The American Spectator

Reader Mail

COMMUNITY-ORGANIZED HYPOCRISY
Re: Philip Klein's The Night and Day Economy:

"The White House has launched a series of defenses. However, to believe them, one would have to accept that the state of the economy is simultaneously both better than expected and worse than expected."

Should we really expect Saul Alinsky-disciple Barack Obama and his team to believe any different expectation of the public, given Obama's characteristic Humpty-Dumpty-ish use of words -- and given that everything he says has an expiration date or a date by which he will contradict himself at least once?
-- C. Kenna Amos Jr.
Princeton, West Virginia

OBAMA IS SELLING A LEMON
Re: Eric Peters' Food Stamps for Chrysler:

Mr. Peters' recitation of scenarios illustrates the truthfulness of "those who don't know history are doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again." Government takeover of the auto industry has failed in Britain, France, and everywhere else it has occurred. Even where the companies survived, it was simply as jobs programs for the elites' supporters. The other old bromine is that the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Surely this applies to the liberals in the U.S. but not really. Obama and those of his ilk really do not expect a different result and in fact do not want one. Their actions are all about control and failure only gives them more control of people's lives with the aid of the dishonest media and celebrity culture. But, as Chesterton said, "once we cease to believe in religion we will believe any and everything." How true! I spent twenty-five years as a member of the GM Legal Staff and can personally report that the government deserves along with the management and the UAW its share of the blame for the downfall of the US auto industry. The amazingly swift descent of Chrysler from the most profitable US auto company to its present state, as Peters demonstrates, indicts both the US government and the UAW for agreeing to it. I guess the UAW felt the seat on the board of directors was worth it. How short-sighted.
-- Jack Wheatley
Royal Oak, Michigan

MARKET POWER
Re: Lamar Alexander's Let's Build 100 Nuclear Reactors -- Again: 

Lamar Alexander makes sense until he gets to this paragraph:

The final step is to double funding for energy research and development and launch mini-Manhattan projects like we had in World War II, this time to meet seven grand energy challenges: improving batteries for plug-in vehicles, making solar power cost competitive with fossil fuels, making carbon capture a reality for coal-burning plants, safely recycling used nuclear fuel, making advanced biofuels (crops we don't eat) cost-competitive with gasoline, making more buildings green buildings and providing energy from fusion.

Presumably, Mr. Alexander means doubling government funding. I suspect that whatever bet Mr. Alexander proposes on our behalf, President Obama will be happy to raise. Why let the lawyers who run government allocate these scarce funds? They are outside of their area of expertise. They wouldn't even know what questions to ask. No doubt, funds will flow to those politically favored individuals and institutions who are presumably smart enough to make advanced biofuels cost-competitive with gasoline, and solar power competitive with fossil fuels. If it takes a mini-Manhattan project to figure this out, chances are it is a false economy. Let the risk capital figure it out. Barring an answer, markets will sort out energy usage by changing the way we freely choose to live.
-- Dan Martin
Pittsburgh

FEAR OF FLYING
Re: Roger Scruton's Facing Torture:

Too much cerebration. We are not talking about the old days, when Igor might apply a glowing poker to an eye socket or one's rear end. These are the days of caterpillars and waterboarding. Regarding the latter, apparently it is so benign that servicemen and women are exposed to it, to know what it feels like. It replicates the sensation of drowning, but produces no physical damage at all. So let's ask the question: In order to preserve such a valuable technique, would I be willing to be waterboarded myself, if somehow I were wrongfully "fingered" by the Feds? I believe that such an occurrence would be vanishingly rare, and perhaps never happen, but if it did, and to me, the answer is yes, I would be willing to suffer the same indignity as service folk suffer. It wouldn't hurt me, it would quickly establish my innocence, I think, and would be in the service of my country. We need to keep things in context here: Of course, it is one thing if an innocent, or even a not-so-innocent, is sequestered in a dungeon, having his fingernails pulled out with pliers, and such, but loud music, sleep deprivation, waterboarding, and the like? Some of this stuff isn't much worse than the experience one goes through when flying, these days.
-- David Reich
Auburn, New York

RABBIT'S FEET
Re: Bill Croke's The Twilight of the Gods:

To me basketball is that game you play to kill time until baseball season begins. It always will be. Except for my following my favorite, the NFL Indianapolis Colts, baseball will be, in spite of scandal and mishap, the game that has the human drama and renewal which happens in spring. The past heroes of the sport are always going to be there, and if you look hard enough you can find new ones with those scandalized ones few and far between.
-- Michael Skaggs
Murray, Kentucky

It should be Walter Maranville, not James. I actually played for him as a 16-year-old kid. He showed me how big-leaguers put on their uniform pants -- inside out and then pull them up. He was a runt; so was Phil Rizzuto.
-- Jim Sweeney
Los Angeles, California

NUCLEAR ASIA
Re: Doug Bandow's Following the New Australian Defense Model: 
To bring real protection to democratic nations in Asia Australia, Japan and South Korea (one day Taiwan) should be given nuclear arms to act as a deterrent against the Democrats' friends in China and North Korea -- time for our Asian Pacific allies to grow up and join the big boy club. At the same time the U.S. should be letting Europe the days of the free ride are gone as we drastically cut our presence in Central Europe. NATO is fast becoming a waste of funds we cannot afford thanks to the despot Barack Obama. Semper Fi,
-- Mike Tomlinson
Jacksonville, North Carolina

PUBLIC (NOT) GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION
Re: George Neumayr's Jacked Up:

We the people who allow this to take place will certainly face the Lord someday and it is going to be a bad day at black rock for those that hale these perverts as gods and wonderful people, they are sick in the head. Period. There is no excuse for molesting a child, and one needs to ask me if a child grows out of molestation, I am raising a child today that was a victim and I can tell you it affects their very souls. There is no erasing any of it, only helping them deal with the fact they were nothing more than victims. I would rather stand before God and face all that I have done, but if I had of molested a child I would have it that the mountains would fall on me and hide me, there will be no hiding place. Jackson, for whatever it is worth, has died and he is in his glory and will be one place or the other, I cannot say if he is in hell or heaven, only God knows that, but most assuredly M. Jackson knows. I condemn no one to Hell, there is only one who has that power.
-- Ken Roberts
Lebanon, Ohio

KNOXING ON THIN ICE
Re: Re: Michael Davis's letter (under "School of Soft Knox") in Reader Mail's Quitting Morality, Losing Elections:

It is entirely true that criticizing the Pope and other "Catholic leaders" does not make one "anti-Catholic"---necessarily. But it is one thing to disagree and dispute another's logic and quite another to throw fiery hatchets because their centuries old tradition in theology will not go where you want it to go. Agree with the Catholic Church or not, the Church consistently has been very careful in explaining how She comes out where She does in matters of sexual ethics. As a Protestant, I don't agree with the Catholic opposition to birth control. Yet, one has to admit the Church's thinking on the matter wasn't invented ex nihilo in the twentieth century and has a long pedigree of related antecedent opinions.

Of course, this, as you say, being a constitutional republic, one is perfectly free to be "anti-Catholic". Whether being anti-Catholic is honorable or not is another question. The problem is Knox's appointment to the President's Advisory Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Is it wise politics or policy to take a man into one's office who has such an animus against one of the major (if not the major) private providers of charitable services to the poor and needy? What does that say to the very people whose confidence a President is trying to win? Mr. Knox be known for many things; but it is apparent being diplomatic is not one of them.
-- Mike Dooley

FORGET ABOUT IT
Re: Peter Kuch & Daniel Allott's Mr. President: Don't Forget Southern Sudan: 

Why is everything that Obama does called "historic"? That's just stupid.
-- Bill Sundling