Correspondence
CORRESPONDENCE George's Big Buy I hate to be the devil's advocate for Mr. Stephanopoulos, but did Mr. Labash take into account depreciation in regards to George's building deal ("Buy George," by...
...Things are better, in fact, than they were at 9:30 this morning"—thanks to P.J...
...The liberals I often confronted in the business school lounge would argue constantly with me over how much better society would be if businesses were forced to "do what is right...
...2. Attach the mailing label from your most recent issue...
...Desmond Estees Chicago, Illinois Ben Stein comes late to the awareness that the difference in life between those who have human capital—education, money, connections—and those who don't "is like the difference between being buried alive and being alive above ground" ("Unmaskings, TAS, October 1994...
...O'Rourke and his eminently sane, quirky lambasting of the sourpusses who bemoan the state of our culture, our nation, and the world...
...As a consequence, many Californians are going to do as I am doing, hold my nose and vote for Mr...
...This was the perfect ending to a great piece of journalism...
...Shreveport, Louisiana It's Arthur Miller Time I would like to add to Joe Queenan's analysis of Snapshots From Hell: The Making of an MBA, by Peter Robinson...
...Yet, during this summer of Whitewater, Haiti, Cuba, health care, and crime bills, the whole subject seems to have dropped off the radar screen...
...Unless one is a leftist, it is impossible to be "with and against...
...To wit, his writing in the January '94 issue of Automobile magazine, where, after having the opportunity to road test an automobile that cost nearly as much as a Rush Limbaugh lunch, the $349,000 Bugatti EB110, a car capable of nearly four times the speed limit, (213 mph), O'Rourke found fault with the fact that his now corpulent body did not easily slide into and out of this fine automobile, he didn't like the window, since it (continued on page 84) 10 The American Spectator December 1994 CORRESPONDENCE (continued from page 10) was difficult to flick his cigar ash out, and, oh my God, I don't know how he suffered through it, the car lacked sufficient air conditioning to cool his mass...
...So far, the only opportunity the MBA 'has provided me was getting me assigned to the most work intensive department at my current company following completion of the training program...
...The SS 100 is a Jaguar, a classic rendition of English sports car design of the late-twenties, early-thirties school...
...Articles like "Fashionable Worries" are why I subscribe to The American Spectator...
...Michael T. Nevins Oak Park, Illinois In and Out of Fashion P. J. O'Rourke's "Fashionable Worries" (TAS, October 1994) reveals to an unsuspecting American public the startling discovery that times are actually pretty good...
...The consuls were the supreme magistrates of the Republic from its beginning in 510 B.C., when the Etruscan kings were driven from Rome...
...Otherwise please continue the important work...
...Note Clark's reference to the "long louvered bonnet" and "the racing diamond tread of its 18-inch wheels...
...Samuel Reifler Clinton Corners, New York...
...As for the usefulness of my MBA, I can say that this credential will eventually lead to more opportunity than would simply obtaining an undergraduate business degree...
...Your council would be greatly appreciated...
...Heart-warming may not be popular among The Elite, bat a lot of us regular folks (apparently millions) need a dose once in a while...
...Jeffrey A. Hartwick Los Angeles, California Tom Bethell's "Bearish on California" could have noted that Oliver North's campaign for the Senate from Virginia is another example of "the old cliché that national trends begin in California...
...But there are even more spectacular examples of politically inspired cartographic creativity...
...State: Zip...
...Boom, Squeal, Boom, Squeal, Yip Yip Yip, P. J.," the article in Automobile was aptly titled...
...What nation today has so serious a shortage of genuine problems that its citizens can sit back and whine about the difficulty they are having defining themselves as individuals in a post-modern, nonpatriarchal manner...
...Justice Thomas's opinion makes several salient points, beginning with what should be an obvious one about what the Voting Rights Act actually says and including the observation that the assumption that members of a minority have a common political outlook, merely because they are members of that group, is itself racist...
...Although I am gaining additional knowledge compared to my non-MBA counterparts in other parts of the company, I am also working longer hours and putting up with less-pleasant working conditions for the same salary and benefits...
...But I am sure that we can all agree that the principle that majority views should hold a majority in our legislatures is truly fundamental to the republic...
...By the way, there certainly has been a lot of whining from the likes of Buchanan, Noith, Robertson, Falwell, Limbaugh, Liddy, Brock, Bennett, Cheney, Schlafly, Tyrrell, Pleszczynski et al...
...I agree with Robinson that much of the MBA curriculum is irrelevant because it is often taught by out-of-touch individuals who have never had a job outside of academia...
...Alfred Lindeman U.S...
...Thanks to P.J...
...If George lives in the residential portion, he may shelter almost $42,000 of his government salary...
...Fashionable Worries" came along just as I was in the process of re-reading one of my old time favorite authors, Philip Wylie...
...Zak Arthur Klemmer Tucson, Arizona Could money from the Crime Bill be used to investigate the 300 employees in the White House without security clearance...
...However, I do not believe that it warranted the importance of a cover story and five story pages...
...Once again, he could not be more on the mark In fact, the way we see it, the incessant bleating of today's average American is not so much a cause for despair, but rather, celebration...
...Robinson does state that an MBA is a "yuppie union card...
...Surely, one of these bodies does not represent the views of the majority of New Yorkers...
...Huffington for senator from California (though without any enthusiasm such as I had in voting for the very wise and principled Bruce Herschensohn two years ago), but I'm sending both my financial and emotional support to Oliver North to really represent me in the Senate on the issues I deem most important: equal protection of the laws for all (not reverse discrimination in behalf of the politically favored), limiting the federal government to itsenumerated powers, opposing federal funding of abortion-on-demand, term limits, etc...
...Morris, Illinois 61054 (Please attach address label here...
...Robert J. Powers Col., USAF (Ret...
...Just be sure to allow six weeks for your change to take effect...
...O'Rourke: Thanks, I needed that...
...We are a nation of laws, and this violation of our sovereignty must end...
...Irwin B. Golden Upland, California I knew the relatively high subscription cost of TAS had been amply refunded to me after reading...
...Box 657, Mt...
...Senate for the very same reasons that Virginians are going to vote for him, namely, because he represents our views more than those from our own states...
...Tracy Bird Tucson, Arizona If P. J. O'Rourke would just tell us what he was smoking when he wrote "Fashionable Worries," maybe we could all stop worrying—but with the Clinton clowns in the White House it will take some pretty strong stuff to get me turned around...
...Many of the wry observations in "Worries" bring to mind those of the sad man in Wylie's Finnley Wren who said, "I am crying because of the feminist movement...
...It was not a growth in consular power that created Caesar, but the abuse of military commands, converting the state's legions into personal armies...
...It wouldn't really be "nuclear war" if private citizens started it, would it...
...Your excerpt from Mr...
...But it stops short of discussing the fundamental issue of the antidemocratic nature of gerrymandering, whatever its goal...
...While Bethell adequately discusses the burdens of illegal immigration, I don't think that many others residing in the "Beltway" appreciate the gravity of the illegal alien situation in California...
...Paul, Minnesota Let's not forget youth and the effect of role models on the young...
...His poems appeal to modern readers because, like us, Juvenal was living at a time when the ordinary citizen not only had been reduced to a political spectator, but had long grown accustomed to his impotence...
...The fact is, he has much more in common with human capital–endowed showbiz leftists than he does with the audience degraded by the industry and its product...
...It is divided into two houses, a Senate and an Assembly, each of which has been traditionally allowed to redraw its own district boundaries every ten years...
...I think it will also take an injection of responsibility, integrity and gratitude...
...Indeed the liberal elite is in dire need of a dose of common sense...
...George Causey Crystal River Ranch, Washington A Class Act Classic I thoroughly enjoyed Christopher Caldwell's review of Mrs...
...Illegals, many of whom are paid below market wages by unscrupulous employers, have taken jobs away from low-income Americans...
...The last one I saw in ordinary day-to-day use was on the RAF base in the Aden Protectorate in 1953...
...Omar Ramo Venice, California Unlike Hillary Rodham, Benjamin Stein knows what a conflict of interest is, but he doesn't know much about ancient Rome ("Laughing All the Way," TAS, November 1994...
...E. Fanyo Oklahoma If meat is murder and eggs are rape, cheese must be really disgusting...
...As a computer programmer, I cannot help feeling that our centuries-old tolerance for gerrymandering has been overtaken by technology...
...Nathan Eigerman Boston, Massachusetts Tearing Into Stein Ben Stein's Diary is far and away the most clever and original approach to the socio-political concerns that dominate Hollywood in the 1990s...
...And for about as long as anyone can remember, the Senate has been Republican-controlled and the Assembly Democrat-controlled...
...no one wants to be left out...
...Chris Roberts Sweetwater, Tennessee Animal Farm What was James Herriot doing in "The Continuing Crisis" column (TAS, October 1994...
...I did think that it, was an excellent book and many of the experiences faced by Robinson in his course work would be true of most MBA programs nationwide...
...At the same time, computers have introduced the prospect that we might be able to remove the inherently biased humans from the process of drawing district lines altogether...
...O'Rourke on the subject of some people's fascination with pick-up trucks...
...In his "ironic" stories Herriot is "butted and trampled" by the animals more often than not...
...Thatcher's Minister in TAS for October, but, in the interest of accuracy, please allow me to point out that an SS 100 is nothing so stodgy as a Rolls Royce...
...Yet we allow gerrymandering to subvert this obvious fairness...
...While illegal aliens may not be the cause, they are certainly a major cause of my state's woes...
...It may not even affect too much the question of the loan approval, but definitely affects the affordability question...
...Was there ever a more preposterous misconstruction of biological aspirations...
...Labash take into account depreciation in regards to George's building deal ("Buy George," by Matt Labash...
...As a friend recently observed, senators now really represent their favorite PACs rather than the citizens of their states so it is entirely necessary and proper for people like me to seek our representation in the federal Congress no matter what state the representatives come from...
...The American Spectator Subscriber Service P.O...
...When I first subscribed to the Spectator, it was a witty, intelligent, well-written sheet with opinions with which I could heartily agree or disagree—unlike most mishmash passed off as "commentary...
...And second, since some human must draw the lines, it might as well be done by appropriate elected officials...
...For them, the only advantage of possessing an MBA was that it gave them an edge over marginal undergraduates pursuing lower-level positions...
...Such people had absolutely no idea the misery faced by the "little guys" trying to build a successful business enterprise in the face of unmerciful government mandates...
...While I am a fan of RET, in my opinion Herriot, the "dotty Brit," could write circles around certain Editors-in-Chief...
...Of course, there may be other non-governmental members of the old Soviet states with their fingers on or near the buttons, but what the hey...
...Second, Bethell states that "illegals have jobs that Americans refuse to take...
...O'Rourke has put his stiletto-like finger on one of the truly major issues of our times, i.e., the overwhelming and myopic view that everything really isn't fine, even though the "evil empire," as St...
...1. Please write your new address in the space provided...
...Not only that, but darn few corporations came to campus offering summer internships...
...The answer is American citizens and legal residents...
...into dictatorship...
...I found that the most useful courses were those taught by professors who had returned to school to receive their doctorates following a stint in the "real world...
...Administrative Law Judge Greenbrae, California Gerrymeandering I would like to applaud Terry Eastland's reasoned discussion of the Holder v. Hall decision in your September 1994 issue ("The Bad Brother...
...The North Carolina congressional district that travels 160 miles along Interstate 40, exiting when it reaches a city only long enough to encompass inner-city residents before moving on, is a celebrated example and one that would have been virtually impossible to construct without the aid MOVING...
...of A. anymore...
...This would save him over $12,000 in federal income taxes...
...Renew my subscription for one year (twelve issues—$35) Payment enclosed Q Bill me later Name (Please Pont): Address...
...Yuck...
...Date of change...
...City...
...Barring the freakish possibility of a tie on the third item, there should be only one such map for any state, which a computer should be able to find...
...What I believe we have here is a sleaze factor of biblical proportions...
...I guess O'Rourke can't hear that over the roar of the Bugatti...
...Bush lost...
...Geees, lighten up...
...Michael C. Gilbert Montgomery, Alabama Because of Mr...
...1 TAS Address Changes Made Easy...
...First, that since the process of creating districts of equal population is so arduous, there is a natural constraint on how widely the politicians may search for a map that is advantageous to their party...
...Jim Buscher St...
...First, Bethell states that "illegal immigrants are not in fact the cause of California's problems...
...he has focused the problem so simply that people think it's impossible...
...However, as a graduate of the Texas Tech University MBA program, let me say that not all MBA graduates will be as fortunate as Robinson come graduation time...
...Mark Edens Springfield, Tennessee Clinton Era Conundrums I am having great difficulty in making a decision on whether to make a monetary contribution to either the Clinton legal defense fund or to the defense fund for Carlos the Jackal...
...However, if I can tolerate these lousy conditions for another ten to fifteen years before I burn out or resign, perhaps the degree will finally enable me to surpass those not possessing similar academic credentials...
...That is that the North candidacy shows that many more people from as far away as California are also supporting his race to the U.S...
...Eleanore Speicher Kenmore, New York Clinton Era Cancellation Please cancel my subscription...
...An instant fan, I sought out further O'Rourke musings and was pleased to find them in TAS when my subscription began...
...Incidentally, Stonewall Jackson commanded infantry, not cavalry...
...Many of my classmates in the Class of 1992 were fortunate to receive job offers in the low twenties with small to mid-size regional businesses...
...Get a life, boys and girls...
...Raymond Smith Germantown, Maryland California Vistas While I agree with most of Tom Bethell's October column ("Bearish on California"), I must take issue with two points raised...
...Fashionable Worries...
...That map would contain fair, compact, and—best of all—arbitrary districts, free from the taint of political slant...
...This is not to denigrate the MBA degree or Texas Tech University...
...The most starkly illustrative example that can be cited is that of the New York state legislature...
...Juvenal published his satires in the second century, under the emperors Trajan and Hadrian, not "in the days before Augustus...
...He's alive and well, above ground, circulating with the stars, a blue dwarf amongst red giants...
...This is not the case with the typical MBA student, unless such a student attends a Top 10 business school...
...No, I don't mean Newt Gingrich when he's hauled back into divorce court...
...Property rights, rule of law, responsible government and universal education: that's all we need...
...With the accession of the Clintons to the White House, however, it has become puerile, nasty, and irrelevant...
...Who did all of the work before massive illegal immigration took place...
...I was fortunate to make numerous friendships while in graduate school, as well as learn much about the workings of business enterprises...
...Consulship" was not a stage on the Romans' "long, slow slide...
...Computers have allowed the exploration of new, and increasingly ridiculous, frontiers in gerrymandering...
...Ronald of California termed it, doesn't have any nukes aimed toward the good ol' U.S...
...Stephanopoulos's important role within the Clinton administration, I do consider his real estate transaction an important lapse of ethical standards and the matter should be made public and investigated...
...Things are better than they were only a few years ago...
...Please advise...
...With the advent of cheap and powerful computers, both of these arguments are now obsolescent...
...Daniel Wolleson Winnsboro, Louisiana I have but one thing to say to P.J...
...This perception is the reason why capitalism remains eternally tainted with the residues of the feudal system, and why its morality is counterintuitive, why the story of the "self-made man" seems like a self-justifying, kitsch mythology...
...For example, the map could be the one that (a) has districts with population differences of less than 0.01 percent, (b) does not divide any zip codes (or census tracts, or town lines, or whatever might be appropriate) between districts, and (c) minimizes the total length of all district boundaries in the state...
...Joseph G. Smith Whittier, California Once again the ever perceptive P.J...
...Jonathan D. Fotos Arlington, Virginia During my pre-retirement career in the automobile racing business, I came across a dissertation by P.J...
...IMPORTANT Allow six weeks for address change...
...Dare I venture to say that his work should be must reading for liberals...
...O'Rourke for reviving my Wylie-induced cynicism...
...A few years ago, when New York City was drawing districts for its new City Council, it was actually proposed that one district might run over the Williamsburg Bridge while another crossed under the bridge, along the Brooklyn waterfront...
...That's all there is to it...
...3. Return this form to us at the address listed below...
...TAS, October 1994...
...When a Democrat starts acting like a Republican, we know we're winning...
...A state could decree a basic formula for drawing the map of its congressional districts and use the map that best satisfies it...
...perhaps what he meant to say was that an MBA from a top-flight program is...
...Stein is not buried alive...
...Two hundred years ago, the system of allowing politicians to draw district lines could be defended with two arguments...
...This assertion is simply ludicrous...
...It still is, admittedly, well-written...
...His Diary is always the first department to receive my attention and I wish that it was located closer to the front of the journal (cover page) so I wouldn't have to disfigure the preceding articles while tearing through the pages to reach it...
...Gerrymandering, racial and otherwise, is a topic of vital importance...
...Pat Henry Williamsport, Pennsylvania "Pull your pants up, turn your hat around, and get a job...
...Our own slide has been much faster...
...Has R. Emmett ever read All Creatures Great and Small...
...I'm referring to O'Rourke himself...
...Finally, to those who decry North's great "crime" of lying to Congress, I ask why they should care when they themselves have voted for and continue to support President Clinocchio who lies nearly every time he opens his mouth...
...Robinson writes that entering business school enabled him to get a taste of investment banking during a summer internship and allowed him to receive offers from the likes of Robert Maxwell, Steve Jobs, and Rupert Murdoch...
...It may or may not be a basic premise of our system that minority views in the populace should be represented by appropriate minorities in our legislatures...
...This truism was written in 1934...
...Dwelling in Hollywood as a Republican mole makes Stein feel like a brave martyr...
...But O'Rourke conveniently overlooked one of the biggest whiners in the nation...
...Now they're polished, pampered, seldom driven except at enthusiast meets or for period-piece television films, and sell for dismally expensive prices...
...If Ron Brown can skirt $700,000 and Mike Espy can be wined and dined by Tyson Chicken, why not a loan against an upside down debt-income ratio...
...L The American Spectator December 1994 85 of computers...
...With his talent and extraordinary wit he doesn't really have to worry...
...Robert M. Adams Camden, South Carolina "Things are better now than things have been since men began keeping track of things...
...And even then, it took 400 years for the Roman Republic to degenerate into tyranny...
...a no-nonsense two-seater...
...As a life-long Angeleno, I can tell you that we are being practically overrun by out-of-control illegal immigration...
...The prematurely interred sense this—know it—all their lives, and it is the reason why leftist/Marxist morality and politics, class envy, appears to most people to be intuitively correct, an accurate description of the social world...
...California's recent budgetary problems are due in part to the billions spent every year on educating, incarcerating, and providing social services to illegals...
...since November 1992, now hasn't there...
...Alas, Tommy, your father doesn't know everything...
...Herriot is simply an uncommonly skillful writer of heart-warming apolitical stories based on his life as a country vet...
...RET makes James Herriot out to be some kind of animal rights/tree hugger wacko...
...My calculations follow: $120,000 salary $66,000 rental income –$66,000 expenses –$41,750 depreciation (835,000/10 years/ 2) = $78,150...
...Stephanopoulos cannot be blamed for wanting his piece of action...
...O'Rourke's book was outstanding...
...The massive black market in 84 The American Spectator December 1994 fake documents also enables thousands of illegals to jump on the welfare and food stamp rolls...
Vol. 27 • December 1994 • No. 12
