Political Fatigues - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
Political Fatigues
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STEMMING KERRY DEMAGOGY
Re: Danny Turken’s letter (“Stemmed in Boston”) in Reader Mail’s Dreamland:

Danny Turken’s critiques of my stem-cell piece demonstrate naivety and confused thinking and do not poke any hole in the central point of my article: the Kerry campaign uses dishonest demagoguery to try to make a wedge issue.

Before responding to Turken it is important to restate that John Kerry endorses taxing Americans to pay for human cloning and experiments on and manipulation of those clones. George W. Bush, it is important to note, hasn’t placed any restrictions on stem-cell research of any type and has even dedicated unprecedented federal funding towards embryonic stem-cell research.

My comments on ESC treatment for Alzheimer’s was based on expert analysis, and was, in fact, mostly quotation of experts. Turken is flat wrong when he writes, “the only ESC cells they are allowed to use are those contaminated with mouse cells.”

Again, scientists are allowed to use any cells they like. They are not allowed to use my money to create human life for the sake of experimentation or to do experiments on life created for that purpose.

When Turken writes I misunderstand stem-cells he offers no coherent argument to back up that claim or his accusation I am ignorant. The topic is a sensitive one because of how deeply so many people suffer from ailments they hope science can solve. That makes it particularly unconscionable for the left to demagogue the topic.
Timothy P. Carney
Washington, D.C.

WHAT COUNTS
Re: Jeremy Lott’s Hey, Big Spenders:

I am in almost total agreement with Lott’s assessment of the race between the big-spenders, Bush and Kerry. His logic SEEMS impeccable, and I must confess that I also followed it in many previous elections. In 2000, as an Oregonian, I knew it was impossible for Bush to take the state’s electoral votes, so I stayed at home.

HOWEVER!

With the way the 2000 election turned out, with Gore getting the popular vote and Bush the electoral vote, with all that in mind, along with all the liberal crap that’s flowed from it ever since, I’ve come to realize I am an American, above being a resident of the state, Oregon. This means that my vote really matters, because it would be a disaster for the same thing to happen in 2004.

In short, despite the fact that your state may go for Kerry, your vote for Bush will REALLY MATTER, in the highest American sense.

I implore all voters who think — or is that un-think? — like Lott to wake up and smell the AMERICAN roses, and pull the lever for Bush.

We’re all Americans, NOW!
James Crystal

BIDEN OUR TIME
Re: Enemy Central’s Fair Game:

Well done, well earned. As the man known in some quarters as the dumbest man in the Senate and as it’s plagiarizer-in-chief, he has made his statement and is stuck by it. As has been learned by many, what you say about others is often a reflection of what you think of yourself and in this case he has proven himself ever so true to his own beliefs.
GM Strong
Media, Pennsylvania

Dear Enemy Central: If you can remain anonymous, so can I, I hope. Regarding Bill O’Reilly’s predicament: What next? To memorialize his near-death (career) experience, will that crass oaf include as part of the Factor Gear hawked on his TV show, a vibrator inscribed “The Spin Starts Here!”? It would help defray the costs of the “settlement” now in the works. And he strikes me as that cheap.

All conservatives don’t worship at the O’Reilly shrine.
unsigned

I refused to nominate Curt Schilling as Enemy of the Week although he has pitched wonderfully for the Damned Bosox, a team recently claimed by Mephistopheles and his Liberal Legions via a writ of replevin — the team’s life estate ownership on its soul came due, apparently following numerous ill-advised escrow arrangements. I’ve been a fervent admirer of Schilling ever since he and his Phillie cohorts ( Lenny Dykstra, Jim Eisenreich, John Kruk …) played Toronto nearly all square during the 1993 World Series, handicapped by a Mitch Williams albatross around their necks. (Schilling in the dugout with a towel over his face during Williams’ inevitable blowing of another game is “seared” –boy, I say seared — in my mind.)

The Liberal Devil’s American League franchise can not tolerate long Schilling’s presence. ‘Round midnight Tuesday evening, following his sterling performance, he told Fox Sports that he had been a Christian for six years and he hadn’t pitched by himself and his wrecked ankle. Thereafter his effect on John Kerry’s favorite team — I think it’s his favorite team, although perhaps it is the Tigers or Senators, where Eddie Yost actually played — will be similar to a cross pressed into Dracula’s forehead. No, I tell you comrades and female siblings Curt’s tenure with the Damned Bosox will be shorter than Kurt Warner’s with Mike Martz’ politically correct Liberals masquerading as the St. Louis Rams. However, whatever team he throws for, Curt can console himself that his relationship with Christ will be far happier than the Liberals’ with their failed Marxist god.
J.R. Wheatley
Harper Woods, Michigan

Canadian Geese??? Those were Canada Geese . They might have come from Canada (but we don’t know) and then they would have been Canadian Canada Geese.
J. Courtney

EBBINGHAUS CURVE BALL
Re: Lawrence Henry’s The Brutal Curve of Forgetting:

I have spent over thirty years in advertising, from products to people. You have hit on some very good points in your article. Just to add, not that it is important to anyone but me a comment or two… In a guide that Amway Corp. sent out to its people about fifteen years ago on advertising in foreign countries it said that you have to think like the country you are trying to advertise in. Hence it is very difficult to do so unless you are a long-time citizen of that country. It noted signs for outdoor advertising done by U.S. companies that did not translate to another country, some with great humor but not to the company whose logo was at the bottom. The Democratic Party today has not seen the change in this country since Clinton, and in missing that subtle and not so subtle change its advertising is looking a little like American advertising in foreign countries.
unsigned

MEAT COUNTERS
Re: P. David Hornik’s Animal Rights: A Question of Humanity and the “Meatheadedness” letters in Reader Mail’s Without a Prayer and the “Humane Society” letters in Reader Mail’s Dreamland:

Regarding the article “Animal Rights: a Question of Humanity,” and the responses provoked, a few random, maybe tangential thoughts:

I won’t belabor the tiresome herbivore vs. carnivore question; though, there is truth beneath the humorous “if God didn’t want us to eat animals, why did He make them taste so good?” If I don’t eat much meat these days, it’s because there isn’t much good meat around this neck of the woods. Kudos to the Montana man for his hormone-free harvest.

A given revealed religion is entirely justified in stipulating which foods should or should not be eaten. God has established distinct dietary laws as key ingredients in the very different spiritual “economies” of the various traditions. If that means that cows amble uneaten among very hungry people, it is only a hater of religion or an ignorant person — but I repeat myself — who will rail at the apparent injustice.

A wise man once said that someone who doesn’t say a prayer or ask God’s blessings before eating an animal that he or someone else has killed is, in terms of his final outcome, much better off being a vegetarian. (Of course, logically a non-believer who avoids meat out of concern for a negative judgment against himself, is already on the road towards belief. The principle still holds its value.)
Jeffrey S. Erickson
Davidson, North Carolina

KERRY GANDER
Re: George Neumayr’s Liberalism Camouflaged:

One can’t help but wonder if the poor goose taken by Mr. Kerry was already wounded by one of his hunting companions and was desperately attempting to crawl away to safety as Mr. Kerry ran up behind it and shot it in the back. After all, that was Mr. Kerry’s reputed modus operandi in a similar situation.
Sam Keck
Indian Wells, California

Neumayr has hit the nail right on the head about Kerry specifically and liberalism in general. The fact that liberals must pretend to be something they are not in order to get support betrays their cynical and empty philosophy. And the terrible danger of having people in power who believe in essentially nothing is that there are no restraints or limits to which they may not go for the sake of amassing power to themselves. The rights and liberties of Americans, indeed of all people, are as nothing to people who see the wielding of power as the ultimate good — for them. If our founding fathers had been such men, this country would not have lasted beyond the War of 1812, and the world would be a lot less free than it is now — including Europe. Maybe especially Europe. Just imagine the world today if America had never gotten off the ground. This is the world that liberalism would end up creating.
Steve Hayes
Utah

Didja get a gander of that goose? Somewhere back in the woods there must have been a helium tank to blow them up! The camo-geared goose butler Kerry had totin’ his kill was a grace note I have never seen before. But I am more familiar with dove-hunting. Big John could probably carry one of those by himself.

An observation about that soul of discretion, Teresa Heinz Kerry. Motherhood and grandmotherhood is a full-time job if you are at it full time and doing it right. I speak as one who brought up my own two sons and have cared for all three of my grandsons from six weeks for the past 17 years. Am caring for the most recent, a two year old 10 hours a days five days a week (that’s more than full time, isn’t it?), because I don’t believe in alternative care by nannies-in-name-only or warehousing them at the Boot Camps for Babies we call Pre-School. My sons could well afford the best nannies available. But the best are not good enough. I tried to imagine doing it for twins — as Laura Bush did. I couldn’t. Then I tried to imagine Teresa trivializing it. That was easier. That woman operates in some parallel universe.
Diane S. Smith
So. San Francisco, California

Sadly, Mr. Neumayr with his usual scalpel like precision, has cut to the heart of the Democratic balancing act that goes on in every election season. I ask Democrat friends (read liberal friends) questions about issues. I ask if they really want to pay more taxes. Most guardedly say that they are willing if it will make this problem or that problem go away. Then I ask them what the taxes that they are already paying are doing to alleviate the problem about which we are talking, and they cannot answer. I ask if they really believe that law enforcement measures can protect us from terrorism, and they grudgingly admit that they cannot. I ask them if they really believe that two men or two women should be “married,” and they hedge some non-specific reply about their rights. I ask them to tell me what marriage is, and they cannot escape from the traditional definition because the new one sounds ridiculous even to them. This goes on and on until, exhausted and embarrassed, they fall back on the “Bush lied” canard, or the even more ludicrous “Bush failed to serve” gambit. They blithely discount the mountain of evidence, evidence from his own mouth, of John Kerry’s obvious unfitness for command of anything. They can’t or won’t see the naked ambition that has guided his every step since the 1960s. With much regret, I have to say that I fear there are enough of these liberals to elect John Kerry to the presidency of this country. I must admit that this fear, a fear for my children and grandchildren is not just some amorphous nebulous dread, but rather, a serious and specific fear for the way of life that I have enjoyed, and that I have watched deteriorate since those very same 1960s that spawned the likes of John Kerry.
Joseph Baum
Newton Falls, Ohio

Mr. Kerry is not just a wearer of political camouflage but is also a political plagiarist. For example, former jet pilot George Bush landed in a jet on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2003. Kerry announced in September 2003 his candidacy for the Democrat nomination while standing in front of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown.

Other examples? The president gets the National Rifle Association’s endorsement; Kerry, who can’t seem to be seen without a shotgun in his hand, now sacrifices a goose in Ohio to be a regular guy. The president humbly mentions his faith in God and prayer, nothing much more; Kerry never misses a chance to remind us he is a Catholic and former altar boy. The president has said repeatedly terrorists will be brought to justice; Kerry now says he’ll hunt them down and kill them.

What’s next for Kerry? Buying a ranch in Texas, getting a chainsaw and cutting some wood? Going bass fishing? Getting a Scottish terrier? How about actually reporting for work in the Senate, earning his salary and doing something meaningful?

By the way, I disagree with your characterization of “the most outrageous Kerry camouflage of them all-his sudden respect for God in government.” That’s a very distant second to his greatest outrage, if not profanity: his convenient use of God, in that he says he’s a faithful Catholic, yet supports abortion, homosexual unions and embryonic stem-cell research.
C. Kenna Amos Jr.
Princeton, West Virginia

Mr. Neumayr being a genteel person apparently does not want to leave the words disguise and camouflage and go directly to phony.
Howard Lohmuller
Seabrook, Texas

MURDER, HE WROTE
Re: Christopher Orlet’s Evolutionary Justice:

It may not be popular to suggest but, I believe two basic components of liberalism are aiding and abetting the murder of innocents and the defense of murderers. This pattern manifests itself just about anywhere you care to look. Liberals argue for the “right” of any mother to kill her unborn child at anytime and for any reason, yet never fail to decry the use of capital punishment for a vicious murderer as depicted in this story. The liberal outrage about the crimes committed by Saddam Hussein pale in comparison to the liberal outrage generated by the war that stopped him. The liberal support for Palestinian terrorists is as pervasive as their complete lack of concern for innocent Israeli women and children. I could go on and on. To be a liberal requires the inability to tell right from wrong and to have absolutely no concept of justice.
Bill White
Great Mills, Maryland

WITH LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING
Re: Marina’s letter (“Wake-Up Call”) in Reader Mail’s Triumph of the Primitive:

Hey Marina, Columbus didn’t land in America. As for un-abashed genocide, what a load of pure liberal B.S. I am a native American. I was born here, as was my father and grandfather. Do you think that the people that were here when Europeans arrived just popped up out of the ground? No, they came here from somewhere else too. Are you a native of America? If not then you need to go back to where you’re from then. But wait, liberals are a do as I say, not a do as I do, people. You’re hypocrisy is overwhelming. You would have preferred that Saddam would still be in power where somebody like you would have no human rights. You’re not wild eyed idealists, you’re wild eyed cowards who never think that anything is worth fighting for. Talk is cheap.
Greg Goff
Casper, Wyoming

A letter to American Spectator from one “Marina” states, in regards to a comment about Native Americans attacking the British at Fort William Henry:

“And one last thing — do you honestly expect an occupied people (Iraqis or Native Americans as the case may be) to refrain from fighting back…”

In the case of the Indians here in America; no, nobody expected them to roll over and give up without a fight, and they certainly didn’t. On the other hand, when the garrison at Ft. William Henry had surrendered, turned over the fort and its contents to the local Indians, and was assured they could go away peacefully, the troops might expect to escape with their lives. Unfortunately, they were attacked as they marched away and most were killed outright, and many others tortured to death later that night.

We all realize that the Natives did have, and still do have legitimate complaints. But that doesn’t mean that in every case they were in the right, and to defend the massacre at Ft William Henry as justified is carrying political correctness to the breaking point.
G.L. Wardle

NO EXCUSE
Re: Shawn Macomber’s Mean Team America and Reader Mail’s “Mad in America” letters in Triumph of the Primitive:

I have not seen this movie (nor do I intend to), but have seen the previews. From them it was easy to determine that this is more bottom-feeding culture trash. The warning flags went up when I learned that the movie was produced by the same people responsible for the arrested-development foul-mouthed South Park. If conservatism is to survive, we must rise above the lowest common denominator, and (in an oft-used phrase) not become what we have hated. When it was pointed out to him about the laxity in the observation of the Rule of St. Francis by his brethren, St. Bonaventure replied that this was no excuse for him; he had made a vow between himself and God, and it mattered not to him what anyone else did. Likewise, it is no excuse for us if we behave other than in accordance with our consciences, and use the excuse, “well, the other side is doing it, so it must be OK for us.” Let’s set the example, and lead, instead of follow.
Bob Schwartz
Buffalo, New York

POOR RICHARD
Re: Richard’s response to William Tucker (“The Nightmare Relived”) in Reader Mail’s Without a Prayer:

Just read Richard’s “revision” of William Tucker’s editorial. I’m betting that poor Richard had another nightmare back in March 2002:

I bet he dreamed that the U.S. forces invading Iraq would get bogged down by tough Iraqi soldiers (especially the feared Republican Guard) 100 miles outside of Baghdad for months with hundreds of dead soldiers week after week, suffering in baking heat and blinding sandstorms.

I bet he dreamed that Saddam Hussein would fire chemical weapons at our soldiers (everyone said he had them, remember?) and more would die agonizing deaths from mustard gas etc.

I bet he dreamed that Iraqi oil fields would be set ablaze by the scores, and the smoke put forth by this holocaust would cause world-wide environmental damage.

I bet he dreamed that Qusay and Uday would appear on Iraqi television showing what happens to “traitors” who supported the “invaders” then cutting to live shots of their torture rooms.

I bet he dreamed that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis would be fleeing over the border to Syria and Jordan, and would be perishing by the thousands in overcrowded disease ridden refugee camps.

I bet he dreamed that Saddam Hussein fired scuds at Israel, thus provoking the whole Middle East into a holy war.

I bet he dreamed that, for the rest of 2002, wave upon wave of terrorists, enraged at the Iraq invasion would attack the United States, blowing up trains and schools and other public places.

It sounds like Richard’s mindset would have had these dreams back in 2002, and they were as realistic as the one he has just had. I would say to him, “Richard – maybe you just had too much garlic on your pizza!”

Please sign me:
Mike the Analyst

Could Richard tell me exactly how well President Kerry will deal with all of our allies that he has been insulting or having family members actively campaigning against (like in Australia)? I think the Kerry Nightmare is a much more likely outcome of a Kerry presidency than your Bush Nightmare.

And one other question. Why do all these liberal types even bother reading the The American Spectator if they don’t like what they read? I don’t go and read the New Republic because I need to keep blood pressure down.
Jeff Cook
Powell, Ohio

I want to congratulate Richard on his astonishingly brilliant take on William Tucker’s Kerry nightmare. Just when I thought the left was devoid of any original thought, Richard comes along and turns Tucker’s dream against him by replacing the word “Kerry” with “Bush” and — as if the sheer genius of that wasn’t enough — sprinkling some Michael Mooreisms in for good measure! Bravo Richard! I’m convinced, and I’m coming over to your side! Thank you for saving our country and the world!
Chuck

CELL PRONE
The thing I don’t get is how come, if embryonic stem cell research is so promising, the evil greedy drug companies aren’t plunging into R&D with all the money in the world?
Paul Kotik
Plantation, Florida

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