THE MORE THE MERRIER
Re: G. Tracy Mehan’s Doing Our Part:
We all owe our deepest thanks to the Mehans, to my own parents (six children) and all the others who are helping us fill this great big empty country of ours with our finest product: Americans.
That, Mr. Mehan, is the best way to protect our environment.
— Paul Kotik
Plantation, Florida
Hurrah for large families. My wife and I have thoroughly enjoyed parenting our eight children. They have been taught to be good people, provide service to their church and community, work hard, and live moral lives. From an early age, each child was taught to read, work at an education, and enjoy just being a “kid.” With only one left living at home, the house seems a little empty. But the phone rings often during the day bringing stories about college, raising families, problems at work, and the general joy of life. We gave up a lot of things to raise eight children. But we gained so much more.
Proud Parents,
— John and Barbara Carper
High Point, North Carolina
As the father of only three but the sibling to nine, I remember one of my dad’s favorite comebacks to one particularly rude woman who was shocked and offended when hearing he had ten children. He calmly told her that the minute he figured out what was causing it he put a stop to it. By the way, when people ask me if my parents having ten children was too much I emphatically respond no… since I was number 10!
— Robert Brennan
Van Nuys, California
Blessings to you, your wife, and your precious children. My wife and I happily conceived, bore, and raised 8 gifts from God that will contribute to this country as much as your children will. For those who believe in the overcrowded Earth and are bent on breeding themselves into extinction, there are plenty of indicators to the contrary, like the empty states of Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, etc. Birth control, if that were a worthy goal (and it isn’t), only works if EVERYBODY does it (and they aren’t). I delight in every one of my kids. I did have to beg my tired wife for the youngest. And my youngest is quite glad that I did.
— David Shoup
Dublin, Georgia
While I applaud your confidence in your belief that your kids will turn out to be good, productive citizens, anybody can see that almost all of the world’s problems are due in some degree to overpopulation. Resources are exhausted more rapidly, Food supplies are strained and pollution is slowly killing the planet.
If this country’s population was 30 million instead of 300 million, we wouldn’t have to worry about “Global Warming,” overcrowding in the cities, 2 hour commutes, electrical blackouts in the summer, states and counties fighting over water supplies, importing foreign oil, etc. The list goes on and on. And you neglect to mention that although you are raising children with the proper values and morals, a lot of people these days are raising kids that have none of those virtues. If you expect that the current generation of youngsters is going to work hard and contribute to society like the previous ones, you might be in for a nasty surprise. Instead of allowing unlimited proliferation, this country would be better served by requiring prospective parents to prove that they are physically, financially, and morally able to raise a child to the standards of our society. Not only would that reduce the population, it would also raise the overall quality of the children that we are bringing into this world. I know this sounds draconian, but if we don’t do something about the current situation, we are going to find ourselves in a world that is starving, thirsty, and choking on pollution. If that isn’t a recipe for world war, I don’t know what is.
By the way, I’m doing my part by remaining childless. (I would love to have one, but somebody has to balance out the fact that you have seven.)
— Dave Rodolff
TROUBLE IN AMERICA
Re: Ben Stein’s Pedophile Nation:
Sadly Ben, the “National Dialogue” on the sexualizing of children will not be televised. But the images, situations, and innuendo is broadcast hourly for our indulgence. It’s funny that the Democrats get upset about ABC’s “Path to 9/11” but yawned (cheered really!) about Gerry Studds or a Bill Clinton.
Our legislators want to get all over TV about anything broadcast but the exploitation of our youngsters as Hollywood gets closer to the ‘hat-trick’ of childhood taboos.
Kids swear on film, kids “get it on”, on film, are kids doing ‘murder’ yet on film? Probably.
— P. Aaron Jones
Huntington Woods, Michigan
Ben is correct in his recent article regarding merchandising and advertising to our children as sex objects. I would like to take this opportunity to take this subject one step further. How corrupt does our Congress have to become, before we begin to feel like parents of Michael Jackson playmates, for sending our children into Washington D.C. as pages? I can’t remember a year in the last 20 years that at least one example of corruption has not occurred in one of our Houses of Congress. Why would a sex scandal be the only form of corruption to keep our children away?
— Bruce Bromstrup
Greenfield, Indiana
We’ve been hearing a lot from Mr. Stein lately, in his attempt to wriggle out the corner that he boxed himself into with his politically and actually incorrect statements about homosexual pedophilia and the composition of the Democratic Party. Sure, outrageous statements are what The American Spectator is all about, but Mr. Stein has other venues to toady up to if he wants to keep his coffers billowing over with retirement savings for his great-great-grandchildren.
Here’s a solution that Mr. Stein would have to agree with: Let’s ship all those nubile teenagers off to Iraq, where they will instantly be transformed into American Heroes. That way, they’ll escape the clutches of us depraved sodomites back home, and they’ll get used to wearing uniforms that conceal their predilection for childhood prostitution. That would kill two birds with one stone and warm our conservative hearts!
— Abe Grossman
Pleasantville, New York
When the Senate failed to remove President Clinton in 1998, I said the “gate was open” for a flood of free and open sexual activity by the upcoming generation. It has been proven to have come to pass.
What occurred in the White House, I was very graphic to the 2006 Democratic candidate for Iowa’s First Congressional District in using a term on the Waterloo grade school playground that I first heard as a naive country boy, whose one room school had closed. It is very evident that my Democratic friends in Church avoid speaking with me. It is interesting how the liberals can deny the TRUTH.
I now remind them as a Republican while serving as President of the Waterloo Community School District I became the “lightning rod” in the integration of the school system. Also it was the Republican members of Congress, who were instrumental in passing the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s.
— Jim Sage
Waterloo, Iowa
Who knows to what heights Mark Foley might have risen if he had chosen a career in Theology instead of Politics.
— Edward Boll
Punta Borda, Florida
Let’s see if I got this right. Under the guise of freedom of expression, we refuse to force entertainment conglomerates to act responsibly by not exposing our children to inappropriate sexual images in media. In the name of tolerance and understanding we introduce our kids to alternate lifestyles in elementary schools and encouraging first and second graders to explore their sexual preferences for themselves. Though we say we desire to protect children we certainly do not wish to inconvenience adults, so we allow unfiltered access to the internet at places like public libraries. Because we believe the canard that it is wrong to impose a narrow view of morality on others, we permit the vilest forms of pornography, including kiddie-porn, to be distributed with virtually no restrictions. Then we are shocked — shocked, mind you — that our children have been sexualized and exploited! We watch in utter amazement as scores of men are caught on camera showing up at the homes of underage children after soliciting sex from them on-line. We are dumbfounded when an esteemed member of Congress is shamed into resigning because he made improper sexual overtures to House pages. Who are we kidding? What exactly did we think would happen in our overly permissive secular-progressive society, one lacking the moral fortitude to draw a line in the sand and say — enough is enough? No doubt, the libertines among us will caution us that this problem is solely the responsibility of parents. After all as they incessantly tell us, we have our rights and to hell with anyone else. Apportioning accountability to someone else rather than accepting responsibility for one’s own actions appears to be the norm in our increasingly debased culture.
— Rick Arand
Lee’s Summit, Missouri
If parents were not buying these hooker clothes the companies would stop selling them. The same goes for the music. Most kids DO NOT have their own money, it comes from mom and dad.
— Elaine Kyle
GLASS HALF FULL
Re: Quin Hillyer’s Take a Second Look:
Quin Hillyer hits the nail on the head with this column. He accurately points out many of the outstanding issues that have been tackled by the Congress and Administration over the past six years. When will our Republicans take off the gloves and come back fighting? The 15th round is here and they need to get serious and stand up and act like winners. In spite of what the main street media (lowercase represents their diminished stature and importance), the citizens of this great country have so many things to be thankful for and Quin articulated several of them in a way that would serve all Republicans, including Republicans Candidates for public office well.
State the positive, state the obvious, tell people what you want them to hear and then tell them again of the many successes that Republicans have played a significant role in over the past six years and in the twelve years since the Republican Party took control of the House of Representatives.
— Patrick R. Spooner
Windham, New Hampshire
I can only pray that someone in the RNC takes your advice.
It’s almost funny to see the Democrats running around saying how bad the Republicans are on (take your pick) immigration, Iraq, homeland security, the economy, corruption, and dealing with sexual scandal, without someone adding the tagline that they would be infinitely worse on all these counts and more.
— Geoff Bowden
Battle Creek, Michigan
I liked Quin Hillyer’s suggestion on having actors deliver the Republican campaign message leading up to this November election. I personally envisioned a two-man scene, starring Fred Thompson and Bruce Willis. The two men are sitting in a comfortable room in front of a fireplace. (Note to self: Have makeup department pay special attention to making sure both actors’ domes are sufficiently powdered to negate glare from roaring fire behind them.) The scene would utilize (and paraphrase) one of my favorite movie lines ever. It’s from a scene in the Kevin Costner film No Way Out. Fred Thompson actually said the line too, which makes it that much cooler. Here’s how it starts:
Fred Thompson: “I don’t think you have to worry about Mark Foley propositioning any female pages. He’s a homosexual.”
Bruce Willis: “A homosexual? I’ll be damned!”
Fred Thompson: “So will he, if you believe the Old Testament.”
Bruce Willis: (Looking directly into the camera) “In your FACE, Nancy Pelosi!”
That’s all I have so far.
I don’t know how this would help the Republicans this November. It is a great scene though. Maybe Bruce’s people could contact my people. That would totally
rock.
— Bryan Frymire
Louisville, Kentucky
I have to agree with Mr. Hillyer. As much as they have dropped the ball in some areas, the Republican majority in Congress is far more preferable than the Democrat alternative. I just came back to Vermont from a ship’s reunion in beautiful Charleston, S.C. I haven’t seen these guys for almost 40 years and we get on the subject of politics. To a person, they are voting Republican because they are totally opposed to anything the Democrats have to offer. They don’t care for a lot of the candidates on the Republican tickets but they dislike the Democrats more. One person even said, “I’m supporting Bush because if the Democrats and liberals hate him so much, he must be doing something right.” That IS the message. I came back to Vermont rejuvenated. I not only was able to be with guys I served with many years ago but I was encouraged by their message. Yes, Quinn, let’s shout it from the roof tops if need be. The Republicans may not be perfect but they’re a lot better than anything the Democrats have to offer.
— Pete Chagnon
So Mr. Hillyer, are we going to be seeing less of you in the Spectator and more of you at the RNC. Not that the first comment is a good thing, but this article sounds like a plan that need to be put into action.
— Elaine Kyle
SAME OLD
Re: Clinton W. Taylor’s Turncoat or Straitjacket:
So what’s the big deal? This lady has all the attributes that every Democrat has: prophecy; they are all angels — fallen but nonetheless… angels; they all favor the ruin of America, and support those foreign governments who are seeking the same goal. The major difference I see is that most Democrats take cash from countries actively fighting to kill our children only during election cycles. Hell! She’s typical, not special.
— Jay W. Molyneaux
Wellington, Florida
SELECT SITES
Re: William Tucker’s Peace Be Unto Him:
Thank you, Mr. Tucker, for your article. It arrived on my screen the very same day my son, an 8th grade student at a Catholic school in a suburb of Washington, D.C., was taken to the Islamic Center on a school field trip, to learn about Islam. Never mind that this same group has never be taken to the Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the national shrine for American Catholics — that is an issue I must take up with his teacher and principal.
I will have your article on my computer when my son gets home. I look forward to using his experience today and your article to launch a very important conversation.
— J.H.
Maryland
Few have examined the issue of polygamy and how it reduces the intellectual capacity of societies that practice it. There’s a series of articles in the recent columns section of catholicfundamentalism.com. The articles have come across something that should be of interest to all of us, explaining that, just maybe, polygamous societies are backward because they, themselves, are not able to intellectually move forward.
— Bill Adams, Sr.
GUN WARS
Re: John Tabin’s When an AK47 Is Not an AK47:
Iraq under Saddam Hussein had an AK-47 or pistol in practically every house in the country. Very few countries were more heavily armed then. Even today each household in Iraq is permitted to have a firearm, and most do. Often it is an assault rifle. Yet Iraq was terrorized and brutalized by Saddam and his thugs. It is still being brutalized today in many places.
It is not the guns that guarantee our freedom in the USA or the guns in Israel that keep them free. It is the great mass of people who refuse to take abuse and are willing to fight for it. Our freedom comes from our public rites and private religion. We protect our freedom because we truly believe it is worth protecting and that the rest of the nation will rise up with us and help us throw off the shackles of evil.
We believe in evil. We believe in good. We know will be joined in our fight against evil even if it is a fight to the death.
In Iraq, where guns are everywhere, they are not sure. They are not sure about what is evil. Their rites and religion are tainted with evil. Their beliefs are tainted with jihad, force and brutality approved by preachers. They are not sure they deserve to have their neighbors rise up with them. That is why all the guns in Iraq cannot make them free.
That is why just a few guns in America keep us free.
— Bryan Dilts
Enola, Pennsylvania
POINT MISSED
Re: Wolf Terner’s letter (under “No Mercy”) in Reader Mail’sFire Away:
Wolf Terner’s brief criticism of the review of the Spencer book seems to have missed the point entirely. Tucker’s descriptions of the teachings of Confucius, the Brahmin authors of the Hindu scriptures, and Buddha were hardly what I think most Westerners would call laudatory (“submission to [Chinese imperial] authority,” the caste system, and “withdrawal from the world,” respectively), and the pertinent sentences were only little longer than those describing Moses and Jesus. The point was to contrast all of those with the hateful Mohammedan mission persisting to this day to conquer all others and force our conversion or dhimmitude.
This is a time to unite in thwarting Mohammedan ambitions and destroying their hopes, not a time to quibble over perceived slights.
— Stephen Foulard
Houston, Texas
