Correspondence
Correspondence LABOUR FOR THE PEOPLE MICHAEL BARONE'S interpretation of the British election ("As the World Votes," July 23) is a case of the wish being father to the analysis. As a Blair campaign...
...The outcome of the June election in Britain was not a victory for any form of Thatcherism, but a repudiation of its disdain for social justice and public investment...
...Nations that pursue democracy for democracy's sake do so at their peril...
...Maybe it will take a second one-term Bush presidency to prove that the era of Reaganism is over in the United states just as surely as the era of Thatch-erism is over in Britain...
...Adler once told me that he made a conscious decision to write for the public, not for academic philosophers...
...It is about people like my wife...
...There is significantly less proof that adult stem cells offer the same amount of hope...
...He ignores the fact that Blair's central argument in the campaign was that "the era of Thatcherism is over, that no party should ever again attempt to lead this country by proposing cuts in Britain's schools, hospitals, and public services...
...with the goal of seducing the president, succeeded, and earned considerable fame and fortune for her efforts...
...As a Blair campaign adviser, I can testify that the one thing it did not do was to tell us, as Barone concludes, that "we are still living in the world of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan...
...The same debate is now underway in the United states...
...Contrary to Barone's assertion, the Conservatives' explicit proposals for cutting the size of the state were hooted off the stage and proved to be politically fatal...
...turnout fell especially in safe Labour seats...
...First, the great majority of scientists, not politicians or liberal groups, conclude that, at this point, embryonic stem cells show the most promise for curing various tragic diseases which afflict a great number of people...
...shorn of his preelection cloth of "compassionate conservatism," George W. Bush is losing the argument on issues ranging from the patients' bill of rights to the budget, the environment, and campaign finance reform...
...John Stark Bellamy II Cleveland, OH THE WEEKLY STANDARD chose to devote many pages to Mortimer Adler, but Joseph Epstein focused on his personality quirks and foibles...
...THOMAS J. SLAKEY Former dean, St.John's College, Annapolis Sacramento, CA THE MAJORITY RULES I FOUND IT INTERESTING that Leon Aron credits the rise of the poor democracies ("Poor Democracies," July 16) to the universal appeal of freedom and self-government...
...During the question period afterwards, he responded to thoughtful queries with statements such as, "That is probably the stupidest question I have ever heard" and "Please don't waste my time with such twaddle— I have a plane to catch in an hour...
...Second, despite Barnes's assertion that embryonic stem cells can be implanted or "adopted," the fact remains that the process of in vitro fertilization results in a supply of embryos which exceeds the demand of those willing to adopt such embryos...
...Stem cell research offers hope for a cure and hope that she can have a normal life...
...Evidence shows that she went to D.C...
...He paid almost no attention to, except to ridicule, any of Adler's ideas...
...Barone also points out without assigning any meaning to it that voter turnout fell...
...KERRY TATLOW Rockford, IL ONCE AGAIN NOEMIE EMERY slams home a profound truth: Mothers (and aunts) are responsible for the barely-grown young women in their families...
...Is it not possible that Emery has judged incorrectly...
...Though writers for The Weekly Standard—and even some feminists—find this repugnant, aren't these women merely exercising their rights in the free market...
...Tony Blair called for an explicit repudiation of Thatcher's claim that "there is no such thing as society...
...Press opinion concluded that every time Thatcher ventured out to campaign for the Conservatives, she hurt them...
...A sad case of great gifts squandered, and Epstein is to be congratulated for recalling Adler with rigor and vigor...
...ROBERT SHRUM Senior Adviser to Gore 2000 and to the 2001 Labour Party Campaign Washington, DC CONDUCT UNBECOMING...
...She is 33 years old and has suffered from juvenile diabetes since the age of three...
...There is no reason to believe that this is the case...
...The last week of the campaign, the choice became clear: Tory tax cuts or Labour's resolve to "put schools and hospitals first," an appeal for public investment and an activist, reforming state...
...It is in this context that his own books and his work on the Great Books of the Western World and Encyclopaedia Britannica have to be understood...
...As a result, she faces the very real threat of blindness in the next 10 years...
...Finally, the tone of Barnes's article dismisses the real life stories behind this issue...
...Labour had 419 of the 659 seats in the Commons before the election and holds 413 seats now, while the Tories went from 165 to 166 seats...
...The job of mother and aunt is to say loudly and unapologetical-ly, "This is a stupid decision...
...Doctors tell her she should not have a child naturally...
...Bush's decision is not about politics or process or showing that he does not compromise...
...Adler's lifelong efforts to improve American education at all levels and through reading and discussion programs in libraries, deserve a more serious hearing...
...Barone mentions that few seats in the House of Commons changed hands...
...On Election Day, Labour claimed persuasively to be the party of economic competence, not just on the basis of its record, but because of its explicit rejection of the Bush-Hague call for major tax cuts...
...JUDY BEUMLER Louisville, KY THE GREAT BULLY KUDOS TO THE WEEKLY STANDARD for printing Joseph Epstein's insightful and amusing profile of the late Mortimer Adler ("The Great Bookie," July 23...
...The freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, etc., which Aron cites as attributes of democracy are in fact attributes of a republic...
...Why do pro-life groups claim that scientific use of these excess embryos is immoral when the process of in vitro fertilization results in embryos being thrown away...
...Barone conveniently cites, but does not quote, and then overstates, the subordinate clause of the Blair formulation— "that some of what Margaret Thatcher did in the 1980s was necessary...
...TOM WASHBURNE Lovettsville, VA STEM NOT THE RESEARCH I TAKE ISSUE WITH several of Fred Barnes's points on stem cell research ("Bush's Stem Cell Indecision," July 16...
...Labour not only won a second full term for the first time in its history, but a margin in Parliament of unprecedented size for any second term government in modern British history...
...A child is still a child as long as she makes stupid mistakes...
...These young women were betrayed by their mothers, aunts, and government leaders, but most of all by their mothers...
...NOEMIE EMERY ("Where Were the Adults...
...She also faces possible heart disease and limb amputation...
...I recall a sterling specimen of his brutish ideological approach, which he exhibited during a lecture called "The Difference In Man— And The Difference It Makes" at St...
...The turnout decline was in part due to the widespread public belief that the election result was a foregone conclusion...
...It is about real people who suffer from tragic diseases...
...EDWARD G. KORAN Phoenix, AZ...
...she hardly seems regretful...
...History shows, however, that some young women seek out older, powerful men and use all their assets, including beauty and shamelessness, to try to get ahead in life...
...Under Labour's plan, the government would employ and pay for some private personnel and managers, but patients would still pay nothing...
...Free speech in a democracy is only free to the extent that the majority allows it...
...A gain of one seat hardly makes for a Thatcherite revolution, or even a muted reaffirmation...
...Although I'm on the cusp of 70, I still have all my hair, most—well, some—of my teeth, and I do wear glasses...
...And she has recently recovered "The Dress," whose auction value has been estimated at six to seven figures...
...A Lewinsky handbag would be worth nothing if not for the scandal...
...Herein was the genius of the American republic: Our Founders wisely coupled the democratic election of representatives with a set of principles they credited to God...
...Putting aside philosophical questions as to when life begins and what constitutes life, on a purely utilitarian level, excess embryos that will be discarded should be used to promote life for other living human beings...
...John's College in 1968...
...JOHN J. SIMONETTI Evanston, IL SUMMER TEETH DAVID BROOKS'S off-the-wall take on growing old ("Casual," July 16) had me laughing so hard that all I could do was make funny sounds and keep pointing to the page, causing my wife to think I was having a stroke...
...I did learn one thing, though: Never read anything by Brooks while drinking hot coffee...
...This central Labour message was reinforced by the most arresting advertisement of the campaign, a poster showing Conservative leader William Hague wearing a Thatcher wig and earrings...
...Monica Lewinsky and Chandra Levy made poor decisions to have sex with older, powerful, married men...
...In the final days, the Tories were pathetically reduced to pleading for people to cast a protest vote, or hinting that they shouldn't vote at all...
...But Barone's most blatant distortion is when he says, correctly, that Labour "would supplement the National Health service with private medical services," but inaccurately implies that this represents an abandonment of the commitment to free health care for all...
...During the actual lecture Adler transformed himself from a reasoned philosopher into a shrieking mountebank, ending up 50 feet downstage from the lectern, shouting at the top of his considerable lungs...
...July 23) judges Monica Lewinsky's behavior as foolish and complains that Lewinsky's confidants did not judge her the same way...
...It is interesting that those who oppose stem cell research are not publicly advocating that in vitro fertilization be stopped...
...To Emery, the behavior of Lewinsky seems naive...
...We find these principles in the Declaration of Independence and their expression in our Constitution and the Bill of Rights, not in the temporary will of the majority...
...It's arguable that Lewinsky has attained greater material success as a result of her scandalous presidential affair than she ever would have achieved otherwise...
...Epstein correctly focuses on the rude, pseudo-intellectual bullying with which Adler tried to mask his often encyclopedic ignorance of the world...
...The will of the majority as expressed in a democracy can be just as tyrannical as the will of a petty dictator...
...Thus, unless the process of in vitro fertilization is stopped, embryos will be discarded...
...Brooks's goofy spoofin' really resonated with me...
...It sure smarts when you laugh and coffee comes out your nose...
...This fight is not about abortion rights...
Vol. 6 • August 2001 • No. 44
