FAIRLY UNBALANCED
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.’s Fear of Fox:
Mr. Tyrrell’s depiction of Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama as “Chicken Democrats” needs refinement. As any graduate of Texas A&M’s animal sciences programs could tell you, this trio is not comprised of chickens, but of a hen and two capons. (Well, at least you got the “Democrat” part right.)
In more serious timbre, our feathery fearers of Fox News should reevaluate their phobia The intrepid Democrats are not boycotting a news network as much as they are boycotting an audience of millions of Americans who will vote come November 2008.
Slightly weird, to say the least.
— Doug Roll
Jacksonville, Texas
In your latest column, you imply that the Democrats who withdrew from the Fox News-sponsored debates are cowards and state that ”the liberals'” favorite debate is no debate unless the forum is totally dominated by them. Even then there will preferably be no argument, just the liberal point of view sedulously propounded in a forum shaped completely by them.
The latter part of that statement offers no supporting evidence that liberals, or even the Democrats in question, prefer to avoid debating against dissenting voices. The former part indicates that you believe a forum can be dominated by a particular group. If you are justified in being suspicious of their chosen forum (and you offer no compelling argument for why anyone ought to agree with you), then they may have equally valid concerns about your preferred forum.
Fox News is long on spin and short on journalistic ethics and integrity. They are the least qualified of all the major cable news networks to host a serious election debate. It is difficult to take your condemnation of the Democrats’ withdrawal given that your column avoided making a coherent, fact-based argument and rapidly degenerated into childish mockery (invoking comparisons to the Nazis.) In support of Fox News you claim that they are widely viewed — so was the 20th century European propaganda you mention. You give me no reason to believe you over the Democrats.
Of course, I would expect no less than such mindless drivel from The American Spectator.
— Bart Trzynadlowski
I think this is so funny, the Democrat Party, no I will NOT use the term Democratic, can go overseas and talk to people that want to kill us, but not Fox News. They are so afraid they might be asked a question they have not approved. Has anyone watched the softball questions lobbed at Hillary?
— Elaine Kyle
The description of Don Imus as a “surly vulgarian” is priceless.
I laughed for 2 minutes.
— Doug Santo
Pasadena, California
LABOUR PAINS
Re: Hal G.P. Colebatch’s Blair’s Britain Turns Ten:
Hal G. P. Colebatch left out the bad news about the Blair government — Gordon Brown is the hot favorite to be the next Prime Minister. If you think Britain (I left out the “Great” because it doesn’t apply anymore to the British) has problems then you can hardly believe what is said about this guy. A former head of the civil service called him a Stalinist who treats his Cabinet colleagues with open contempt and a coward who runs away from making decisions. People who have worked with him describe him as having the interpersonal skills of a whelk.
He is routinely described as rude, arrogant, thin skinned, bad tempered, deceitful, secretive, surrounded by yes men, incapable of accepting criticism and incapable of making decisions. A Cabinet colleague openly wondered whether he was psychologically impaired. Gordon Brown has now increased taxes in Britain 100 times and he presided over an incompetent disaster called a tax credit that has inflicted fear and suffering on thousands of the lowest income earners in the country — there are Members of Parliament who claim they spend the bulk of their time trying to intercede with the government on behalf of constituents who have had their lives turned into an absolute misery by this frightful scheme. That is on top of a massive and sustained tax grab on the British pension system that has destroyed the retirement prospects of large numbers of retirees well into the future.
Gordon Brown’s ability to screw taxpayers and squander money that should never have been taken from their pockets is second to none. Only in a declining, decrepit, self righteous failure like Blair’s Britain would this record be judged as competent.
I can only wonder just how bad things are in Britain for this massively incompetent and disagreeable man to even be appointed to Cabinet, let alone considered as the Prime Minister in waiting. I sure am glad my father immigrated to Australia from England when he was a young man. Conditions here in Australia beat what the British have hands down, the government of John Howard is everything that the Blair government isn’t and I am pretty certain the differential will increase further in the future.
— Christopher Holland
Canberra, Australia
Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film version of Anthony Burgess’s book, A Clockwork Orange may be seen as a self fulfilling prophesy in Britain 10-20 years from now. That presumes there will still be anything that looks or acts British left in Britain by then.
— Thom Bateman
ENEMY OF THE WEAK
Re: Enemy Central’s Scars Guard:
I will have to ponder long on my nomination for Enemy of the Week; there are just too many candidates. If only the Oscars had so many quality choices!
In regards to the Rutgers basketball player’s comment, “This event has scarred me for life,” if this were the worst that she will face in life, she would truly be blessed. Too many of our younger brethren do not understand what true pain and suffering means — the death of a loved one, a family member’s ravaging illness, a life filled with repression in a communist country, life in Israel where a violent death is a realistic fear, and many other examples of true suffering.
Without a life grounded in religion and a liberal education, this young woman is clueless that her “scarring event” is a pimple on the rear end of true suffering. Does she even know about Joan of Arc’s life, the willing sacrifice of Nathan Hale? I assume she knows the stories of families ripped apart in slavery. Rather than applauding her for her “bravery,” perhaps the media should pity her for her lack of perspective, for how will she handle true adversity when it tries to suck the life out of her?
— Tom Fries
Dublin, Ohio
GUTLESS WONDERING
Re: The Washington Prowler’s Republican Wimps:
The Prowler gives print to a problem that continues to pain me like the blisters from an ill-fitting pair of shoes. Why are Republicans so bloody gutless when faced with standing up to the Dummycrats? The recent inability of members of the GOP to stand up to the resident Orc from the Left Coast, Henry Waxman, has me alternating between nausea and blind rage. I have yet to comprehend what is wrong with the minds of these people….
— Jim Bjaloncik
Stow, Ohio
MEDIA APPROVED BIGOTRY
Re: Ben Stein’s Sharpton in the Morning:
Whenever the “Reverend” Al Sharpton puffs himself up with moral indignation, deflate him with just two words: Tawana Brawley.
— Stuart Koehl
Falls Church, Virginia
After reviewing Al Sharpton’s sordid record of bigotry, Ben Stein writes that for him “to be sitting in moral judgment on anyone at all is incomprehensible. For the media to take Sharpton seriously is unbelievable.”
No it’s not, not if you understand that clowns like Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are stooges for the left-wing elite. They are paraded out and given prominent air-time so as to keep the blacks mentally chained in ghetto of victimhood and to reinforce the guilt feeling that white liberals have.
Given the reality of today, if Sharpton and Jackson didn’t exist, the mainstream media would have to invent them.
— Peter Skurkiss
Stow, Ohio
Whatever one may think of Don Imus, or what he said, I’m just not thrilled by the idea that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson can tell me, or anybody, what we can say, or listen to, or read, or write.
— Robert Nowall
Cape Coral, Florida
FOOTLOOSE
Re: Michael Dooley’s letter (under “Touchy Feely Education”) in Reader Mail’s Not So Sharpton:
I must disagree with Mike Dooley, as much as it pains me to do so ’cause Mike usually knows what he’s talking about.
It hurts to admit this, but in HS, I was a geek. This was before the word geek was even bandied about. I was tall and gangly, uncoordinated (I was the only one I knew who could fall UP the stairs), a real bookworm, didn’t do any sports, and let’s not even talk about my nonexistent ability to even talk to girls. What with acne, stuttering, my mom being a teacher at my HS (boy, talk about paying for THAT!), my popularity was down in the noise floor, or possibly lower. I didn’t date a girl until my senior year, and she was a junior from a different school.
But I can remember when, in HS, they began teaching us to dance during gym classes. They started out with square dancing, moved to the polka, and graduated to more “formal” dancing though time constraints were such that this last step didn’t receive any focus worth mentioning.
I don’t know why but this uncoordinated specimen of a man could actually dance this stuff! Suddenly, for these miraculous 45 minutes twice a week, my lack of popularity vanished. For some reason I couldn’t fathom (and still can’t) these HS girls who wouldn’t give me the time of day suddenly wanted to dance with me! The teachers would line us up on either side of the gym and walk the lines together. Who you ended up with was your partner for the 45 minutes. I couldn’t believe it when the popular girls would jockey their position in line to dance with miserable me. I pissed off some of their boyfriends, though.
I could actually touch a girl who wasn’t related to me. I could put my arm around her waist. I could lead her in the dance and control our movements. This was heady stuff. Of course, after the 45 minutes, it was back to Mr. Un-popularity, but I really cherished those 45 minutes.
But let’s not talk about the Saturday night dances where “free-form” was the rule and rock was the way to roll. I never could learn that type of dancing. It wasn’t structured enough for me to “learn” it. Though I tried, I’m afraid my endeavors were more along the vein of the recent Karl Rove dance moves available for viewing on YouTube. I won’t even try today. I’m not sure my insurance would cover it.
So yeah, I get a little teary eyed when I hear a polka. And I swear I’ll beat the tar out of anyone who snickers at that.
C’mon, Mike, it really wasn’t that bad!
— Karl F Auerbach
Former Polka Dancer
Eden, Utah
DON’T FORGET THE LAWYERS
Re: Judy Barrett’s letter (under “No More Viagra Commercials”) in Reader Mail’s Not So Sharpton:
Judy Barrett writes an interesting and short letter decrying the money spent by drug companies on drug commercials. She opines that it must equate to approximately the same as the R&D costs.
Judy, how much money could the consumer save, do you suppose, if the lawyers stopped advertising for clients to sue for any and all unfortunate results of living one’s life. I bet the reduction in insurance premiums alone would be huge.
— Ken Shreve
VIDAL STATISTICS
Re: Florence King’s In Sickness and In Health:
I guarantee Florence King’s review is better than the book. Her review was so enjoyable I might just have to at least take a peek at the Gore’s book.
— Louise
Frederick, Maryland
