Correspondence
C 0 R R E S P 0 N D E N C E Oakes and the Gaff Your reviewer, Mr. Joseph Shattan, writes about me (Who's On First, by William F. Buckley, J r . ; June, 1980), "The Yale-educated Mr. Oakes is...
...It would be exhilarating, don't you agree, to see open solicitations, from "California to the New York Islands," for Cuban freedom bonds, on the praiseworthy model of Israel bonds...
...Hoffer's intellect...
...career opportuni~ CIRCULATION MANAGER The American Spectator has a challenging career position open for an intelligent, well-rounded person to work on the business end of magazine publishing...
...If only the Queen of England would drop me a line as we[[, my satisfaction would be complete...
...These are in defiance of Islam and derive their powers from the industrial and "energetic" countries, not from the people they rule...
...You want to blow all that earnest toil on the side of the angels in one wad...
...but I am mystified at how this datum was derived from anything Mr...
...And the intent of all this would be to light a still, small flame, like an acetylene torch, under Castro's hitherto sacrosanct rear-end, so that he would, for a change, have to worry about his domestic security before he dared dispatch his verminous macoutes overseas...
...The abuses by government which launch the idiocies of the reform movement come about when deliberations are secret...
...Subscribe to The Bulletin toda, l. 1020-24 E. 58th Street ~ C h i c a g o , II...
...For several years now, I have been laboring under a heavy cloud of self-doubt...
...Miller says he agrees with Publius' fear of patriotism proclaimed by "men of little faith" in representative government...
...Once the very few yes votes are subtracted from an individual's negative count, the candidate with the fewest no votes would be declared the winner...
...Buckley pointed out, is at the level of savez-vous-planter-les-choux...
...None of the so-called Moslem countries goes much beyond the name...
...Instead of individuals opposing each other, candidates would be subjected to Yes-No referenda...
...Well, then, let's concoct SAVE YOUR GAS...
...I am not now nor have I ever been a Common Cause apparatchik...
...And you don't want to impose still extra taxes...
...The Arabs should, of course, readily recognize the game, having taught us how to play it...
...What then would Dr...
...The environment, energy, development strategies, international relations, the role of science and the scientist in society--all come under careful analysis and lively debate...
...Within 60 years, the Moslems extended their rule from the Atlantic in the west to China in the east...
...This is an excellent opportunity for growth and advancement in an interesting work environment...
...It is preferable...
...That being the case, it would seem only prudent to calculate that the Soviets would not allow themselves to be bee-stung into the intensive care unit but would instead take steps to discourage our harassment--in the Persian Gulf, for example, or even Europe...
...It keeps a close Watch on nuclear energy and all its facets: the bombs and the reactors, the diplomacy and the strategy, the controls and the hazards, the threats and the potential...
...Certainly not more taxes and more government control...
...Aside from authors anxious for praise, is there a single soul out there who cares a fig for my opinions...
...Buckley, a careful writer though given, I think, occasionally, to euphuism, .]oxeph Shattan replies: Although everyone in the Free World is in Mr...
...To be sure, I have a great admiration for Catholics, some of whom are among my closest friends...
...I am afraid he has been swept up by the pernicious wave denigrating Islam and Moslems which has been g e n e r a t e d by the illegal embassy takeover in Iran...
...The reviewer for the New York Times, Newgate Callendar, pronounced me a "devout C a t h o l i c , " which c e r t a i n l y qualifies him as a sleuth inasmuch as my mother is Episcopalian, my father Presbyterian, and I am somewhere in between...
...The first step sh,,uld be the open, and I mean flagrant, supplying of the Afghan freedom fighters with massive supplies of weapons, most certainly including generous amounts of anti-tank and anti-helicopter missiles...
...Shattan advises us that he read Mr...
...No, you don't want to restore the draft...
...On the contrary, he was trained as a nuclear physicist, he gained renown as a fighter-Pilot during World War If, and he reads the geopolitical works of James Burnham for relaxation...
...Shattan's assumption that, had my health stood up, Fd have shortened the war...
...Barefooted Feats With regard to Eric H o f f e r ' s "Islam and Modernization" (June, 1980): To blame Islam for the ills of 800 million Moslems living in more than 50 countries on three continents under all kinds of governments is absurd and unworthy of Mr...
...We are looking for a person with a good sense of humor and a desire to learn the business end of publishing...
...James Barghouti Hobbs, New Mexico Secrets Sharer I have accepted your invitation to subscribe to The American Spectator "and develop a relationship with the appalling...
...But The Bulletin does not concern itself only with matters nuclear...
...Blackford Oakes' debt, I have particular reason to be grateful to him...
...Two...
...Hoffer would blame their conditions on Catholicism or Buddhism...
...he purpose of this would be, of course, to cause the Soviets to hemorrbage, one hopes uncontrollably, in the pursuit of this little vanity of theirs...
...Whether they did it themselves or got someone else to do it for them as Mr...
...The responsibility of the ills in Islamic lands falls on the shoulders of their governments...
...The purpose of this would be, obviously, to drain the juice out of both the Soviets and their marionettes, the Cubans, in the parts of the world where they suffer the logistic disadvantage...
...Buckley penetrated my p e n e t r a t i o n , but he never suggested that I am related to the Queen, though perhaps he knows something about me I don't know, not surprising since he is a very clever fellow...
...The Bulletin can help provide you with that knowledge...
...It is more nearly true that they are to be read as realistic substitutes for horror stories...
...And the fourth step--and this would also, as a side effect, redress a lingering annoyance of ours in the Middle East--would be to assure the Saudis that they could securely rely on having every bit of military assistance they needed from us, although there would be a modest consideration attached: a tidy $100,000, for each soldier, a bit more if they bring along their military toys as well...
...Havender overlooks one large, unpleasant fact that renders impracticable his ambitious plan for harassing the Soviets...
...Stephen Miller's attack on open government (April, 1980) was appalling...
...The Moslems--mostly Arabs at the beg i n n i n g - - d e f e a t e d the two superpowers of their days, the Romans and the Persians...
...Oakes is no mere fop...
...It is not the form of government which we fear so much as the men and women serving in it...
...The third step would be to abrogate, forthwith, the "understanding" by which we police the Cuban exiles on our shores and keep them from raising funds, an army, and some hell in their homeland by means of liberating raids...
...For example, Islam calls for free speech...
...Isn't it more logical to attribute the sorry s t a t e of the Moslems to their lack of adherence to Islam...
...This was not a small feat for a bunch of barefooted Arabs...
...It is that we are at present grossly inferior to them by almost any measure of military strength...
...This authoritative magazine provides a thorough knowledge o f the events which shape our world and seeks solutions to the challenges facing us...
...It is true that I fought in the war and knocked down two Nazi planes, but I took sick, and d i d n ' t t h e r e f o r e have the opportunity to gain renown, though I appreciate Mr...
...Only open meetings would have prevented the situation from going that far if, suppose, more people believed there _9 to be no need for the building...
...It is one thing for a government body to hold public hearings on a proposal, suppose, to choose a particular tract of land to construct a public building...
...What the bejeezus have you guys been writing about for the last decade anyway...
...When Islam was truly followed, peace and civilization prevailed...
...I made a considerable e f f o r t in the spring and summer of 1952 to achieve a limited fluency in German_9 But my French, as Mr...
...I n Take advantage of this special offer...
...The greatestJ ihad one can wage is to say the truth before a cruel and an unjust ruler"--Muhammad...
...Does your Special Editorial (March, 1980), ever stink...
...Perhaps we should elect them with the negative ballot reform...
...Shattan shouldn't feel too bad, however...
...moved the hands of its "doomsday clock" ahead two minutes in January 1980...
...He has reaffirmed my faith in the life of the mind, and I thank him for it...
...Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Running Dogs Running Guns Nerts...
...Elsewhere, Mr...
...Indeed, so intense was my preoccupation with this matter that I finally hit upon what seemed to me an ingenious test...
...The position involves managing the circulation and some business matters for The Spectator...
...Islam has no room for kings or dynasties...
...Hoffer claims, they could not have been too sluggish...
...Perhaps, Mr...
...Latin America, India, China, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, and Ireland are not Islamic...
...It is true that I have read the works of James Burnham, hardly true that I read them "for relaxation...
...Buckley's book about me in a single sitting...
...Box 1969 Bloomington, Indiana 47402 44 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR AUGUST 1980...
...Secret government merely creates public discussion of implementation rather than policies...
...60637 2 1 Karl 0 'Lessker replies: In his zeal to avoid any possible inconvc:nience to self or ideology, Dr...
...I am mystified at the news that I am related to the Queen of England...
...Victor F. Berardelli, Jr...
...Miller reads like a believer in the parliamentary system with strict partisan voting...
...THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR AUGUST 1980 43 them, just like the Soviets cobbled together Karmal out of nothing...
...Yet they are among the poorest and least industrialized nations...
...William Buckley (and I half-expected a querulous missive from that puckish polysyllabist) but I wondered whether anyone besides the book's author would find me out...
...Three...
...Could that have been the trouble...
...H o f f e r ' s appraisal of Islam and its "Messenger of P l o d . " One...
...That way we would not have to increase our taxes, we would not need a draft (since we could afford to pay our boys a nice salary), and we might even make a profit, too...
...An intelligent rather than stupid response to this latest Soviet swaggering would take a bead on their vulnerabilities, which ~re considerable...
...It is precisely because of our indisputable military inferiority that the Russians have been able to risk extending themselves all over the globe, and no number of tricky sideshows is going to impel them to retreat, until the military balance is redressed...
...Send your resumd or write for an application: Personnel Department The American Spectator P.O...
...Kings when they enter a country, despoil it and make the noblest of its people its meanest"-The Holy Qura'n: xxvii-34...
...Knowledge of our world as it exists is a key to building a world as it Should be...
...A number of egregious misstatements were deliberately inserted in my last review...
...Fluent in many tongues and related to--among other l u m i n a r i e s - - t h e Queen of England, the young Oakes is at once effortlessly cosmopolitan and deeply patriotic...
...Havender have us do (on the cheap, of course, and without violating the human rights of draftage Americans...
...The congressional representative system, although far from p e r f e c t , allows balance of parochial and local considerations to national issues...
...The Bulletin examines the implications o f the rapid advance of science and technology with a view toward world peace and human survival...
...It is correct that Mr...
...They must be kept accountable during their term in office...
...And, then, unhappily, I am not a polyglot...
...The second step should be more of the same, namely, running guns to: a) the Eritrean Liberation Front, b) the Somalis of the Ogaden, c) Jonas Savimbi in Angola, and d) the South Yemeni Warriors for God, Mosque, and Country (oh, you haven't heard of them...
...When will it move again and in which direction...
...BEAT INFLATION...
...You see, I took my degree at Yale in mechanical engineering, not nuclear physics...
...Does anyone, l often asked myself, actually read my reviews...
...Roam the world 1st class by freighter or cruise ship at savings of at least 50...
...Blackford Oakes' letter is therefore most welcome...
...I knew, of course, that these e r r o r s would catch the watchful eye of Mr...
...I mean, phewwwie-e-e, also spelt phooey, as _9 in pfui...
...The following facts r e f u t e Mr...
Vol. 13 • August 1980 • No. 8
