ENJOY THE SHOW
Re: Reader Mail’s The Short Goodbye:

I have to take a leave of absence from this wonderful group, for a little while. So I just wanted to tell everyone how much I enjoy reading both the thoughtful articles and the wonderful, and thoughtful, letters posted on this site.

I just finished reading Monday’s edition and wished to make some quick pronouncements.

First, the election is over. The liberal Democrats have won control of the U.S. Congress and they will attempt to be exactly what they are; liberal, secular, opportunistic isolationists. Their actions, in the short run, will cost the ordinary men and women of this nation a large amount of money. On the social front, they will succeed in turning brother against brother in a way not even imaginable under a Republican controlled Congress. They will seek to strip, and very probably succeed in stripping, the people of a number of our most cherished freedoms. Because of their lack of resolve in facing external threats, they will place this nation at even greater risk of attack, invasion and war.

The terrible thing about all of this is that there is simply nothing that the People of this country can do about this for two years. However, this does not mean that others will not.

I am sure that those of you, who are regular readers of this site, are tired of hearing this, but it bears repeating. There is a world outside the United States of America. It is, unfortunately, a world populated by governments and people who hate this nation and her people. They hate us, or fear us, because we stand in the way of their acquisition of power. And they will stop at nothing to destroy us. And, in time they will make the final attempt to do so. That time is closer than many think.

A few very unscientific predictions: Look for a limited war with Iran, Syria and their terrorist surrogates by the late summer of 2008. Iran will not curtail its nuclear development program and Israel will not allow them to develop an effective nuclear device. Israel will not take the chance of having to rely upon a dovish, liberal controlled United States government and will take steps to protect itself while the current administration is still in office. The religious terrorists will become active upon our shores in response. Fuel supplies, and other imported goods, will be curtailed. And civil liberties will be muzzled by a Democrat congress. And, the media will blame it all upon the outgoing administration.

Unrest will spread throughout Europe and especially in the former Soviet Union. Southeast Asia will see significant upheavals. China will move to establish itself as the regional power in the East as a U.S. vacuum develops in that region. Military conflict between the U.S. and China is likely. Latin America may be the only bright spot, as democratic groups see the opportunity to remove some oppressive governments. Unfortunately, the largely interconnected global economy will suffer severely; leading to serious shortages at home. And, the future is anything but clear.

A dismal view of the future, I know. I hope it is simply the result of post-election fatigue. I would be ecstatic if it remains a mere fantasy. But, I fear that will not be so. Keep trying to make the people of this nation see the clouds on the horizon. I hope to return shortly. Thank you for a marvelous experience.
— Michael Tobias
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

George W. Bush has always been a winner when he’s framing the debate. Whether it is 2000 and “compassionate conservatism”/bringing back “values” to the White House, 2002 and his tough response to 9/11, or 2004 and his “Kerry’s French Isn’t He?!” This is not to say that Bush hasn’t made some stinking errors. His “Big Government” intervention into the Schiavo affair, coupled with his contradictory “culture of life” (This is the person who has been responsible for the greatest amount of death penalty sentences!), and Washington’s disgraceful response to Katrina, but Bush is a likeable, affable guy, who can talk those around when needed (see experience as Texas Governor).

Bush was side-swiped by some issues too, three successful elections for Republicans, the Al Gore-led global warming crowd, and the Iran/Syrian/Sunni disturbances in central Iraq, but with the latter, the debate has surely become, not was getting rid of Saddam a good idea, but did the Iraq War lessen the odds of another 9/11 attack?

Bush’s all round grasp of politics dictated a proactive response, and his sacking of Rumsfeld was the perfect foil: a quick, decisive response to an election-rout, although two years late. Bush can and will sure up his legacy with a strong economic performance in his final years, but Iraq will become the litmus test of his Presidency. Succeed, and he will likely surge past the dementia-ridden Reagan, as American Conservatism’s greatest President. But what will his legacy be to the next generation of Republicans. This is where Bush can frame the next decade for Republicans. He has already articulated a positive agenda- one which the Republicans drifted from due to the arrogance and hubris stemming from 2004 results — which plays to the Christian intolerance of tax collecting, big government, and gays, and the “values” debate that stresses “middle-America”, family and faith over individualism, and is a big vote turner for conservatives. Bush now must sack his very lame duck Vice President for someone who he feels can win the 2008 Presidential Election. By elevating a heir apparent, by cutting the deficit, and solving Iraq, Bush’s legacy could be one for the ages.
— Nathan Maskiell
Melbourne, Australia

STILLBORN RENAISSANCE
Re: Jed Babbin’s Target-Rich Environment:

I may have missed something when reading Jed Babbin’s “Target-Rich Environment” — very possible. Either that or he’s way too clever for me — highly probable. Let me reveal the lens through which I read this piece. The firecracker that is the reported debate on how to exit Iraq just gets better and better. If a phased withdrawal from Iraq is recommended and if it happens and if it’s done with the help of those magnanimous fellows from Iran and Syria (God help us), then Jed’s suggestion of a Conservative Renaissance will mean zero, zilch, didley-squat, naff-all in the big scheme of things. I suppose I should be patient and wait for Mr. Babbin to write the story he says “is for another day” before I get way ahead of myself and imagine all those rich Western targets coming into someone’s crosshairs. I must say it doesn’t look good looking over there, from over here folks!
— Graham Constable
Oxford, England

The targets will be rich only if these Republicans truly break from political orthodoxy and blame nobody but themselves for the absolute defeat. Two things I’ll suggest are worth a look. Iraq. Fellows doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of stupid. Try something new. My method of discouraging terrorists is admittedly a bit heavy handed, but after all it is merely a suggestion — flatten a city — no warning just flatten it. But try something new. Spending. Gentle people, you out spent the Democrats and exactly like the Democrats to no noticeable good. So please don’t claim voter fraud, stealing the election, or a misunderstanding of the message by we, the great unwashed. Study yourselves because you failed and failed miserably!
— Jay W. Molyneaux
Wellington, Florida

Maybe conservatives are up to this struggle. But we’d better find quickly a political party that will not only represent us, but the candidates that party will embrace and ones that will keep their word, if elected. Meanwhile, let’s not forget that one of the worst things we — and the Republicans — can do is to sound and act like the Dems when the donkeys were the political minority.
— C. Kenna Amos
Princeton, West Virginia

CHUCKLES THE SENATOR
Re: The Washington Prowler’s Senate Schumerization:

At last! Someone has finally used the name I’ve been calling this clown for years.

He believes in the living Constitution. He makes up stuff about advise and consent. The media hog himself. A pox upon our country. These people are full of themselves.

The senior senator from New York. Chuckles the Senator. The junior senator from New York. HRC. Her Royal Clintoness.

Seriously, though. The living constitution concept in reality means we have a dead constitution. The thing written on a piece of parchment is just that, an old obsolete thing. Nobody writes on parchment anymore. With the attitude Chuckles the Senator has any judge and especially Supreme Court Justices can divine law into being by simply imagining it. They can pull law out of their ass anytime they want. Or they can pass laws by simply checking out laws of foreign countries and interpreting them into our law with no vote by us whatsoever.

The US Constitution which is supposed to limit the power of the government and provide the framework the American people for expressing their wishes through their government. With the living Constitution and American’s vote means less and less. Supposedly, we may be getting more rights, but as we do, Chuckles the Senator and his pals are slowly taking away our right to choose. We may be choosing these clowns at the poles. But by voting for Chuckles the Senator we are choosing to disenfranchise ourselves. One of the Divine Supreme Court justices recently expressed the notion that American democracy is in danger of surviving.

I agree completely. The Supreme Court is the threat to our democracy as long as they believe they have the right to make stuff up then we find ourselves continually with less and less right to choose even though we may be choosing these bozos in the short term.

Lets hear it for Chuckles the Senator and advise and consent. Lets hear it for McCain, too. After all he is the one who organized the Raging Moderates, the gang of fourteen, that prevented the showdown over advise and consent filibuster of Chuckles the Senator.

Pardon my ranting, but Mr. McCain, if he were Jewish in the Old Soviet Union during the cold war would be what they would call a trained Jew. A person could be a Jew in the Old Soviet Union, but you couldn’t be Jewish. You couldn’t want to emigrate to Israel or they Soviets would persecute you. So, people trained themselves to behave in a certain way.

Mr. McCain wants to be loved, or worse, adored by the Media. They call him a maverick. Sometimes I have heard the term, Rino-Republican In Name Only. The Media have trained Mr. McCain. He is what I call a Trained Republican. He does whatever the Media wants him to do so he can be adored by them. He sticks it to President Bush. That’s really popular lately, actually for his whole term.

We have a living constitution thanks to the efforts of Chuckles the Senator and the Trained Republicans. Some day, maybe soon American will be just another country.
— Mark S. Murphy

Oh my!!! How does one make that pick??? Can’t we do any better? If the Prowler is right and Senator Lott is the nuts and bolts kind of guy to “Make the Trains Run on Time,” then that would have to be the pick, it seems to me, But then again what do I know? Maybe the Republicans really don’t represent me.
— Roger Ross
Tomahawk, Wisconsin

DIRTY-MOUTHED
Re: Robert VerBruggen’s Borat’s Attack on the Rural World:

Borat is not funny. Borat is yet another dirty-mouthed, anti-American “comedian” playing to the unending group of low class people who think running stark naked through a cocktail party yelling “poo poo head!” is the height of mirth.

An article that thinks Borat would be funnier if only he took his act into the cities and insulted MORE Americans with MORE dirty words is simply beyond my understanding. If there are any adults left in this neighborhood, I will see you at Galt’s Gulch.
— Kate Shaw
Toronto, Ontario

FLOORED
Re: Karl Auerbach’s letter (under “Running on Empty”) in Reader Mail’s The Long Goodbye:

Karl Auerbach’s analysis of the fluctuation of gas prices is as succinct and factual as I have ever read.

That anyone who has ever read the breakdown of the various taxes on a gallon of gasoline could lay “manipulation” at the doorstep of George Bush or any other president is simply astonishing.

Reminds me of the annual “drop in consumer confidence” we experience every January or February. Confidence dropping is that sobering up period after over-spending at Christmas and contemplating tax time in April — nothing more and nothing less.

If you think you are being gouged at the pump, try public transportation or a taxi. Getting where you want to go, when you want to go there is worth something.
— Diane Smith
South San Francisco, California

LATE COMER
Re: Ben Stein’s Hypocrisy, Democrat Style:

I realize that not everyone agrees about the morality of homosexuality. Regardless of your POV, however, don’t you think it is morally reprehensible to print blatant lies about the “standard” behaviors of gay men? To publish on the web a suggestion that we shouldn’t be surprised because gay men are all pedophiles anyway? Being gay and being sexual with minors are two different things. If this had been a female page, the response would have been the same. At least Clinton went after legal tail.

Regarding Mr. Stein’s statement about the Confederate flag and George Allen, I completely agree with him that the flag is not necessarily a racist symbol. History should never be ignored or forgotten. I think people above the Mason Dixon line forget that it is even a part of U.S. history. The problem I have with Sen. Allen is not his flag but his use of racial epithets. I don’t want a man who calls an American man of Indian descent a “macaca” to represent me in Congress. I’ve read that other people have witnessed him saying worse things than that, but I won’t cite them because it’s hearsay. I also know that Mr. Allen owned stock in Barr Laboratories Inc., the only American maker of the Plan B morning after pill. I’m pro-choice, but Mr. Allen is not. Not only is he a racist, he is also a hypocrite. The flag? That’s not what’s bothering me.
— Molly McAshan

BLUE RIBBON
Re: Robert Nowall’s letter (under “Tap Tap”) in Reader Mail’s The Short Goodbye:

Re: Robert Nowall’s letter, seeking to locate an out-dated Corona ribbon. Have you tried here?
— Raymond Barton
Fort Worth, Texas