeople would prefer final certainties in all matters. “Preservers” are in tension with “pioneers” in every generation — whether among religions or among schools of thought in physics, economics, psychology, etc.
A 72-year-old “cradle Episcopalian,” I am personally dissatisfied with a number of significant matters of belief and practice in the contemporary Episcopal Church. However, it is within the life of the Church that effective remedies can emerge — after much discussion, debate, and discernment. Fewer “schools of thought” and practices then survive. Those that prefer one (their own) notion of the Christian Faith are doomed to frustration or the establishment of their own “orthodox” group (in which dissension will surface in time).
I predict confidently that within a decade, perhaps sooner, the
ACNA will be embroiled in much internal turmoil. That is bound to
happen and be particularly vicious among the many members who
yearn for absolute certainty (rather than informed faith) and for
power (rather than the inevitable messiness of shepherding among
fellows who think differently). Just watch!
— Rev. Canon Richard T. Nolan, Ph.D.
West Palm Beach, Florida
CEILING LIMIT
Re: Jim DeMint’s Political Greed:
There is only one way to make term limits happen: By never
reelecting anyone in Congress, the
American voter could impose term limits on Congress.
In other words, don’t let anyone serve more than one term. That’s the only way to teach them that the voter is the boss! The “one term limit” can be eased after we citizens get control of Congress.
Congress will never allow us to constitutionally term limit them. Our only choice is to never reelect them.
Remember too, it makes no difference who you vote for, as long as it is never for any incumbent!
Letter to the Editor View all comments (17) | Leave a comment
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Old Texican| 7.3.09 @ 1:23PM
James Noble
Thank you. That was the most succinct, and thoughtful post I have read today.
You stepped back from the pointless grumbling and took it to the conclusion.
brrrrr...chill bumps!
billy| 7.4.09 @ 5:34AM
I say again.
Our elected officials need a history lesson.
Why did we tell the king of England (one of the most powerful men in the world) to take a hike 233 years ago today?
DoS_Conservative| 7.4.09 @ 10:32AM
"I don't usually read The American Spectator any more, though I do return occasionally to gloat. "
--Paul Dorell
I think Mr. Dorell needs to go back on hiatus because his letter is absolutely nonsense. He makes some hysterical claims how totalitarianism is great. It takes a liberal to praise totalitarianism. He has a great role model in the White House.
First, his claim that government controlled healthcare systems are more economical and effective than our current system of private insurance. Economical? Not to the tax payers who fund it. Perhaps to the government since they constantly deny treatment; therefore, they are not paying for it. As a Foreign Service Officer in the Department of State, I have lived overseas many years and have experienced government run healthcare first hand. I would not trade our current system for it. It is not great. Besides my problems dealing with that system, I have had two friends diagnosed with cancer while in Europe. The government run health care in Europe told them they had to wait 6 weeks just to talk about possible treatment options for their cancer. Then would have to wait just to get on the treatment program afterwards. They came back to the US and were immediately on treatment within days of returning to the US. If they waited in the European system, they would probably not be cured today. Also, those with money all pay for higher medical care at special hospitals for the well to do. They all know if you want quality healthcare, you pay for it out of pocket.
Second, his claim that the Chinese are on the right track in trying to control fertility rates when over population is a global crisis is just insane. If they are on the right track since they instituted their one child policy, then why is it that their population continues to increase? As someone who has lived in China for a couple of years, I can tell you. Because when the Chinese have girls, they continue to either kill them (infanticide), or abandon them in an orphanage so they can continue to try for a boy. Also, those Chinese with money can just pay the government to be an exception to the one child policy. Or perhaps I misread Mr. Dorell's point. Perhaps he was praising the Chinese population control mechanism of executing criminals for petty crimes as pickpocketing. Or massacring minority populations that don't agree with the Politburo. I guess the Chinese are on the right track. As a liberal, Mr. Dorell probably thinks this is a wonderful way to quell dissent.
Finally, Mr. Dorell blames the current financial crisis on too little regulation. He acts as if no regulation existed and caused this crisis. The truth is that if Congress (the overseers of the regulators) actually did their job and enforced the regulation already on the books, instead of catering to their special interest groups, we probably wouldn't be in the mess we are in today.
I think Mr. Dorell needs to continue to not read the Spectator and go back to his Huffington Post and Daily KOS blogs with the other brain washed sheeple who believe this nonsense.
Paul Dorell| 7.6.09 @ 11:44AM
DoS_Conservative,
You can rest assured that I don't intend to become a regular on this site. It was always fun stir the pot during Bush's second term, but that's old hat now. However, I will respond to some of your comments.
Studies have shown that the total per capita cost to the citizens of France for health care is about half of that of Americans, and that on balance the results in terms of infant mortality and other measures are better. I'm not saying that this applies to the poorer countries of Europe. I realize that there are waiting periods in some countries, and that treatment isn't always immediately available. As an individual, that would be undesirable, but for the country as a whole, it would be beneficial. One of the reasons why our health care system is the most expensive in the world per capita is that people are over-treated. In my opinion, it is appropriate in many instances to allow people to die rather than spend hundreds of thousand of taxpayer dollars to extend their lives by a few months. That is the norm here, and the current system has no internal mechanism to correct it. If immediate treatment is what particularly irks you, with any system that we're likely to legislate, you will still be able to get it - at the right price out of your own pocket. I do not commend Congress for their conduct over the last few years, but at least they're trying to move in the right direction now.
Regarding China, I was not applauding their human rights violations. Nor was I applauding the effectiveness of their attempt to control their population growth. I was applauding the fact that the government is attempting to prevent a disaster to their country that would also spill over and affect every corner of the globe. What I'm saying is that in principle, there is nothing wrong with the government regulation of the number of offspring that a couple my bear.
Regarding the financial crisis, if you had read my letter carefully, you would have noticed that I mentioned lack of enforcement as one of the causes.
Regarding my choices of reading, I do not read the Huffington Post or Daily Kos, though I usually agree with Paul Krugman, who has perhaps got a bit of a big head from his Nobel prize in economics.
As far as Obama is concerned, I'm happy with the job he's done so far and shudder to think what would have happened to this country with McCain-Palin in office. Obama is on track to become one of the greatest presidents in American history. The readers of The American Spectator now make up one of the wackiest fringes in American politics, but I don't imagine it will die any time soon, as it's still well funded.