CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence DEMOCRATS ARE THE ISSUE William Kristol's arguments are correct but incomplete ("Clinton Is the Issue," May 25). Clinton is an example of what the Democratic Party (of which I...
...This truly is a great time to be an independent publisher...
...JIM SQUIRES LEXINGTON, KY HURTFUL, INSENSITIVE COPS As a working stiff who spends 4 hours on average each working day commuting 150 miles on I-95 and the Capitol Beltway from Virginia to Maryland and back, I can relate to Tucker Carlson's piece ("Postmod Squad," April 28) about traffic cops...
...The obstruction, by Waxman and the Democrats on the Burton committee, of the process of obtaining information pertaining to the integrity of our electoral process, exemplifies behavior that Democrats seem to find acceptable...
...Unlike some of his accusers, he has no history of biased, erroneous, or inaccurate reporting...
...And with increasing frequency and enthusiasm, they have been turning to independent publishers to help them get the job done...
...This is precisely the tactic used so successfully by the Clinton crowd...
...Congress should heed THE WEEKLY STANDARD's advice and call for a permanent and unconditional ban on federal spending on needles...
...The trooper then presented me with an enormous demand for charity for the state of Maryland...
...Clinton is an example of what the Democratic Party (of which I continue uncomfortably to be a registered member) has become...
...The reality is that needle handouts do not demonstrate a clear reduction in disease...
...Although Carlson did not divulge the final resolution of his New Jersey Turnpike experience with New Age policing, I can assure him that, given the alternative, he probably hasn't missed a thing...
...Ample evidence exists that those formerly clean needles are shared by the addicts with others...
...They do nothing to reduce drug use, and they expose the public to dirty needles...
...ERIC A. VOTH, M.D...
...Whereas most of the recent articles on trade publishing have focused on the uncertain fate of the largest publishers, Nordlinger correctly describes the revolution transforming the American publishing landscape, in which most of the benefits flow to the independent publishers...
...As H.L...
...Nor has he ever penned a line intended to obfuscate the truth, which is more than can be said of his whining, self-righteous critic, whose only obvious talent is one of piling on...
...It is about politics—to appease the radical homosexual and drug lobbies...
...Apparently, you disagree...
...Mencken once said: "No man ever went broke betting on the stupidity of the American people...
...And many programs give addicts needles even if they do not bring in one to exchange...
...As you so well point out, the truth is that this issue is not about science...
...He was barking like a storm-trooper at me and my old Chevy before I came to a stop and rolled down my window...
...When it comes to truth and good journalism, which are synonymous, Broder on his worst day would be a Sunday best for you...
...Concerning my own "famous volcanic temper" (which is about as relevant to this issue as the rest of the column), it is fired most easily by political attack dogs pretending to be journalists...
...Two million needles are handed out each year...
...The only problem is that it does not work this way...
...Most of them write like Terzian— devoid of original thought, employing phrases without elbows and sentences without the first-person pronoun...
...The needles-for-addicts campaign is a major strategy being pushed by those who support drug legalization and the so-called "safer" use of harmful, mind-altering drugs among addicts...
...The Washington political cadre is elitist and insulting in its thinking, but correct in its conclusions...
...We need to push for a national prohibition on needle handouts while simultaneously supporting aggressive outreach, treatment, and prevention efforts...
...Your story exposing the truth about needle-exchange programs, and the fact that the Clinton Adminstration's position on these programs is not based on science, should make headlines across the nation...
...THE INTERNATIONAL DRUG STRATEGY INSTITUTE TOPEKA, KS PUBLISHERS' HALCYON DAYS Congratulations on being the first publication accurately to describe the changes taking place in the book publishing industry (Pia Nordlinger, "Keeping the Books," May 4...
...Uproarious indignation is feigned about items of minor significance so as to take attention away from possibly serious breaches of the law by Democratic fundraisers...
...It is vitally important for all Americans to learn the truth about NEPs and the scientific studies that indicate that these programs do much more harm than good...
...THOMAS P. BREEN III SPOTSYLVANIA, VA ELBOWS WITHOUT PHRASES Philip Terzian's attack on Jonathan Broder of Salon ("The Plagiarist's Salon," May 11) is clear evidence why neither side in the war between Clinton and the nutty Right deserves to be believed...
...Nor is it about compassion for AIDS victims...
...AIDS advisor Sandy Thur-man, however, has pushed for national support for needle handouts...
...Addicts would tidy up, and exchange their dirty needles for clean ones...
...Fortunately, White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey has maintained clear opposition to needle handouts...
...Supporters also don't realize that the needles don't get turned in, either...
...I have difficulty explaining why I continue my registration in a party that I chose when I voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt...
...When I suggested that it was not my car that his radar unit had detected going 79 miles-per-hour, but rather the car that had just roared past me like a rocket, he literally hissed with rage and demanded my driver's license and registration...
...He doesn't have to go far to find it—just follow the Beltway around to Maryland...
...But while Broder has been twice accused of failing properly to attribute some information in his stories, he has never to my knowledge been accused of being wrong...
...As you correctly point out, there is "no conclusive scientific evidence" proving that giving out needles to drug addicts results in a decrease in HIV/AIDS and does not increase drug use...
...While the re-emergence of trade publishing as a cottage industry has been underreported, the fact remains that superstores have miles of shelves to fill...
...It seems to me that Bill Clinton's spin doctors assume the public's lack of mental acuity and have been proven right repeatedly...
...As the editor who fired Broder years ago as a result of the incidents cited, I obviously do not condone plagiarism...
...It is important to remember that needle handouts do nothing to treat the destructive drug use that sets up the addict to contract and spread AIDS...
...I can only ask: What makes you so sure of the inherent wisdom of the people...
...Because Salon reported a damaging truth about Kenneth Starr's key witness, you try to undermine the magazine's credibility by dredging up ancient allegations that Broder is a plagiarist...
...You and the Clinton White House deserve each other...
...ERIC M. KAMPMANN MIDPOINT TRADE BOOKS NEW YORK, NY REPUBLIC OF DOLTS You point out that elected officials and career bureaucrats think the public is dumb and incapable of making good policy decisions (Scrapbook, May 11...
...In Chicago, the prevalence of needle-sharing was the same between needle handout recipients and non-recipients...
...I was recently stopped by a Maryland state trooper on the Maryland section of the Beltway...
...Carlson seems to prefer the traditional police personality over the newer philosophical edition that he has encountered recently...
...After all, we get the shaft over and over again from our federal government, yet still we fail to learn...
...An average addict injecting only six times daily would require at least 2,000 clean needles annually to cover his injecting habits...
...JAMES BERG FREDERICKSBURG, VA...
...STEPHANIE HAYNES DRUG WATCH INTERNATIONAL ALPINE, TX Recently there has been a national furor over needle handouts to addicts...
...This act, sadly enough, is typical of contemporary Democratic politicians...
...The facts are that it is irresponsible and inhumane to provide needles to addicts...
...The track record of big needle handout programs is enlightening...
...This hardly sounds like success...
...Henry Waxman and his ilk also merit some voter attention...
...Let's give credit where credit is due: It is most likely that drug czar Barry McCaffrey's bold stand against NEPs caused Clinton to back down on spending federal dollars on needle giveaways to drug addicts...
...At face value, needle handouts seem like a good idea: Give clean needles to addicts, and they won't spread AIDS...
...In Vancouver, the incidence of HIV in addicts went from 2 percent before needle handouts to 23 percent today...
...Supporters of needle handouts forget that once the needle hits the addict's arm, it becomes a dirty needle...
...LAWRENCE H. O'NEILL NEW YORK, NY SAY NO TO NEEDLES Bravo to The Weekly Standard for "Spins and Needles" (May 4...
...In Montreal, the conversion rate for HIV among those in the needle handout program was twice as high as those out of the program...
Vol. 3 • June 1998 • No. 37
