TROUBLING INCOMPETENCE
Re: Angelo M. Codevilla’s
CIA’s Vulnerability Is Congenital:
Mr. Codevilla’s synopsis of CIA’s culture of incompetence is
troubling, indeed. Even worse than the Agency’s operational
deficits is its refusal to acknowledge them and compensate.
One wonders, for example, about the Jordanian agent who brought
the Chapman station suicide bomber into play. Mr. Codevilla
observes that CIA had no way to vet the Jordanian.
I suppose the Israelis did, though. I expect the Israeli
intelligence community either knew everything there is to know
about the Jordanian or could discover it chop-chop. Did the CIA
consult with its Israeli counterparts on this matter?
— Paul Kotik
Plantation, Florida
PAYING ATTENTION
Re: Jeffrey Lord’s
The Michael Steele/Haley Barbour Book Flap:
I heard some of the GOP congressional leadership was upset
because they didn’t know Michael Steele’s book was coming out. I
guess the conservative beef that the GOP leadership doesn’t
really pay attention to their concerns is true.
Don’t they look at Regnery Publishing’s website? If they had seen
it, they’d have known it was coming out…
— Robert Nowall
Cape Coral, Florida
ACTING STUPIDLY
Re: RiShawn Biddle’s
Arne Duncan City Limits:
The stupidity of conservatives is boundless. Mr. Biddle (writing
in NRO) celebrated the alliance between conservatives
and Al Sharpton over education reform. Now Mr. Biddle has
discovered discouraging words about Duncan’s tenure in Chicago.
Did it ever occur to anyone in your shop that this new found
consensus is nothing more than another case of Republicans
getting snookered? The “reforms” in NY, Chicago, and D.C. are as
radical left as could be. Yes, it is possible to have left-wing
political machines that combine thuggish techniques and the
appearance of reform.
I am a conservative who writes about the schools. The real story
is the inability to get another point of view published in the
New York City newspapers for example. The anti-union position of
Rhee and Joel Klein has formed an unholy alliance between the
press Barons of NY and school reform. You know, the enemy of my
enemy is my friend. So if the “reforms” focus on the impediment
unions present to their “reforms,” than we’ll back anyone who
goes along with blaming the union for the failure of the Black
underclass to achieve anything after 50 years of hundreds of
billions of tax dollars being poured down the inner city rat
holes.
The charter school revolution will turn out to be nothing more
than a dollar feeding frenzy as the worst political forces create
“not for profit” charter school operations and get the money
flowing directly into their hands. This movement will take large
immigrant communities like NYC and further atomize them. Instead
of a public high school, we will be cursed with multi-ethnic
charter schools that will go unmonitored. Get ready for the
madrassa’s!
— Marc Epstein
REID’S DIALECT
Re: Mark Hyman’s Bigots
and the Press:
“Last year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid described
presidential aspirant Barack Obama as a ‘light-skinned’ black man
‘with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.’”
Barack Obama is a light-skinned black man because his mother was
white. That fact means that Stanley Ann Dunham, Mama Obama, had
something in common with Strom Thurmond — each procreated with a
racially diverse partner. Unlike Thurmond, it has not been
reported that Papa Obama provided financial support for his
child.
Noting then-Senator Obama’s complexion does not make Harry Reid a
racist, any more than his demeaning of Justice Clarence Thomas
made him a racist. The worst that can be said of Reid is that his
comments were insensitive.
In any event, an insensitive Senator Reid apologized to a
sensitive President Obama, who, while graciously accepting his
apology, made no insinuation that Reid had acted stupidly. Our
President will no doubt pass the apology for wicked white culture
on to the whole wide world. The dialog on race proceeds apace.
Amidst the flying fur, some questions have arisen as to just what
is a “Negro dialect”? I suspect that Reid meant to say “accent.”
If Reid could only bring his communication skills up to a grade
school level, say to that of Justice Clarence Thomas, life in
Washington would be more pleasant. Again, whatever Harry Reid
meant by negro dialect, there surely is no racist sentiment
behind the thought. If there were, Fr. Michael Pfleger would
never have performed his comedic imitation in “white-face” at
Trinity United Church of Christ.
At least Harry Reid didn’t start the rumor that Michelle Obama
straightens her hair.
— Dan Martin
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
LOST HER MIND
Re: Lisa Fabrizio’s
The Catholic Case for Immigration Reform:
Lisa Fabrizio has lost her mind. I and many of my friends and
associates have forsaken the Republican party because of this
sort of fuzzy and emotional thinking. We are being invaded by
third world immigrants who have nothing in common with European
Americans and Western Civilization. These immigrants are not only
coming from south of the border but from Islamic nations like
Somalia.
I find it incomprehensible that anyone would take the stance
articulated in Ms. Fabrizio’s article. Let me just add that this
is the kind of sentiment that was articulated by the Bush
administration and John McCain. It has almost destroyed the
Republican party and has helped give rise to the tea party
movement — out of which a viable third party may evolve.
I am a Vietnam veteran and I had several close friends in the
service who were born in Mexico and came here LEGALLY. Shortly
after obtaining their citizenship papers they received their
draft notices. I had many discussions with them about life south
of the border. Mexico does not have a European or Western
culture, it has an Indian culture that is alien to the
traditional values of the west. Why do you think the left is such
a vocal supporter of immigration from South of the border and
Islamic nations. The answer is simple, they wish to “deconstruct”
our nation so they can “reconstruct” it as a Marxist state.
Either Ms. Fabrizio is a Marxist or she is what Lenin described
as a “useful idiot.”
As for the Republican party, they had better purge themselves of
progressives like Ms. Fabrizio or they will soon cease to exist
as a viable political party.
— Paul Martell
John O’Sullivan wrote a piece for NR about this a couple
of years ago. I suggest Ms Fabrizio read it before she writes
another article on this topic.
— Michael
HOME RUN TROT
Re: Andrew Cline’s McGwire’s
Lament:
No way was he clean when he hit 49 home runs in rookie year. His
following years were much too erratic. His dishonesty, which I
believe continues today, is how he should be remembered. Too many
kids’ dreams start with baseball. If you want to screw yourself
up, fine. But don’t mess with kids’ dreams!
— E.J. Kallas
Three cheers for The Babe.
— David Govett
Davis, California
BROKEN ECONOMICS
Re: Ross Kaminsky’s
Pelosicare’s Broken Window:
An excellent article by Ross Kaminsky. I recommend Bastiat’s work
to all our readers. An excellent 2-page distillation of The
Broken Window is found in Henry Hazeltt’s highly readable
Economics in One Lesson, a book that, were I am
economics teacher, would use in class. Follow that up with Thomas
Sowell’s superb Basic Economics and Jude Waniski’s
The Way The World Works. Due to the extreme lack of
economics being taught in our high schools along with the still
overly-Keynesian way being taught in our colleges and
universities (except for a very, very few), we need to teach
ourselves the alternatives in order to counteract Progressive
thinking.
— Jim Bjaloncik
Stow, Ohio
CHICAGO HUCKSTER
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell’s
Obama’s Second Systemic Failure:
I am convinced Mike Royko will
reincarnate, born fully formed, should Obama be re-elected. The
Chicago huckster administration may soon surpass even Governor
Blagojevich in the quality, not just
the quantity of its sublime tawdriness. These things beg for
expert journalism.
— Christopher Roberts
COMING UP SHORT
Re: Andrew Cline’s
America the Beautiful:
Andrew’s writing is an example that hope springs eternal. I keep
hearing from various Conservatives as well as Rush that this is a
center-right country. The voting results and Supreme Court picks
demonstrate otherwise.
We couldn’t even get our agenda through when we controlled all
three branches. What we have are a la
carte Conservatives who pick and choose
what they wish to follow and endorse. This is why we come up
short. The left has remained more committed and united since the
Glorious Revolution in the 1600s.
— Tom
THE USUAL TERROR SUSPECTS
Re: William Tucker’s
“Better a Hundred Terrorists Go Free…”:
Australian Aborigines are amongst the poorest and most
disadvantaged people on the planet — bar none. Any indicator of
health or welfare that you choose is likely to place them at the
bottom of the heap, in a country that is at the top of the heap
in terms of quality of life and economic development. According
to liberal apologists of terrorism, the link between poverty and
terrorism should mean that Australia is awash with Aboriginal
suicide bombers. There hasn’t been one — not one, not one
solitary instance of Aboriginal involvement in terrorism that I
am aware of. The only terrorism cases in Australia in recent
years have all involved Moslem men
between the ages of 18 and 40 — the usual suspects that the
liberal theorists somehow never manage to see.
— Christopher Holland
Canberra, Australia
CALCULATED STUPIDITY
Re: Aaron Goldstein’s Six for
Six:
I am not sure these actions were as much stupidity as they were
calculated actions to destabilize our country, neuter the
Constitution, coddle Islamofascists, and punish George W. Bush
and his administration, especially Karl Rove and Dick
Cheney.
— C. Kenna Amos Jr.
