A couple of broadsides from the right today, including Mr. Cooke, one of the right's answers to Dr. Cutri and Mr. Ostberg.
Prescient
HARRY R. COOKE
Winston-Salem
WILLIAM C. SIDES JR.
Clemmons
Civilizing mission
Rather than criticize apparently misplaced priorities, I would like to point out that both sports and the arts demand exceptional talent, imagination, courage and discipline from their participants and that they provide their audiences with experiences of uncommon skill, powerful emotion and awesome beauty. That is why we love them.
RICHARD H. MILLER
Winston-Salem
No doubt many readers were outraged by the political cartoon of July 31 that equates tea-party congressmen with terrorists and suggests President Obama employ the Navy SEALs to eradicate this annoyance. I, however, find this cartoon to be quite prescient.
In years to come, the public will remember that the SEALS afforded President Obama the two best moments of his tenure; the killing of the Somali pirates and the killing of Osama bin Laden. One can certainly make the case that the difference between Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter is that the SEALs reached their objectives, while Carter's helicopters crashed in the desert. Other than that, the same failed policies, the same poor economy, the same excuses, etc. At least poor Jimmy had Ronald Reagan to clean up his mess.
The Journal wants to provoke readers by publishing such irresponsible yellow journalism. It is laughable that this also points to another Obama failure. Remember how Obama called for civil discourse in the wake of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' shooting? Even the press takes him for a buffoon.
Conservatives can be provocateurs as well. A lesson for all those 20-somethings who voted for an inexperienced community organizer for president: They wouldn't use affirmative action to pick their heart or brain surgeon, but they used it to pick the leader of the free world. Even the vaunted Navy SEALs can't rescue them from that mistake.
HARRY R. COOKE
Winston-Salem
Washington circus
Watching the circus going on in Washington the past few weeks (or has it been years?) confirms to me that our problems in America are manifold.
We have career legislators in Congress — on both sides of the political spectrum — who have no clue as to how the real world outside of Washington operates. We have millions of people depending on the federal government to supply their needs and solve their problems, who are very comfortable with that and who have no clue as to how dangerous that is to our freedoms and liberty.
We have a president — Barack Obama, liar-in-chief, campaigner-in chief, demagogue-in-chief, class-warfare advocate-in-chief, ad nauseum — who has never run even a lemonade stand and who is the most dangerous, radical socialist ever to occupy the White House, determined to forever change this great nation into a European-style nanny state, which in effect will destroy America as we have known it. I firmly believe that we cannot survive another four years of this disingenuous liar who constantly speaks from both sides of his mouth, all the while supported in his dishonesty by the lapdog mainstream media.
I hope and pray that there are enough Americans who realize how blessed we have been with freedoms in this country to throw this man out of office in 2012, along with his radical cohorts in Congress, and elect true conservative, pro-American people who will restore the values that made us great.
WILLIAM C. SIDES JR.
Clemmons
Civilizing mission
I could not help noticing that the $2.7 million buyout package UNC-Chapel Hill may provide to fired football coach Butch Davis ("Move to cost UNC about $2.7 million," July 29) would just about cover the budget cuts to be levied on the University of North Carolina School of the Arts — cuts that will cost positions, imperil programs and challenge the institution's legislatively mandated mission of providing first-rate training in the arts to North Carolina's and the region's citizens.
Wouldn't it be heartening if some of the folks who are so generous in providing support for the university system's sports programs would recognize these commonalities and help the School of the Arts weather the current severe economic crisis and carry out its civilizing mission?
RICHARD H. MILLER
Winston-Salem
The writer has just retired from the position of dean of undergraduate programs and philosophy teacher at UNCSA. — The editor.
LTE1: Many editorial cartoons are less than subtle. I doubt the cartoonist really meant that the SEALs should be employed. No fan of Carter, I, but the failed helicopter at Desert One in Iran was a result of a shortage of money for maintenance and repair, thanks to that money having been spent on fighting in Viet Nam. Had the rescue effort succeeded, Carter would have been hailed as a strong leader and reelected. I agree that our current President is in over his head.
ReplyDeleteLTE2: This LTE appears to be guilty of the demgaguery the writer attributes to President Obama. As for Liar-in-Chief, that individual departed the WH on 01/20/01. Yes, President Obama is liberal, but the legislation he has been signing is far more moderate for his time than legislation that FDR signed. Now, he shows his leftward orientation more clearly elsewhere, as in his reworking the NLRB into union local, and his appointment hard leftists to administration positions. I will be happy to see him replaced after 2012, along with lefty Congresspeople. However, I don't want to see them replaced with ideologues and bozos.
LTE3: It would be heartening if everyone's priorities, not just those of booster club members, were different. Imagine the good that would be done if people took the money they spend on 99-cent bottles of soft drinks or water and gave it to worthy causes. Or folks eschew going to a restaurant with linen table cloths in favor of K & W, and donating the saving. But, bottling company and high-end restaurant employees might fnd things a bit difficult. Nothing is ever simple
Liberal media members consistantly talk about how dumb Sarah Palin is. Yet, they never accuse the president of being a buffoon even though the objective data is there.
ReplyDeleteOnly 42% of Americans approve of the job Obama is doing according to the most recent Gallup Poll. If you subtract 12% of that poll for gay and lesbians voters, you're left with a 30% approval rating by average Americans. That's not too good.
Looks like somebody will be redecorating the White House at the beginning of 2013.
Good AM, Linds.
ReplyDeleteYou are as predictable as the tides. Why would you separate gay and lesbians from poll stats? And, have you ever heard of the Log Cabin Republicans?
As for liberal commentators denigrating Palin, well, doggone it, she tends to draw attention to herself, kinda like Paul Revere riding through the 57 states, you betcha! Ever listen to Mike Savage: I haven't in quite a while, but you can bet he Savages President Obama. OTOH, he's an equal opportunity savager: he had numerous harsh things to say re GWB.
30%? that's still higher than Congressional Republicans according to Gallup. Thanks, Bucky, I feel honored to be part of the 10-12% of American voters that are above average.
ReplyDeleteAlso according to Gallup, the approval ratings of Leader's overall job performance between February of 2009 thru July 2011, shows the Presidents's approval rating has been 10% or higher over Republican approval rating the entire time, while Democratic approval rating has been steadily sandwiched between the two, but always higher than Republican approval ratings.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gallup.com/poll/148568/Amid-Debt-Clash-Approval-Parties-Congress-Low-Steady.aspx
Good AM, Bob!
ReplyDeleteA recent poll also shows President Obama running ahead of all Republican contenders except Romney (and Romney's lead is essentially statistically insignificant). He trails Generic Republican, but Generic Republican can't run. I want President Obama and his union coterie out of the WH, but I am not optimistic at this point. I don't like the poll numbers, but facts is facts.
Mr. Sides' letter is a good example of how the right has been whipped into an irrational, foaming-at-the-mouth hatred of Obama. If anything, Obama's an Eisenhower Republican...but whatever.
ReplyDeleteThey hated the Clintons' guts too. It'll be the same for the next Democrat in the White House. They'll never accept people like us. Ever.
Good AM, Arthur!
ReplyDeleteI have a very difficult time with much of President Obama's experience,agenda, and appointments. However, I do not dislike him. I plead guilty re the Clintons, both of whom I despise.
Harry Cooke...a pretty good roundup of things on your part. I look at the cartoon you mentioned as well as our gaffing VPs comments the other day as opportunities to gain insight. I learned long ago not to get outraged at this but to use these moments as a way to allow your enemy to expose himself to everybody and to gain clues in how to manage him, manipulate him and ultimately defeat him in a way that makes him think he won by venting himself right into defeat.
ReplyDeleteObama is engaged in systematic buffoonery. Yet, because of political correctness (you can't criticize a black man without fear of being called a racist), the liberal media does not state the obvious. That is the country is in a downward economic spiral because of Obama's flawed economic policies.
ReplyDeleteGay and lesbian issues are front and center recently in our society. I'm merely factoring in relevant facts, figures, and political correct positions for this forum's readers and for them to ponder.
William Sides...Washington is a circus by design. It has grown larger over time and therefore more dangerous. Some say America is becoming ungovernable. I say that has been so for decades. We are being ruled by a governing class comprised of members of both parties, media of all types that cover for one another, approved intellects and major money from big biz that depends on big government. This group depends on maintaining the status quo after any debate or election. Career pols help this effort. Not all Dems are leftists and not all Reps are TEA Party conservatives. Plain old Democrats are still there but stay quiet. Mushy moderate Reps are still there and sweat like Mike Tyson at a spelling bee if a TEA Party type looks at them hard. We are at decision time: either we revive the American dream or plunge into the Liberal utopia. Our future is on display in Europe now.
ReplyDeleteLTE #1... fulmination, and oh yea, let's blame the younger generation for getting involved in their future, they should leave it to the old men who know everything and got us to where we are today.
ReplyDeleteLTE #2...a Philippic on bitter pills.
Buff...is that you under that hat?
ReplyDeleteIt's going to get interesting in the armed services because of the change in the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy.
ReplyDeleteRecently, two gay sailors, after participating in a gay pride march in San Diego, got into a fight because they were still in their 'go gos'. What the heck is a 'go go'? I thought they were suppose to wear the Navy's standard uniform?
That would be me, WW. :)
ReplyDeleteBob...a dashing silhouette. I need a hat!
ReplyDeleteWestern press largely overlooks heroism of lesbian couple in Norway massacre
ReplyDeleteThe couple took off in their boat for the island, picking up shocked victims from the water and transporting them to the mainland. They made four runs in all, helping rescue some 40 of Breivik's victims, the paper reported
lol, thanks, WW, I got mine at "The Walmart" in Taylorsville.
ReplyDeleteLinds, once again, I miss your point. How many straight sailors get drunk and get into fights?
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: Like columnists, political cartoonists are paid to illicit a response, either pro or con. Cartoons by their nature are over the top. In this case, it looks like the cartoonist hit a bulls eye with Mr. Cooke resulting in this equally over the top response.
LTE 2: The problems in DC boil down to TB's on each side who see themselves as the only way to the nation's salvation and elect similar TB's to office. This LTE is a prototypical TB rant that sees anyone who deviates one iota from the cause as the enemy. That's NOT how to run a country of 300+ million.
LTE 3: It would be awesome if some of the successful UNCSA alumni were to donate to the film school. It should be noted that athletics at the Division 1 level are a multi-billion dollar industry with ticket sales, club memberships, television revenues and sponsorships with companies such as Nike unlike an art school's film program which depends heavily on govt financing.
Bucky...The NAPT sounds like a great organization. I never did (nor will) see Machete but Apache 8 sounds good.
ReplyDeleteBob: NAPT? National Association for Proton Therapy?
ReplyDeleteNative American Public Telecommunications.
ReplyDeleteWell, well. I looked at the "Readers Forum" and some simpleton has placed me on the left side of the spectrum because of my reference to "overkill." Bob and Arthur, you better set the guy straight before I give you liberals a bad name :)
ReplyDeleteRe NAPT, "Apache 8" and "Machete": those references confused me, be I may easily befuddled today because of the identity crisis conferred upon me by the above-mentioned simpleton.
ReplyDelete"BUT I may be easily befuddled . . . " Obviously.
ReplyDeleteah, yes, it would, during one of his rants, LindseyGraham bet me I would be running to see MAchete when it came out because of my radical left wing support of revolution and illegals, blah, blah, blah, and I took him up on his bet. :) to much violence
ReplyDeleteHaving spent a few years in the USN, I can tell you that it is part of a sailor's job to get drunk on liberty and get into fights, particularly if there are US Marines around. If no Marines, fellow sailors will have to do.
ReplyDeleteA note for my beloved brother Bucky Beaver: what you see in the movies and on tv is not the real Navy. Most sailors stationed in San Diego have 8-5 jobs during which time they wear the uniform of the day. Every 4-6 days they also have to stand military watches, during which time they also wear the UOD. Once they are off work, they are free to wear civilian clothes and most do. Most do not live on the base, so spend the better part of their lives wearing civvies.
JohnG liked to argue that being in the military was the same as being a slave. I spent about a year in San Diego and had a great time...outside of classroom time. We lived at the beach, learned to surf, got drunk and chased those California girls...even caught a few and threw them in our hot tub, an item no one in NC had ever seen in those days. What more could a 19 year old boy want?
"too"
ReplyDeleteHello, O.T.!
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Duty in San Diego sounds like 19-year-old's heaven, sure enough.
Re real sailormen and their free time. As I understand it, occasionally one would regain consciousness after a night of boozing, and find that he was adorned with body art depicting some phantasm or the other, and which he didn't remember commissioning.
Actually there were over 200 active duty and war veterans representing every branch of the military at the San Diego Gay Pride Parade. I had not heard about any fights, but I did see a picture of two sailors kissing.
ReplyDeleteBob, re movie violence. There was a time when a movie had to have a high body count to draw my attention. Sometime after seeing films like "Saving Private Ryan," "We Were Soldiers," and "Black Hawk Down," I began to avoid such entertainment (mind you, all three of those are excellent movies). I'm fine with fantasy violence as in "Lord of the Rings," or "Harry Potter." I guess I'm going wimpy in my advancing age.
ReplyDeleteCompared to some of the regulars Stab, you're Trotsky.
ReplyDeleteRe: the debt deal, I'm not too troubled about the substance. What bothers me is the GOP basically extorted the American economy to accomplish what they couldn't accomplish through the regular political process.
What's to stop them from doing it again, or from the Democrats doing something similar when the roles will be reversed? You can't give in to hostage takers and bullies...it just encourages them.
Off soapbox.
Stab, re tats, one of my housemates was a wild man from San Antonio. The first time we hit the bars together he told us that when he was a few sheets in the wind, he sometimes decided that he wanted a tattoo. But, he assured us, he really did NOT want a tattoo, so asked that we help him out in that area.
ReplyDeleteThings went smoothly for a few weeks, then one night downtown we noticed that he had been in the head an awfully long time. When we looked, he wasn't there. So we split up and went racing up and down the streets looking for a tattoo parlor. Found it, just in the nick. The tatto guy had the needle in his hand. As we dragged our boy away (insistiing, BTW, that he really DID want a tattoo), the tat guy was calling the shore patrol and cursing us for taking his customer away.
The only thing worse than waking up to discover an uncommissioned tattoo in general is if the tat spells out the name of some bar skag who has just left the scene with the rest of the sailor's sea pay. Happens all the time.
Agree w/Arthur. Extortion, plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteAnd stupid. We'll be right back at it next year. Should have done the longer term deal, no matter how painful. No guts, no glory.
The last big deal the Democrats did (health care) ...ended up being a train wreck. The American public and some states are demanding a do over. Our country will be suffering from that abomination for years if it's not repealed.
ReplyDeleteIf we can get Obama out of office without anymore damage to our great country, we'll be lucky.
What's on the illicit drug menu for tonight, Kit?
ReplyDeleteLinds, I don't believe Kit has joined this blog, but is certainly welcome.
ReplyDeleteO.T., I'm sure that bar skags have wrecked havoc upon many a lusty and boozy sailor home from the sea. Your comment reminded me of the scene from the movie "Battle Cry," where the bar girl lured heartbroken Ski up to a seedy hotel room where he could be rolled.
ReplyDeleteHis Marine buddies smelled a rat, started a fight in the bar below to distract attention, and then ran upstairs to stop the crime and pull their friend out of trouble. Of course, down below, Spanish Joe noticed the bartenders were also distracted, so he swiped the cash register and ran out with it. Great movie-making.
That was indeed a great movie scene. The screenplay was written by Marine veteran Leon Uris, based on his novel of the same name. One of the first "war books" I ever read, along with Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead".
ReplyDeleteApparently, sailors and soldiers are considered easy marks throughout the world. I noticed that wherever there is a Navy "liberty pier" there is a collection of "businesses" with their owners out on the sidewalk making their pitch.
A grizzled old chief petty officer provided us with a lot of guidance in boot camp. One day he told us "When a sailor starts a story with 'This is no sh*t' you can be sure that it is just that."
And as we were preparing for our first recruit liberty, he warned us about all the clip joints along lower Broadway in San Diego: "When the guy says 'Hey, sailor, have I got a deal for you!' just keep on walking. Go to the beach and have a glass of carrot juice and watch the pretty girls."
I first read "Battle Cry" when I was in elementary school. One of my best friends joined the Marines because of the book and movie, even became a radioman, like the squad in the book.
ReplyDeleteAnother friend joined before going to college and law school. He told me of his church (Friedburg Moravian) sending him cookies at Christmas when he was in boot camp. His DI had told the recruits that they were not to receive anything from home at Xmas. My friend was summoned into the DI's office, where he watched the DI crush the box and throw it in a wastebasket.
That night, my friend was assigned guard duty over the very Dempster Dumpster in which that box had been thrown. He told me that he had gotten so lonely for anything from home that he crawled into the dumpster, found the crumpled box, sat in the trash can, and ate the cookie crumbs. A true enlisted man. Improvise, adapt, overcome.
Stab...are you sure?
ReplyDelete