THE DAILY STANDARD welcomes letters to the editor. Letters will be edited for length and clarity and must include the writer’s name, city, and state.
*1*
Satan may have rock, but God has Bach. (Matt Labash, That Old Time Religion) I’d say God wins.
–Aaron H. Frank
*2*
Yes, the Santana group had many changes over the years. That doesn’t mean the honor of playing for the group was cheap. Does Matt Labash wanna say that about someone like Pete Escovedo?
–David Fobare
*3*
You people slay me. (Stephen F. Hayes, On Richard Clarke) Clinton screwed up, there can be no doubt about that. However, simply because he screwed up doesn’t excuse Bush for continuing to screw up.
Bush is the least intellectually curious president since Calvin Coolidge. The dilemma I face in November: If George W. Bush is the problem, is John Kerry the answer?
–Jim Peterson
*4*
I have to disagree to John J. Tkacik Jr.’s The Floridazation of Taiwan.
I had a high hopes for the DPP when the party won the election four years ago. But I regret to say that the DPP has failed the people who wanted to trust it. A series of alleged corruptions are involved with the government officers and even with the first family. We did not see the legal system taking appropriate actions on these allegations.
We are fed up with this dishonest government and its poor public policies. Though we want and look for a change, we local people are believers in democracy. If this election were fairly done, nobody would be making such noises.
–Jessie Wang
*5*
Considering the consequences of no candidate achieving a majority in the Electoral College, Terry Eastland said it “would throw the election to the (likely remaining Republican) House of Representatives, which then would choose Bush” (Election Math). This implies that President Bush could win his second term by receiving the vote of all or most Republicans in the House of Representatives, as if each representative will have one vote in the matter.
The real situation is not so simple. Article II, Section 1, of the United States Constitutions says, in part, “But in choosing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representatives from each State having one Vote.” There will be only 50 votes for president in the House of Representatives, not one per representative. The questions then are: How many states will have a delegation to the House of Representatives with a Republican majority and which ones are they? How many with a Democratic majority and which ones are they? What might happen in a state with an evenly split delegation? Will deadlock in that state prevent it from casting a vote?
–Chips Shepherd
*6*
The problem with campaigning as the “commander-in-chief” is that most Americans do not think of this country as a “nation at war.” (Hugh Hewitt, Kerry’s Uncommon Touch) That is President Bush’s fantasy, not theirs.
People don’t really care about John Kerry’s Senate votes on military spending (except that they are concerned about the growing deficit). On the other hand, they do think of America as a nation of workers, many of whom are under-employed or, worse yet, unemployed. Friends of mine who are Republicans have been changing their party registration. Out-of-state relatives, who are long term members of the Republican party, are telling me they won’t be voting for President Bush this coming fall. It is all beginning to unravel.
–Bernie Schaeffer
*7*
Ami Horowitz’s Oy Vey! is quite logical, but unfortunately, logic has made little impact on human history. If logic prevailed, one would expect that Jewish voters would not be allied with the major purveyors of anti-Semitism in the United States. Those anti-Semites and anti-Israel groups are led by the African-American community and their self proclaimed leaders including, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. The Congressional Black Caucus always takes a strong anti-Israel position, but the Jewish leaders in the Democratic party would never criticize any of these race-baiters. I will believe Horowitz’s thesis when I hear Barbra Streisand declare for George W. Bush. I’m not holding my breath.
–Stephen Osder
*8*
Matt Labash’s article on Goodbye, Babylon is one of the best articles I’ve read on both religion and music–and I know what I’m talking about here, having been raised in the Church of Christ in South Dakota, and having, as well, been a musician all my life. My excuse for not dancing is that I was always on the wrong side of the microphone to learn.
Did you catch President Bush’s inside reference in his 2003 State of the Union, when he talked about faith-based organizations, “There is power . . . [pause] . . . wonder-working power”?
No, I don’t think he’ll have any problems with his religious base.
–Larry Henry
*9*
All I can say is that when I grow up (I’m 69-years-old) I want to write as well as Matt Labash. My grandmother was old-time Pentecostal who went to Angelus Temple with Amie Semple McPherson and talked in tongues. She was a great lady who could have served as a role model for the world. As a kid I went to less-severe churches, which I believe might have been Southern Baptist, out in the distant reaches of California’s Mojave Desert. I hated going because we were supposed to come forward every week or two and declare our salvation, to the proud acknowledgement of pastor and parents, and as a young 13-year old boy if there was one theological fact of which I was certain, I for damned-sure knew I was a sinner far from saved. What a choice for a believer: lie and look good or admit the truth and look bad. Shamefully, I took the John Kerry route.
–Gregg Calkins
*10*
Terry Eastland forgot the most appalling thing about Roe v. Wade, which is that Blackmun quoted the Kinsey Report three times (Blackmun’s Constitution).
–Kevin McCarthy
