Top 10 Letters

*1*
Stephen F. Hayes’s Getting It Wrong on Purpose really hit close to home. My local paper, the St. Petersburg Times, has published three articles on the IRDC. April 25, 2003 “Iraq doctor goes to aid homeland” on page 4A, April 11, 2003 “Doctor eager to heal his homeland” on page 1A, and April 4, 2003 “Local doctor to lead Iraqi health care” on page 11A. These articles all concern Dr. Daid Hakky who is a local urologist. He has been working in these same confines outside Washington D.C. and has been tapped to be the temporary minister of health in Iraq. He is there even as we speak. He was personally interviewed for each of these three stories, and was very excited to tell the story.

–Jay Langan

*2*
In a recent Top 10 Letters Sean J. Byrne, Brigadier General, U.S. Army, Commander, 3rd PERSCOM commented that he does not believe that the mail situation in Iraq is as dire as predicted in Jonathan Foreman’s article, The Scandal of the Army’s Mail. In his address to the editor, Brigadier General Byrne made statements regarding mail delivery that seemed to assert that the situation had been rectified and that all troops had begun to receive their letters in a timely fashion. He also seemed to suggest that mail sent at the beginning of the war had reached the forces by the time he’d written his letter. I would forcefully challenge those suggestions.

Two Fridays ago, a certain Marine from Echo company, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, called home and spoke to his mother for the first time since crossing the border into Iraq. He was depressed and dispirited; he’d only received one letter in all that time–letters that had been sent while he was still in Kuwait hadn’t even been received. I myself have written him a letter every day since March 18; as of April 26, he hadn’t received even one of those letters. Since the General Byrne’s letter was published on April 28, I’d say his assessment of the situation was misinformed.

–Nichole Camiso

*3*
My unit is the 721st Postal Co. (Reserves).We used to be a replacement detachment, and this is our first active duty time in the MOS (besides the annual 2 weeks). There are only 23 soldiers there, (I’d be there, but my husband got me pregnant) and they are busting their asses trying to get the mail out. They aren’t even getting their own mail fast because of the quantity. I am told they are working with some 50 Marines and there is only one cell phone to be passed around, so no one is getting in touch with anyone else.

My unit is good at their job, and we take it seriously. The problem is not due to a lack of care and concern–we are fully aware that mail is the most important morale booster when people are away from home. All I can say is the Army needs to train more people in the postal MOS.

–Spc. Spain-Kaiser

*4*
I am a conservative Republican legislator who has worked to keep gambling out of my state. (Jonathan V. Last, Bill Bennett’s Gambling “Problem”) I am also an avid reader and fan of Bill Bennett’s. His ideas stand on their own merits and do not rise or fall depending on whether he is able to live up to his “Book of Virtues.”

I still respect the man. We all must ensure that we will live up to the examples we seek to set for our young people. Bennett did nothing illegal and it is questionable whether or not gambling is immoral. Yet he is right to say that his gambling days are over. The admission and change in behavior are a model of character. When he became drug czar under Bush 41, Bennett quit smoking. His willingness to abstain from perfectly legal conduct in order to set a higher standard is admirable. Bill Bennett–thanks for teaching us all a valuable lesson. Our prayers are with you. I look forward to purchasing your next book.

–Rep. David A. Pendleton, Hawaii House of Representatives

*5*
I re-read my copy of the February 2003 Hillsdale College newsletter, Imprimis, last night. It included a speech Bill Bennett delivered at a Hillsdale seminar in 2002. Here’s a passage I found interesting:

“Above all we have to teach by example. Nor is this to say that we need to be perfect to be good examples. Our children can see us try and fail from time to time. But then they can see us try again and do better, or get it right, the second time. Thus they learn about human limitations, but also about human perseverance.”

I think Bennett will persevere and continue to be a credible spokesman for conservatives.

–Kevin Groenhagen

*6*
I suppose the most disappointing thing about Bennett’s gambling is that playing video poker is such a mindless exercise. You would think he’d find something more interesting to waste his money on–like the stock market.

Incidentally, I think the house take on slot machines and video poker is around 15 percent (the house wins $15 for every $100 dollars wagered). By my calculations, if Bennett restricted himself to machine gambling he would have had to bet an incredible $53 million to lose the $8 million reported. So unless he was an octopus playing eight machines simultaneously, the losses reported by the Washington Monthly seem a little high.

–Steve Mack

*7*
You can always sniff out a Wahoo. (Fred Barnes, Are You Ready for Some Football!) I am neither a Wahoo nor a Hokie but if the ACC really wants to expand to add “power” it needs Virginia Tech. Barnes would prefer to ignore Blacksburg, but it is real.

–James Jennings

*8*
The fact that the NAACP’s case was assigned to Judge Weinstein should indeed be investigated. (Katherine Mangu-Ward, No Smoking Gun) Federal case assignments are supposed to be random, yet the NAACP got exactly the judge it wanted even though its chances of doing so by lot were just 1 in 20 (Brooklyn has 14 sitting judges and 6 more on senior status). If Judge Weinstein acquired the case improperly, then by law he lacks subject matter jurisdiction to make any rulings and any he does make will be a nullity.

–John Huettner

*9*
No No NO!!! The ACC is a Southern, North Carolina league. Adding Georgia Tech and Florida State made sense geographically and culturally. But adding Syracuse and BC (and heck, Miami as well) destroys the Southern flavor of the league. No $*^#$%& Yankees should be allowed. We already have the Conference quota attending Duke. No more are needed, trust me.

–Andy Oppenheim

*10*
I love Barnes’s playoff idea, but the ACC is not a football conference, and adding BC, the ‘Cuse, and Miami won’t make it so. It’ll be FSU vs. Miami every year. Okay, maybe Clemson or Georgia Tech has a good year now and again.

Let’s run the rest of the proposed conference down:

UNC–they play in baby blue
Duke–brains work in hoops, not in football
Wake Forest–you gotta be kidding
UVA–overrated every year by East Coast snobs who want them to be good
NC State–maybe if Jimmy V comes back as a football coach
Maryland–one good year and Pffttt . . .
BC–only gets up for Notre Dame
Syracuse–can’t win outside

The best bet would be to have FSU and Miami join the SEC, although as an SEC fan I really don’t want to see it.

–Lee Weber