The American Spectator

Reader Mail

A SAVAGED MOMENT
Re: Daniel J. Flynn's Kennedy Catholicism:

It would seem to be a severe and spiritually dangerous overreach to suggest that the late Senator shouldn't have had the benefit of a funeral Mass at all, as some in fact have asserted, but in the Boston Archdiocese's allowing the occasion to proceed under klieg lights, and with a grandiosity far better suited to a saint, it truly savaged a preciously rare teaching moment.

Would that our good, crimson vested Cardinal O'Malley have perhaps given a little more thought to the ordinary faithful in his trenches, laity and clerical, such as my priest uncle, who for years has tirelessly worked in quiet devotion for the advancement of the Gospel of Life; His Eminence did neither them nor the Gospel any favors.
-- Francis M. Hannon, Jr.
Melrose, Massachusetts

Although Mr. Flynn says much to set the record straight as a Catholic, I am still troubled by the actions of the Church letting itself be used by the liberals and other troublemakers in the very public Kennedy funeral proceedings. No one would deny the senator being given the last rites and church service by the Church he "claimed" (although one must admit in a very strange way) to follow. After all we "are all sinners who come short of the glory of God" but he should have been buried by his parish priest if he had one, the Kennedys all seem to demand the services of at least a Cardinal when they get into trouble or even the Pope himself as Ted attempted even unto the last. The "august" pillars of the Church that joined the liars and Politicians (redundant I know) ought to be ashamed of themselves. My Baptist parents feared and distrusted Catholics (I must admit as a child and young adult I shared such an opinion) when they came North before WWII. They felt Catholics adhered to a strange brand of Christianity where one could "carouse and whore" around all week and then go to confession on weekends and all was forgiven while beginning the same behavior all over again on Monday. This indeed bothered me as a child and young adult. As I matured however it also bothered me that among Baptists we saw not much wrong with our brethren who let a life of "carousing and whoring" and came to Jesus on their deathbed. When I grew up and married a wonderful Catholic girl I came to realize that Catholics as a whole were much like all Christians who live doing their best to follow the teachings of Christ as did Baptists and neither were always successful. But after viewing the carnival of the Kennedy funeral maybe the Baptists were right all along. Not really, I know, but at some point the Catholic Church, if it is going to remain relevant, is going to have to deal with politicians who claim to be RC yet reject most if not all of the fundamental beliefs of the Holy Bible. I know we have similar and some might say even more serious problems with the so-called mainline Protestant churches but I have about given up on them. They are no longer relevant and what is worse, they don't seem to care. Witness the race among sects to legitimize gay clergy.
-- Jack Wheatley
Royal Oak, Michigan

NEVER SURRENDER
Re: Matthew Vadum's Obama's Desecrators of 9/11:

The only response to this unconscionable attempt to hijack 9/11 is "H-e-double-toothpicks NO! We won't ***(insert favorite deletable expletive)*** let you!!! This is something we must, to slightly misquote Winston Churchill, fight on the beaches, fight in the fields and in the streets, fight in the hills.... If Obama somehow manages to ram this down our throats, then G-d help us, one and all; the United States of America will be well on the way down a slippery slope to becoming the United Soviet Socialist States of Obamastan.
--Gretchen L. Chellson
Alexandria, Virginia

Let's call a spade a spade here-and, no, political corrections, that is not a racist slam: Barack Hussein Obama desecrates 9/11.

Let's all be clear about this, too: In Obama, we have the first Marxist/statist president, one who loathes America, her Constitution and especially its Bill of Rights, her history, her security, her military, her currency, her free markets and, it appears, her people.

That he invited self-proclaimed communist Jones to serve in his cabinet should have already brought people out into the streets, including around the White House, demanding Jones' expulsion. Certainly, the silence of the outrage from the Democrat Party and its leadership deafens.

That Obama's using yet another proxy, leftist, pretend-Christian clergy should bring no surprise, given Obama's use of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as a political expedient.

Divisive, hyper-partisan, anti-American Obama and his handlers and supporters -- especially those blacks who appear to have been cut from the same Marxist and/or Black Liberation theology mold as the president -- seem now to think it's no longer necessary for them to attempt to cover-up their true leftist colors.
With that haughtiness, they ensure their downfall, sooner, perhaps, than they can imagine. Do they not sense or care that their provocative, cannot-be-constrained hatred for America could manifest civil war, not just race or class war? Maybe that's their intention?
-- C. Kenna Amos Jr.

THE EMPTY SUIT
Re: Larry Thornberry's The Senator from Charlie:
Does anything that politicians do surprise ANYONE these days. It is all about power and the keeping of same. I, for one, never understood Crist's appeal. He comes across as the quintessential politician, glad-handing and back-slapping and all! What he has really done for Florida remains a mystery to me, and to many others, so this latest problem is right on point with Charlie's higher aspirations. He was rather absent when McCain-Palin arrived to campaign and conspicuously absent at The Villages, when 75,000 folks showed up to see Mrs. Palin. Hopefully, we won't see her campaigning for this empty suit when he runs for that other scoundrels' seat.
-- Bob M.
Ft. Myers, Florida

BLOOD FOR OIL
Re: The Prowler's Lax on Libya:

Contrast President Obama's loud mouthed defense of the obnoxious behavior of Skip Gates with his inactivity about opposing the release of the Flight 103 bomber. Former Vice President Dick Cheney said he had strong doubts about Obama's understanding of the need to defend his country. I disagree with the former Vice President -- after this shabby, incompetent episode, I have no doubts at all that Obama has not the slightest understanding at all of national defense. A catastrophe is only a matter of time when people like this are in charge of the country. The Obama administration is a crisis and I doubt if any of America's enemies will let it go to waste.
-- Christopher H
Canberra, Australia

"British intelligence and Foreign Office officials were surprised by what they called the 'seeming lack of enthusiasm' by the Obama administration in the run-up to the release of convicted Libyan terrorist Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the man responsible for the murder of more than 270 passengers on Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988....In the days leading up to the Scottish decision, Holder and Clinton made calls to MacAskill, but 'it isn't clear that much more was done....It seemed to be very much about going through the motions.'"

Surprise, surprise Barack Hussein Obama, friend of Hamas, like all Democrats is weak on Islamic terrorism. What a shock! Even more shocking the American MSM refuses to report on the Obama Democrats appeasement of Islamic terrorism. Who would have imagined such a scenario?

The actions of the Obama administration, British government and Scottish courts make one long for President George W. Bush who knew how to handle miscreant Muslims. Today, "blood for oil" is political reality. Where's MoveOn.org and "No Blood for Oil" when you need them?

Finally, that Obama and the Democrats want to take over the Internet and limit free speech should come as no surprise to defenders of the Constitution. Democrat disdain for the First Amendment, while not as openly acerbic as their antipathy for the Second Amendment, is just as intense. The Democrat battle to limit the First Amendment has been an ongoing struggle since the administrations of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (the father of American neo-fascism). This is just one more sign that the Democrats are intent on undermining Constitutional liberties in their pursuit to create an oligarchy. One can just make out the sound of jackboots in the background when Obama and Democrats speak and the ACLU acquiesces to Democrat assaults on the Constitution.
-- Michael Tomlinson
Jacksonville, North Carolina

KEEP IT LOUD
Re: Quin Hillyer's Reston Peace Disturbed:

I liked your article and I would agree that conservatives should be careful. Since I wasn't there my take of the event is different from yours. I caught the highlights on the evening news. Even though the conservative activists were in the minority it sure didn't seem like it from the video I saw. The news never showed the left side cheering. Effectively, the right managed to dominate the news coverage here in California.

I would agree that the right should respect this debate but why pretend this is a real debate where conservative ideas are even being considered? Every idea and amendment the conservatives in Congress have had has been shut down with zero debate with the only exception being the Senate Finance Committee.

Beyond the argument for a public option or not, the main argument for reform of controlling costs doesn't add up. Looking at this list which of the following will either raise or lower the costs of healthcare for tax payers:

1. Removing the ability to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions.
2. Removing life time caps on plan.
3. Requiring national mandates on what plans must contain for one size fits all.
4. Providing portability of coverage.
5. Closing the ratio of pricing down to 2 to 1.
6. Mandating language translators.
7. Grants for coverage of $4600 to $7100 for 150-400% of poverty level.
8. Requiring increased preventive care with zero deductibles.
9. Requiring plans include mental health care, reproductive care, drug dependent care, dental, vision and other services not contained in many currently enrolled plans.
10. Require all plans conform within 5 years or face taxation.

Nearly every reform to the healthcare system adds not lowers the costs to those already covered and will also either lower quality of care or amount care provided through increased waiting.

I say keep it loud until there is real debate.
-- Greg Sneddon

FUNDAMENTALLY HOLLOW
Re: Mark Tooley's "Fundamentalism" Invades Manhattan:

"‘What he [Braxton] says consistently in sermons is talking about the only way to God is through a particular fundamentalist path, which is to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, and that's a huge change in our theology,' complained one anti-Braxton congregant to PBS's Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly. ‘It's a huge change in our openness and our inclusiveness.'"

A "particular fundamentalist path"? "A huge change in our theology"? No wonder why these people recoiled from Braxton, who admits-sounds like something not voluntarily or joyfully spoken, though, does it? That "Jesus and Scripture are ‘non-negotiables' for Christian congregations."

Given his declaration, it would appear that Riverside Church is not a Christian church. But is that news, especially in the liberal stronghold of the Upper West Side?

Nor is it news that grandiose structures such as Riverside-and nearby Cathedral of St. John Divine, over on 112th and Amsterdam-may represent the apparent current hollowness of some "mainline" Protestant denominations?
-- C. Kenna Amos Jr.

WEARY
The monotony of the cadence is wearing thin.
The soaring rhetoric will now begin

To grate on the listeners’ so tired ears
Because beneath the oratory no one hears

Anything!  There’s nothing there!
But few heeded the message “buyer beware.”

Now very quickly in the full light of day
The bright shining vision has faded away.
-- Mimi Evans Winship