Correspondence
CORRESPONDENCE Borked I write to dissent from the derisive review by Wall Street Journal theater critic Donald Lyons of Robert H. Bork's book, Slouching Towards Gomorrah, that you published in...
...Several issues ago, you reported an encounter between the president and Mr...
...It was also reported elsewhere...
...What is our polity coming to if leading conservatives behave this way towards the president, especially in the presence of his child...
...Bring your watch, Mr...
...CHRISTOPHER M. SCHNAUBELT Santa Maria, CaliforniaRoad Tested Ross In his review of Citizen Perot: His Life and Times, Tucker Carlson accuses Ross Perot of knowing "next to nothing about how cars are manufactured and sold...
...Four more years...
...They need not be, and often are not, very good at dealing with ideas...
...Judge Bork refers in his book to "intellectuals" as the "chattering class," most of whose members are "not involved with serious mental work," but "spend their time and usually make their livings, by producing or distributing, at wholesale or retail, ideals and symbols...
...NEWTON HALEBLIAN Rifle, Colorado Until the government began taking serious hunks out of the Second Amendment, the NRA was known primarily as a shooting sports organization...
...Well, there you have it...
...Yet in a recent rush to condemn the Clinton administration's operation of FEMA, your reporter James Bovard unfairly impugned Reagan administration appointee Louis Giuffrida ("FEMA Money...
...The article is a basic analysis of American social and political problems, attempted by many authors but rarely executed in so skillful a manner...
...That statement is not only bizarre, but bears not a scintilla of truth...
...In 1992, the board of directors finally reacted to this self-destruction by replacing the chairman and president who had been handpicked by Smith...
...I would have loved to cite chapter and verse as an objection to the official, but instead was relegated to merely walking away...
...There are also state and local agencies with revolving doors, through which bond counsel attorneys are transformed into bond authority members and then, at the end of the administration in question, back into private bond counsel...
...In others, even well-respected bond counsel firms will make substantial voluntary PAC donations to an individual seeking an office that has bonding authority, in the hope that they will be looked upon favorably for bond counsel work following a successful election...
...TAS, November 1996) by his seriously flawed description of the NRA's annual Camp Perry match as "men in camouflage battle fatigues committing unexplained acts of violence under the cover of darkness...
...Tyrrell's behavior with burning flags and draft cards, but of course we expect far more of conservative leaders than of radical hippies...
...PAUL F. MULLIGAN folly@telerama.lm.com The American Spectator • January 1997 13...
...Furthermore, by getting carried away in personal assaults on the president, the very real faults of his policies may get swept aside...
...Because I am familiar with the standards of conduct/ethical regulations for federal employees, I am often surprised at the looseness of state and local codes for other public officials...
...CORRESPONDENCE Borked I write to dissent from the derisive review by Wall Street Journal theater critic Donald Lyons of Robert H. Bork's book, Slouching Towards Gomorrah, that you published in December...
...The Boy in the Bubble I had heard of your publication but never read it...
...Lyons is piqued that Judge Bork dared to tread on Mr...
...Judge Bork has taken the time to chronicle and analyze forces at work in this country that have very disturbing implications...
...Even following his own account, Mr...
...Timmerman's tongue-in-cheek reference to the NRA's annual Camp Perry National Matches "giving rise to tales of men in camouflage battle fatigues committing unexplained acts of violence under cover of darkness" was, respectively, partially right, wrong, and wrong...
...help us, 0 Lord...
...John Bryant doesn't want his copy, can I have it...
...Their political contributions are colored by their views of candidates and issues and are entirely independent of their hopes for increases in the bond business...
...It is still that...
...But Perot's mid-eighties criticisms of the world's largest auto maker seem amazingly prescient when viewed with a decade's hindsight...
...Lyons may have seen himself in those words and chose to counterattack with his review...
...RICHARDS drer@execpc/cp Another Carville You guys are publishing porno for political perverts...
...The upcoming match will mark the 9oth year of competition...
...CSABA CSERE Editor-in-Chief Car and Driver Ann Arbor, Michigan The Fix Is Always In Tom Bethell's November column, "Coming to Terms," is, for the most part, on target...
...Tucker...
...It wasn't so much the defeat by Clinton as it was the "conservatives"' pyrrhic victory over Bob Dole and Jack Kemp, aided and abetted by narrow minded ideologues such as Kristol, Phillips, Weyrich, Sobran, and, of course, your staff...
...Your readers should not be put off by what Mr...
...As reported in the NRA's American Rifleman, many of the Champions at Camp Perry this year happened to be military people—some in camouflage duds...
...Most of the non-unionized Caucasian voters in statewide elections usually have their votes nullified by the Afro-American/union combination...
...No one who cares about our country or its future should miss reading this book...
...Many of us deplore welfare and can see the damage that has been done in these sixty or so years, but only rarely do we read an analysis that explains so completely and skillfully the underlying faults in the process, the cause of damage to the nation...
...In some cases, law firms hire attorneys recommended by a politician whom they wish to please, after which time they are rewarded with new appointments for bond counsel work...
...Why The American Spectator chose a theater critic to review Judge Bork's thorough and extraordinarily well-researched analysis of the decline of American culture and its consequences is a mystery...
...Come & Get It," TAS, September 1996...
...Cultural criticism should be kept to real professionals such as theater critics...
...An incisive legal mind," Lyons snipes, "does not necessarily make for incisive cultural criticisms...
...It appears that you have for the last twenty-nine years...
...Working Online I was so happy to discover you had an online service...
...The Institute is nationally recognized for providing some of the nation's best training for law enforcement in emergency operations such as hostage situations and the management of natural and man-made disasters...
...Unions and soccer moms will automatically give her about 3o percent of the white vote to start with, and over 90 percent of the Afro-Americans are going to vote for a member of the Democratic Party regardless of the candidate's color or gender...
...The accompanying photo of Mr...
...some 12 January r 9 9 7 The American Spectator are more subtly requested and delivered, generally in the form of a contribution to a future political campaign that may never be fought...
...One Champ was a 12-year-old young lady from Colorado...
...And thanks in advance for helping to make the outcome what it will be...
...If Rep...
...Refocusing your efforts on policy issues would better serve both the public and The American Spectator...
...Yet the episode was, well, disappointing...
...the violence happened to inanimate targets (and perhaps to some egos...
...Mark Steyn is hilarious...
...Yet the increasing number of poorly substantiated attacks is counterproductive...
...The Cajun "bayou-dwellers" comprise a small part of Louisiana, and les bons temps roulez philosophy is largely confined to what we refer to as Acadiana, which comprises less than 18 percent of the state's population...
...JACK W. GRIGSBY Shreveport, Louisiana Of Human Bondage While I am always both amused and informed after an hour or so spent reading your articles, this month I was also somewhat perturbed to read James Ring Adams's treatment of my own legal specialty—bond counsel work—in his article "The Clinton Plan to Steal Your Retirement Savings" (TAS, November 1996...
...the designated bond counsel firm for bonds issued by the issuing authority...
...CURT COREY L-Pad@webtv.net Blaming the Victim You've done a terrific job inoculating the populace against any and all outrageous (or even not-so-outrageous) accusations against the Clintons...
...You must be most editorially happy...
...On one occasion, I recall being solicited by a public official for a fee-generating, long-term "understanding" which I believed wholly unlawful...
...The bond business is a strange and often uncomfortable blend of private industry and political decision-making, created by the intricacies of the Internal Revenue Code...
...We regular readers need these happy optimistic people to balance the desapir that Adams, Brock, and York bring us...
...Some bribes are open and notorious...
...Giuffrida had precisely the expertise needed for FEMA...
...Carnegie that it was a snowy Flushing afternoon, as the game was played in Shea Stadium...
...The law firms from which they "graduate" often become (surprise...
...Simpson broke the 2,000-yard barrier...
...A few examples: The credibility of the November editorial alleging frequent cocaine use by the president about equals that of the federal prison inmate who claimed to have once sold drugs to then—Vice President Quayle...
...Most bond counsel firms would be delighted to see greater restrictions placed upon public officials, a complete bar against political contributions, and federal oversight of the process, so that competition for work could proceed on the basis of qualifications rather than one's credit-rating...
...E.A...
...Schwartz and the many other readers who wrote in to set me straight...
...Bork's book, for he cannot, but instead wastes indignation on the idea of a cultural critic reviewing a book about culture...
...In 2001 (or earlier...
...Tyrrell's actions were boorish...
...however, Bethell falls into the old standard, misguided view of current politics in the Arkansas-neighboring state of Louisiana...
...Love Ben Stein and James Bowman...
...The state political control in Louisiana is usually decided by a coalition of Afro-American and union voters...
...Adams makes many telling points about the bond industry and its historical tendency towards a "pay to play" mentality...
...Furthermore, the record at GM during its dalliance with Perot suggests that GM management didn't know much about manufacturing and selling cars either: When Roger Smith became chairman in 1982, GM had 43 percent of the American car market...
...Tyrrell grabbing the tie of a Clinton look-alike actor was in poor taste...
...My thanks to Mr...
...There are probably some attorneys practicing in this area who willingly engage in this form of baksheesh, and others who feel pressured into participating as a cost of doing business...
...Thanks again...
...Carnegie claims to "still see that snowy Buffalo afternoon" on which O.J...
...Maybe so, but neither does Carlson...
...The best marksmen in the United States will compete with the best from the armed forces and the law enforcement community...
...would this country really be better off with a far more liberal President Gore...
...I am a 32-year-old married, white, self-employed father, and consider myself to be a moderate...
...I hope you will do so...
...Because the Bills were wearing white uniforms, I erroneously assumed they were playing at home...
...Without solid evidence to back accusations, they risk adding mere noise that dilutes the public's attention from any serious evidence that may appear, and adds credence to claims that the special prosecutor is on a political witch hunt...
...Have a nice evening next Tuesday [Election Day...
...Perhaps the reviewer read the book, but there is little evidence of that in the review...
...Lyons's dismissive review could, on reflection, have resulted from an actual reading of Judge Bork's book...
...CONSTANTINE G. PERGANTIS Washington, D.C...
...Write On William Tucker's article in TAS of October, "The Moral of the Story," was one of the best I have had the privilege of reading in any publication in the past several months...
...As a Republican who once voted for Goldwater and Nixon, but due to disgust with you and your bashthe-Clintons publication, I will be voting for Democrats...
...I have been an avid reader of The American Spectator (in its various appellations) for almost twenty years and plan to continue...
...In hopes of improving a good magazine, however, I offer the following constructive criticism...
...There are undoubtedly some municipalities and state agencies where bribing public officials is the avenue to success in the bond counsel business...
...Landrieu, needs only about one-third of the so-called white votes in order to win...
...Since by definition all municipal bond issues are political in nature—each must, after all, be approved by a city council, county board or state agency—I suppose some of the ingrained sucking-up to politicos is inevitable...
...The main point on Louisiana politics completely missed by Washington writers like Mr...
...LISALEE ANNE WELLS Long Beach, California The Rifleman Kenneth R. Timmerman tarnishes an otherwise fine article ("Whatever Happened to Iraqgate...
...The next Camp Perry match begins July 15, 1997, and will conclude on August 17...
...But the tone of the review suggests that Mr...
...however, your innate support of conservative candidates and their philosophy, at the expense of supporting Bob Dole, the only one with a chance of beating the Slickster, disgustingly helped Clinton ease into office one more time...
...Several pundits have noted that conservative animosity toward Clinton resembles the liberals' hate for President Nixon...
...H . W. LIOTTA liotta@aldus.northnet.org Bothered and Bewildered This is not one of those silly, whining "cancel my subscription because you said something mean" letters...
...and all events except the awards were carried out in the full light of day...
...He points out that Perot harangued General Motors for taking five years to develop a car...
...THEODORE B. OLSON Washington, D.C...
...In tomorrow's senatorial election, the liberal Democrat, Ms...
...Timmerman is welcome to attend as an observer or competitor provided that he will not be offended by the truth...
...When he retired that share had shrunk to 35 percent and continued to shrink in the succeeding years...
...Adams should know, on the other hand, that there are plenty of bond lawyers in the United States who try, as I do, to succeed—based upon competence and quality service...
...It has become disturbingly uncivil and increasingly tabloid-like...
...ROBERT L. WARNER, JR...
...Or do you really believe the garbage you publish...
...PAUL WE SC OTT wesc@ptialaska.net O.J...
...Keep up the good work...
...Carnegie replies: I fumbled...
...Where have I been, in a bubble...
...His general comment that bond lawyers "receive high fees for very little work" may apply in specific cases but does not have general support in the bond practice...
...It's quite possible that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may have turned into another trough for pork instead of a means for more efficiently using federal resources during an emergency...
...I was astounded at the quality of the magazine and the wit of the writers, especially Mark Steyn...
...The prestigious annual matches held at Camp Perry started in the year 1907...
...Tyrrell thought it all in good fun, or had flashed back to the youthful if sophomoric vigor of a college paper...
...Any real reports of men in camouflage battle fatigues committing unexplained acts of violence under cover of darkness are probably triggered by Delta Force folks practicing for the day—or night—the Posse Comitatus Act publicly bites the dust...
...There has been a disturbing negative trend in the tenor and substance of your magazine regarding President Clinton...
...I will now spread the word of TAS to my friends...
...Tyrrell concerning a bottle of champagne...
...2000 In November's Last Call, M.D...
...MORRIS GURALNICK Orofino, Idaho Bryant's Loss I read with much glee that there is an unwanted copy of R. Emmett Tyrrell's new book, Boy Clinton, floating around (Correspondence, TAS, November 1996...
...This is false...
...Lyons offers as an analysis of Slouching Towards Gomorrah...
...He is correct that a large part of the electorate seems to think of President Clinton as "an amiable rascal...
...Last month I flew the Delta Shuttle and picked up a copy...
...JEFFREY A. SCHWARTZ Brooklyn, New York M.D...
...10 January /997 • The American Spectator I wouldn't go so far as to equate Mr...
...Timmerman...
...All firing for each day ceases at 7 p.m...
...When I rushed to the state code, I found there was no conflict-of-interest provision in that jurisdiction against a public official entering into such an arrangement in exchange for his obtaining state legal work for the private firm...
...Fast development both saves money and keeps the product closer to market demands...
...I admired the cynicism, if not the accuracy, of the general description of the bond market appearing on page 45...
...One can properly criticize Perot for failing to effectively influence GM's management...
...In addition to a distinguished military career, Giuffrida helped to establish the California Specialized Training Institute under then-Governor Reagan...
...See you later...
...The president's character is certainly a valid issue...
...Olson does not defend Mr...
...It was implied that Giuffrida was selected only as a "crony of Ed Meese...
...In fact, development time was an area where the Japanese auto makers held a key advantage over GM and other Western car builders...
...My only question is—do you know it...
...MRS...
...Donald Lyons replies: Mr...
...Lyons's sacred territory...
...Perhaps Mr...
...Bethell is that, with occasional exceptions such as our fine current governor, the outcome of statewide elections is determined by an Afro-American and union coalition, not by the small group of fun-loving francophiles of Acadiana...
...Having been in attendance that day, I can assure Mr...
...There are too many...
...These days, some car makers develop cars in as little as two-anda-half years, and they take every opportunity to brag about this achievement...
...Every "act" was fully explainedand then some...
...It would be pointless to attempt to refute the review's many mischaracterizations of the book...
...wamer@globaldialog.com Happy Days Are Here Again You could not stand the thought of Boy Clinton being elected president again...
...My compliments to Mr...
...Other winners weren't men or even males at all...
...By all accounts, Al Gore's ethics can withhold scrutiny at least as well as any Republican's...
Vol. 30 • January 1997 • No. 1
