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*
Fred Barnes’ idea that we should have an equal number of “liberal” journalists and “conservative” journalists” is absurd. (Liberal Media Evidence) Actually, the idea of conservative journalism is something of an oxymoron. Encompassed in the term “liberal” is an emphasis on competing viewpoints, dissent, and the questioning of authority. What conservatives refer to as “moral relativism” is nothing more than an effort to weigh both sides of an issue (an essential part of journalistic integrity). And this is why liberals are more prone to serve as journalists. Conservatives are, by their very nature, poor journalists. This is because conservative ideals emphasize loyalty, ideology and power–which are not characteristics of good journalism.
Fairness in reporting can only be achieved by liberals. Increasing the number of conservative journalists would do nothing but further corrupt the art and science of journalism.
–Patrick Murphy
*2*
Jonathan V. Last says that people who are failing to make the necessary distinctions between the abuses at Abu Ghraib and the murder of Nicholas Berg. (Paternalism and Abu Ghraib)
And he’s right. Take Bill Moyers.
On one of Moyers’ recent shows, his first guest was a man named, I believe, Peter Singer, who was introduced as an internationally admired philosopher. Moyers’ first question to him was whether the beheading of Nick Berg was “any more reprehensible” than what had happened at Abu Ghraib.
–Charles R. Vail
*3*
Another myth for Fred Barnes to add to his list is that the whole world hates us, and hence, we can only expect bad results across the world as a consequence of our foreign policy. (Myths of Iraq) As contrary evidence, see the elections in Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Philippines, where the Islamists have been defeated. Also include in this column of successes in disarming Libya. And now it seems as if North Korea and Iran may also allow certain degree of supervision.
–Jose A, Hernandez
*4*
At the end of World War II the Allies not only disbanded the Nazi party, but put every member of the German Army they could find into a POW camp. That’s exactly what we should have done in Iraq. I think the CPA handled the Baath party correctly, but failed to take the military power of the Saddam regime in hand. The plan to rebuild the Iraqi Army was faulty.
–Wally Lind
*5*
Part of having a good energy policy is understanding what you want. (Irwin M. Stelzer, Sticker Shock) But either our country doesn’t really knows what it wants, or it wants the impossible: $1.20 a gallon at the pump and clean hydrogen-driven vehicles on the highway. Irwin M. Stelzer is right that the gradual price increase for oil, while painful, is a good inducement for long-term shifts in energy efficiency, both in encouraging hybrid auto purchases and improving efficiency in homes.
But how about this for a twofer solution? Right now the “crack spread” between oil and refined gas is at an all-time high, because our refineries are tapped out. How about (1) changing regulations to get some new refineries built; and (2) developing ANWR so that it only produces after oil reaches a certain price (say, 40 bucks a barrel)? That way, if OPEC drives prices up, we can use our reserves in the ANWR to meet supply and keep domestic oil prices down. Then we’d still have price mechanisms working as oil prices fluctuated, we’d be able to adjust for short-term OPEC greediness (which really isn’t a free market organism anyway), and we could ease supply crunches on our refineries.
–Roger Zalneraitis
*6*
Terry Eastland makes an interesting point, but perhaps the election of 1864 is a guide. (Poll vs. Poll) There were no polls back then, but news of the war was what certainly determined the outcome. During the spring of that year and for much of the summer, after the huge number of casualties suffered by the Union Army, Lincoln looked like a loser. However, after the capture of Atlanta, the victories at Mobile Bay, and in the Shenandoah Valley, the public turned in his favor.
How things go in Iraq will be a huge factor of the outcome of this election. If Bush can manage to show serious progress there, he will probably win going away. If things go badly, then it will be very difficult for him to win.
–Frank Mauran
*7*
Victorino Matus makes some good points in Mandate in Manila. In order to turn the country around Gloria Macapagal Arroyo needs to:
-Make significant inroads into corruption, especially in Customs and BIR.
-Privatize the National Power Corporation.
-Put in a Mining Act that the Supreme Court can live with and attracts foreign mining giants–which may require a constitutional change.
-Use the revenues generated from mining to significantly improve infrastructure.
If she can find a way to do the above, she will help the Philippines attain strong sustained growth and prosperity.
–Steve MacDonald
*8*
Hugh Hewitt’s fascinating article on Tim Russert, Family Ties, reminded me of my youth. I am a Presbyterian who grew up in Dunkirk, New York (45 miles southwest of Buffalo), in a town dominated by Catholics.
It seems that the Norse and Germans picked the northern Great Plains areas while many of the Poles and Italians put the brakes on in Western New York. I was blessed with a first-rate public school education in the ’40s and early ’50s where I learned how to spell names which had far more consonants than vowels. It was a time when, though we did not realize it, the American melting pot was finally melting, with immense and lasting rewards for all. I was not a Bills fan; I was Buffalo Bison’s fan, before baseball began its long, sad slide.
But perhaps my greatest cultural achievement was my regular clandestineity at the Palace Burlesque. With Memorial Auditorium, WBEN’s Clint Buehlmann, Laube’s Old Spain Restaurant, and Friday Night Wrestling (featuring Gorgeous George and Yukon Eric), the Palace was a cultural mecca for young, um, minds. I may well have seen a refined young lady named Morgana King there. (She later graced the screen as Mrs. Don Corleone in Godfather I and II.)
–Gene Wright
*9*
Anyone familiar with the size and quality of the South Korea army knows that last thing it needs is more ground infantry or tank units. (Michael Goldfarb, More Troops Soon) The U.S. presence in Korea is a trip wire. The best support we can provide is airpower and artillery. The loss of the two maneuver brigades to Iraq is not a serious threat to South Korean security. Given the strong anti-American sentiment in South Korea now, we should begin a withdrawal of all ground troops and leave only a contingent of headquarters personnel.
–Paul Moody
*10*
Hugh Hewitt is right to be outraged and Ted Kennedy should be forced to watch video of Saddam’s torture methods, as well as listen to about a week’s worth of testimonies from Iraqis who saw the horrors first-hand, and then be asked to revisit his “Under New Management” statement.
Sadly, I doubt that even then he’d be able to say anything that approached lucidity. The one silver lining to his unhinged ranting is that he’s so inextricably associated with Sen. Kerry that maybe some undecided voters will see the light and realize what enormous harm a Kerry administration would cause to the war on terrorism and the country in general.
–Wylie Merritt
