Reader Comments
Issue 104 - March 26, 2008

Editor: There are very, very few conservative publications I would recommend to anyone (I'm distinguishing them from libertarian publications, where I have a number to recommend).  However, Donald Devine's "Conservative Battleline Online" deserves consideration--especially when it is not dealing with conservative politics per se. In the last issue, for example, are two excellent articles on Hollywood.  Spencer Warren has written on "There Will Be Blood" and shows it is archetypical Hollywood anti-business, anti-entrepreneur trash, no matter how good the acting is.  Of all people on the planet, Hollywood liberals wouldn't be able to exist--they would commit suicide--without the conveniences provided by the entrepreneurs they routinely trash.  Then, the supreme irony with "No Country for Old Men" is that it got the Oscar for best picture because the Hollywoodites completely misread its message.  Its message, as author S.T. Karnick demonstrates, is not that America is a nation of deranged killers--that misinterpretation is probably why it got the Oscar.  Anyway, these two articles get the message right on these two films. But my favorite article is "Interglacial Time" by Alan Caruba, about the biggest hoax of our time--"global warming." "Saving the Poor from Barbara" by John Goodman is also worth a look. I have a friend with a medical and military background that is evidence that she has brains, if not intelligence.  The problem is how little she uses those brains, because she keeps getting suckered in to government humanitarian programs.  Once she sees how counterproductive they are, the jobs end in mental exhaustion with physical health consequences.  So what does she do?  After some rest, she goes on to another government humanitarian program that's just a waste of money.  I remember when the next thing she wanted to do was the fashionable thing of helping AIDS victims in Africa.  I gave her a sober, analytical article (I think from the New York Times, no less!) that showed that the only progress being made against AIDS in Africa was with programs conducted by businesses there.  Of course that made complete sense to me--who has more self-interest in keeping their workers alive, and no interest in spending money on unproductive programs?  I suggested that, with her background, she should set herself up as a private contractor providing AIDS and health resources to companies operating in Africa.  I was preaching to a deaf person.  She didn't articulate it that way, but I could sense that she thought it was somehow immoral to make money in the private sector for doing good.  Better to fleece the taxpayers, and the fate of the victims of AIDS be damned. David Franke

Editor: Thanks for “Bill Buckley RIP.” We have posted these reminiscences by his friends and admirers on our Yorktown Patriot website (http://www.yorktownpatriot.com/). Your essay “Buckley’s Program” is superb and is similar in emphasis to my essay "Why I am a conservative" that appears in the current Modern Age. The enthusiasm for Hillary and Barack Obama and their message of big government is disconcerting. Apart from Bush's blunder in Iraq it is our own acquiescence in the takeover of higher education by the Left that anyone going to college in today's world is taught to love the growth of government programs. Conservatives are defeated for now and there's not much we can do about it. Richard Bishirjian, President Yorktown University

Editor: Thank you for “Buckley’s Program.” Vicki Hampton

Editor: It is with great concern that I write to you regarding the article “Buckley’s Program” highlighting William F. Buckley, Jr. and the Conservative Movement. In the eyes of millions of Americans across our great nation there are no real conservatives left in the political field. But, just a moment, there is one, Congressman Ron Paul who, despite the blackout of the mainstream media, is still the only REAL conservative on Capitol Hill. Oh, yes, there are others, however, none as passionate about the direction our country has taken since the current administration took over in 2000. Paul, an economic scholar who has studied Austrian Economics for over 30 years is the only Presidential candidate running with a sound monetary policy. This man has shown incredible courage in going public with the truth of the conditions in our once great nation. We are a nation of mesmerized people, lulled and brainwashed with the utter nonsense we view on the major news networks and other methods of spinning. It's way far too late to convince the American people that what we currently have here is nothing short of fascism. It more than grieves me that my children and grandchildren will grow up in a country filled with the powerful elite who want nothing more than to rid the country of our poor and our middle class. It won't take that many years to realize the damage done, but unfortunately, it just may be too late. Respectively yours, Catherine Abbitt, Haltom City, Texas

Editor: Enjoyable, enlightening tributes to A Great Man, William F. Buckley Jr. Bill Doran

Editor: Thanks for your articles on Bill Buckley. My brother and I subscribed to NR starting from the first issue in '55. I saw Bill "live" three times, in '55, '76, '78. There was a conservative event in Carnegie Hall featuring him, Sen. Joe McCarthy, Sen. Bill Jenner, a retired general and others. Bill gave a raucously funny recount of the "Paul Hughes" case. On one of the two latter occasions, I shook hands with him as he stood on a dais and I quickly asked him if he recalled that Carnegie Hall event. With eyebrows shot upwards, he answered yes, yes!!! Just some few personal vignettes of an ordinary foot-soldier in the army of the right, conscripted by Bill Buckley, without whom there would be no "right" today. Patrick J. Bonner

Editor: "Tho the great one be gone, his words and thoughts will always stand alone" - RIP, William F. Buckley JR. - Jason Leverette, conservative patriot

Editor: Great article, "Interglacial Time" by Alan Caruba, I wonder if any of our wonderful politicians will take the time to read about it and really digest what it is saying instead of listening to all the greens and tree-huggers who are causing the rise in energy prices we are all experiencing. Dave Stypula, Jackson, New Jersey

Editor: I couldn't agree more with Alan Caruba’s "Interglacial Time" and wonder if the global warming isn't just a ploy to bring down America and help set up the New World Order or is that a conspiracy theory? I do believe the sun is the factor that is not getting the news or the coverage as being the culprit as well as the shifting of the magnetic poles. What better way to bring down countries’ economies than with this global warming scam? Boyd Lieberman

Editor: I am a former member of the U.S. delegation to the IPCC representing the Pentagon. While I retired from government in 1995, I still like to follow the discussion (debate?) on global climate change. Re: your article by Dennis Avery “Changing Europe Into Cuba,” it would be helpful to have specific technical references so those of us who are interested can check the sources. How did Dennis develop the data on temperatures and how do they compare with world-wide temperature data? Thanks. Morgan Rees

Editor: I used to think "a picture is worth a thousand words." In “There Will Be Blood”, Spencer Warren's words are worth a thousand pictures. And many of Hollywood’s pictures are worth three words only: "piece of c-ap." Thanks for lots of interesting, inspiring" bio-snapshots." Joan B

Editor: What a great piece of work is “Accommodating Sharia” by Daniel Pipes. The average American citizen has little idea how dangerous these people are. They publicly say they will convert everyone, or kill those who will not convert. Thanks, Morris Kernick

Editor: In regard to John Goodman’s “Saving Poor From Barbara,” my "best buddy" has been helping Africa for over 30 years now. A good use for the $1,500 would be providing a good source of water (over there, a well). Many of the illnesses they contract are from drinking bad water. His organization can be found at icfaid.org. He uses people who are African nationals who already live there, rather than highly paid outsiders. It's one of the most efficient programs out there (sorry, had to brag on him!) Steve Purdy

Editor: Regarding “McCain Win Conservatives?” by David Keene, if this man pushes the global warming agenda and does not opt for energy independence using our own resources, I will not vote for him. If he does not commit to building the border fence in his first year, I will not vote for him. If he says he will do anything other than enforce our immigration laws, I will not vote for him. If he does not pick a true conservative for his running mate, I will not vote for him. Charles Nelson

Editor: Regarding “McCain Win Conservatives?” by David Keene, both Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton offer nothing but more of the 19th Century socialism that FDR started in the 1930s and which became embedded more firmly in our political culture under Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s. President Richard Nixon even invented "revenue" sharing that emboldened state and local governments to expand exponentially in the 70s. In the early 90s, President Bush I signed the ADA Act for disabilities that increased coverage of people with diabetes, low vision, and alcoholism--practically no possible hangnail can't be shoehorned into the ADA, although the Supreme Court did stop allowing a legally blind employee from driving a FedEx truck. This President Bush, knowing full well Social Security and Medicare are demographic time bombs, promoted a new prescription drug plan for Medicare. My college students can't start the semester until their federally-backed loans are coordinated with Administration, they can't buy text books until their federally-sponsored grants have been coordinated with Student Services, and they can't snack at the student center until their state-subsidized tuition has cleared. Students rack up debts like eight balls, some leaving school with over $100,000 in debt that is all guaranteed by taxpayers. The Wall Street Journal warns occasionally how much a house of cards the student loan system is, just another scandal waiting to break and sucker the electorate. People will never give up this system as they or their brother or their girlfriend benefits in some way, and politicians can't stop themselves from dreaming up new ways to spend tax monies on self-described "deprived" worthies. John McCain, on the other hand, has never had an earmark or voted for a tax increase. For conservatives and everyone else, he is our only hope. Renny Hartmann

Editor: Regarding “McCain Win Conservatives?” by David Keene, all is lost because we voted in a bunch of sissies who won't fight back, or cannot because of their skeletons in the closet. I have told you before that I will not vote for John McCain because he is just as much a Democrat as the two Democrats "Hilary, and Obama.” In any case I will be voting for Garfield the cat. Don't bother to send me any further emails. The Republican Party has no longer got my support. I will vote my conscience and vote for only qualified pubic servants and none of them may have had a previous political career. Sincerely, Leo Ryan

Editor: I was stunned as I opened my Republican Ballot to find Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter, and Fred Thompson ALL included as possible candidates for my selection, notwithstanding the fact that they were no longer contenders (though each infinitely better choices)! I reflected on the effects of my choosing one of the drop-outs and, holding my nose, chose the lesser of the remaining evils. It has subsequently caused me to wonder how many fellow Floridian conservatives failed to fully appreciate that, by choosing anyone other than Mitt Romney, they had in fact inadvertently contributed to the media supported John McCain victory? I have been unsuccessful in finding ANY data tallied for these "lost" votes, while deluged with the numbers posted by McCain and Romney. I wonder if your organization may be able to ferret out that data and publish it, and if such ballots may indeed have contributed to the unfortunate results. Robert Courter