A Powerful Letter

Over at HughHewitt.com

The grim reality of war hit us in our small office here in Southern California.

The helicopter crash that took the lives of 17 of our finest took the life of the boyfriend of one of our co-workers. She knew yesterday that his team was on that helicopter but it was not until this morning that we finally learned that he was with his team when the aircraft went down.

Needless to say, it's been very quiet around here as our thoughts and prayers are with our friend and we continue our work. Obviously, at times like this, work seems very unimportant.

I had the opportunity to meet our coworker's boyfriend and, taking a cue from you, thanked him for his service.

I have found that those I have thanked for their service have always been very humble and almost reluctant to receive the appreciation from a fellow American. This man I met and thanked as no different than any of the others I have met and, for me, will always be a testament of the selflessness and humble professionalism of those who serve to protect our country.

This July 4th will have a different meaning for me and although I don't know how, I'm sure this event will have an effect on me for the rest of my life.

I will never hesitate now to show nothing less han the most heartfelt appreciation to the sacrifice of those who serve and their families because now the true sacrifice of those who die in defense of this country is now far more than the abstract idea it has always been for me.

Dying in defense of your county is now very tangible and very real.

Thanks as always for your continued fight...

Thanks to all who serve. Thanks.

Iraq: Just Like that other War...

No, not Vietnam -- the real parallel seems to me to be the Civil War. I am no history scholar, and the "War Between The States" is not my forte.

All the same, I was watching General Wesley Clark's commentary (rebutting) the President's speech the other night. And I thought "My God! It's the reincarnation of General McClellan!" He'll run in '08 as the anti-war candidate against what will be a pretty complete victory.

My pals at the WSJ Ed Page run with this meme. The real parallel is not strategic or military, but the behavior of the opposition.

Wanted: A Constructive Opposition

Scanning the commentary after President Bush's Fort Bragg speech on Iraq, our eyes were caught by a headline in The New York Times: "Wanted: A Policy." True, the advice was dated 1861, not 2005, and the President at whom it was directed wasn't George W. Bush, but Abraham Lincoln. But you get the idea; plus ça change.

Then there is Delaware Senator Joe Biden, whose thoughts on the subject are particularly worth attending to because he is the Democratic Party's lead spokesman on the issue. Consider his track record to date:
• In April 2004, Mr. Biden predicted there would be "absolute chaos" in Iraq following the handover of sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government of Ayad Allawi. "Who's going to be the referee when [U.S. Ambassador Paul] Bremer leaves?" he demanded to know on CBS's Early Show. But Mr. Allawi helped smooth the transition to the current representative government, and he has taken his place as a leader of the opposition.

• In December 2004, Mr. Biden said prospects for a successful election in Iraq were "receding rapidly" because of Administration mismanagement; a month later, he predicted the election was "going to be ugly." But the January 30 elections were peaceful and inspiring.

• Earlier this month, Mr. Biden called the de-Baathification of the Iraqi army one of the "major mistakes" of U.S. policy, and called for Iraqis to rehire some of Saddam Hussein's old colonels. But it was precisely the April 2004 effort to re-enlist Baathist officers in the so-called Fallujah Brigade that was among the Administration's greatest mistakes so far in Iraq.

The Senator's latest ideas are to accept an Egyptian offer to train Iraqi police and to get NATO to deploy some troops to police the border with Syria. On the former, we weren't previously aware that the Cairo constabulary was a paragon of efficiency and probity, which is perhaps why the Iraqi government has discreetly turned away the offer. On the latter, has he talked to the French? They've barely allowed NATO forces to help in Afghanistan, much less be deployed in numbers in Iraq.

We stress Mr. Biden's views because he strikes us as one Democrat who understands the stakes in Iraq and seems genuinely interested in a good outcome. The thinness of even his policy alternatives suggests that Democrats really don't have any better ideas than the two-pronged Bush strategy of 1) supporting a new, inclusive democratic Iraqi government and 2) training and deploying Iraqi security forces as rapidly as possible.

Decent politics -- but it didn't work too well for McClellan...

Pinch Me

I'm dreaming.
A positive economic article from the AP?

Even in the face of high energy prices, the economy turned in a solid performance in the first quarter of 2005, suggesting the expansion should stay on firm footing.

The gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic standing, increased at an annual rate of 3.8 percent from January through March, according to revised figures released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.

That compared with a 3.5 percent growth rate estimated a month ago and matched the showing over the final three months of 2004.

GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States. In the opening quarter of 2005, it climbed to $11.1 trillion on an annualized basis, adjusted for inflation.

Brisk spending on housing projects, more investment by business in equipment and software, and a trade deficit that was less of a drag on economic growth all played a role in the higher first-quarter GDP reading.

"The economy is performing well. Sturdy growth with modest inflation," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com.

(hint, it's not an election year)

Good Speech

I don't know whether it won any converts but I thought the president did well tonight.[Speech text]

Don't forget to visit the www.americasupportsyou.mil website to support the troops.

My wife and I are so proud of you, your mission, and the great job you do.

We have a great life in this country, thanks to your courage, professionalism and dedication. Never forget our support. We will never forget your service!

Lost Liberty Hotel

Want a tangible result from your charitable giving? Help build a hotel!

The US Supreme Court's recent ruling in 'Kelo v. City of New London' removed the last obstacle preventing this project from moving forward. The 'Lost Liberty Hotel' project had previously been blocked by the current use of the desired development site as a private residence for a single American family. Now that the Supreme Court has obliterated the Constitutional restrictions on emminent domain, the process of bribing city officials to obtain condemnation of the property can begin in earnest.

"This is not a prank" said Clements, "The Towne of Weare has five people on the Board of Selectmen. If three of them vote to use the power of eminent domain to take this land from Mr. Souter we can begin our hotel development."

Who's that? Souter? Yes, Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, whose residence at 34 Cilley Hill Road in Weare, New Hampshire is the future building site for the hotel.

Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.

So there you have it. A site is "necessary" just because the developer says it is. As long as the local government goes along the individual is powerless to stop them. We'll see how David feels when he faces Goliath by himself, without his flowing robe.

And there's a delicious coup de grace, for me anyway: "Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged." HOO-rah.

Hip Hop Cabinet

Thanks Dick and Ann!

eBay Bargain

Don't get mad, get even...

eBay item 4556985749 (Ends 17-Jun-05 00:26:49 BST) - Lotus Esprit Turbo

I need to get rid of this car immediately - ideally in the next 2-3 hours before my cheating arsehole husband gets home to find it gone and all his belongings in the street.
I am the registered owner and I have the log book. Please only buy if you can pick up tonight.

Hat-tip: Samizdata

His Orotundity

The Weekly Standard's Scrapbook lays low Senator Byrd's autobiography with an acerbic wit worthy pf a British Obituary.

Fess up: It's been out a whole week already, but still not a soul among you has taken the time to track down and purchase a copy of Robert C. Byrd: Child of the Appalachian Coalfields.

And let's keep it that way, shall we?

Rather than plunk down $35 for this 770-page doorstop, let's instead simply indulge ourselves, first, in a loud, lusty snicker over the preposterous promotional campaign West Virginia University Press has prepared for The Great Fossil's long-unawaited autobiography. This kind of thing: "Senator Byrd's journey from the hard-scrabble coalfields to the marbled halls of Congress has inspired generations of people in West Virginia and throughout the nation. From reading the stories of the Founding Fathers as a young boy by the light of a kerosene lamp to the swearing of an oath for more than half a century to guard the United States Constitution, Senator Byrd's life is legendary." Barf.

On the web Posted by jk at 11:24 AM | What do you think? [2]

Steyn on Flag Burning

No surprise that Mark Steyn would have the best exegesis on the flag burning amendment.

Unlike Congressman Cunningham, I wouldn't presume to speak for those who died atop the World Trade Center. For one thing, citizens of more than 50 foreign countries, from Argentina to Zimbabwe, were killed on 9/11. Of the remainder, maybe some would be in favor of a flag-burning amendment; and maybe some would think that criminalizing disrespect for national symbols is unworthy of a free society.

Banning flag desecration flatters the desecrators and suggests that the flag of this great republic is a wee delicate bloom that has to be protected. It's not. It gets burned because it's strong. I'm a Canadian and one day, during the Kosovo war, I switched on the TV and there were some fellows jumping up and down in Belgrade burning the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack. Big deal, seen it a million times. But then to my astonishment, some of those excitable Serbs produced a Maple Leaf from somewhere and started torching that. Don't ask me why -- we had a small contribution to the Kosovo bombing campaign but evidently it was enough to arouse the ire of Slobo's boys. I've never been so proud to be Canadian in years. I turned the sound up to see if they were yelling ''Death to the Little Satan!'' But you can't have everything.

Hat-tip: PowerLine Blog

Government Meddling in Business

Here's why it's usually a dumb idea.

PC makers and distributors are holding back from buying the new alternative version of Windows XP that Europe's competition commissioner ordered Microsoft Corp. to offer as part of the punishment in the software maker's long antitrust battle with the European Union.

Windows XP N was released to distributors last week in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish and will be available to the public in the next few weeks. Versions in 10 additional languages will be released in July.

The world's largest software maker had to change its Windows operating system after EU antitrust regulators ruled last year that it abusively wielded its Windows monopoly and locked out competitors. Microsoft was fined a record euro497 million ($608 million).

But computer distributors and manufacturers are so far showing little interest in the new product, which compels consumers to choose their media player and download it from the Internet.

Pretty much only lawyers and bureaucrats.

"We'll first see how it sells. I heard that this version would be cheaper," said Jose Cabeza, technical director for Publinet. "If it isn't, logically the market will decide about it. I don't see why a client on the street would choose a lesser product."

I don't understand why it would be cheaper though. Windows Media Player is FREE! If you don't include FREE stuff, why mark it down? $99 - $0 is still $99.

Microsoft is going to have the last laugh. Though they already tried.

Microsoft initially wanted to call the new version of its consumer operating system "Windows XP Reduced Media Edition" but EU regulators said that name would discourage sales.

Rove on Liberals

A full quotation.

But perhaps the most important difference between conservatives and liberals can be found in the area of national security. Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers. In the wake of 9/11, conservatives believed it was time to unleash the might and power of the United States military against the Taliban; in the wake of 9/11, liberals believed it was time to… submit a petition. I am not joking. Submitting a petition is precisely what Moveon.org did. It was a petition imploring the powers that be" to "use moderation and restraint in responding to the… terrorist attacks against the United States."

MoveOn.Org, Michael Moore and Howard Dean may not have agreed with this, but the American people did. Conservatives saw what happened to us on 9/11 and said: we will defeat our enemies. Liberals saw what happened to us and said: we must understand our enemies. Conservatives see the United States as a great nation engaged in a noble cause; liberals see the United States and they see … Nazi concentration camps, Soviet gulags, and the killing fields of Cambodia.

An important thing missed by those who freaked out, is that LEFT or LIBERAL does not equal DEMOCRAT. Similarly, CONSERVATIVE does not equal REPUBLICAN.

There are overlaps, but it is not a snug fit.

Karl Rove's genius shines through again.

When John Kerry avoided (or tried to avoid) the term liberal during a debate, he was hiding from it. Very similar to the perferred self-identification "progressive" instead of liberal. Or, as in David Horowitz's Radical Son, "progressive" instead of communist.

When John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid come out against Rove's commentary what can someone think but they are defending themselves as liberals?

Equity Dive

Everybody attributed yesterday's stock declines to $60 oil (dammit, AlexC, turn up the domestic production!) but Larry Kudlow sees it as a reaction to protectionism

Today’s triple-digit Dow decline was caused by an unusual Senatorial display of trade and currency protectionism aimed at China.

Any efforts to destabilize China are misguided and harmful in economic and national security terms. The freedom to trade has enormously benefited China, the U.S., and the rest of the world’s growth. China economic demands have promoted U.S. business across-the-board from industrials, metals, energy, tech, and elsewhere.

Makes you go "Hmmm."

Lileks hits a house favorite in today's Bleat

You don’t hear much about Evil Spain grinding the natives under their boot, any more than you hear about Belgium’s merry escapades in the Congo. In fact, the Spanish culture has been subsumed into a general Latino identity in a way that makes it oddly immune from criticism. Hey, don’t talk to me about racism and oppression – look what you guys did to the Indians! It would sound bizarre, no?

England and America left good governmental and economic ideas in their wake. This is not an excuse for colonialism, but it is a mitigating circumstance. Spain just loaded up the wealth and split.

Where "Star Wars" fans go when they grow up.

That's a kinder description of the "Nerd Prom" that lined up at 5:00 PM for a 10:00PM sneak preview of the unfinished Serenity movie.

Whedon is trying a new marketing approach, letting the beloved "browncoats" see the film in progress. And the Weekly Standard has a comprehensive piece on it.

"Firefly went on the air two years ago," [Joss] Whedon continues, "and was immediately hailed by critics as one of the most canceled shows of the year."

Everyone laughs.

"It was ignored and abandoned, and the story should end there--but it doesn't. Because the people who made the show and the people who saw the show--which is, roughly, the same number of people--fell in love with it a little bit. Too much to let it go. . . . In Hollywood, people like that are called unrealistic, quixotic, obsessive. In my world, they're called 'Browncoats.'"

"This movie should not exist," he continues. "Failed TV shows don't get made into major motion pictures--unless the creator, the cast, and the fans believe beyond reason. . . . It is, in an unprecedented sense, your movie.

"Which means, if it sucks, it's your fault."

[..]

What made Firefly stand out was its odd, romantic characters and gutsy, strange writing. The dialogue tended to be a bizarre puree of wisecracks, old-timey Western-paperback patois, and snatches of Chinese. The stories were mostly simple genre exercises: train heists, double-crosses, duels at dawn, running from the law. And they allowed the crew--which included a fugitive doctor (Sean Maher), his psychic sister (Summer Glau), a missionary (Ron Glass), a cute mechanic (Jewel Staite), and a courtesan (Morena Baccarin)--to bump and occasionally grind against each other in amusing ways. The chemistry was irresistible.

Since the fan screenings began, Firefly DVD sales have shot up the genre charts at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. In July, a Dark Horse Serenity comic book, written by Whedon, will hit shelves, and the Sci-Fi Channel will soon start broadcasting the 14 Firefly episodes--all of them, in order.

MIT Blog Survey

I took it, it is pretty interesting. Instapundit linked today so I bet it will collect some data...

ROVE Should Resign

Stop! It hurts! Stop!

Democrats now say that Karl Rove's remarks are beyond the pale -- and that he must Apologize or Resign

WASHINGTON - Democrats said Thursday that White House adviser Karl Rove should either apologize or resign for accusing liberals of wanting "therapy and understanding" for the Sept. 11 attackers, escalating partisan rancor that threatens to consume Washington.

Save Me From the GOP!

Oh wait. I guess I am a Republican. But when I read things like this I wonder why.

WASHINGTON - The House on Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to ban desecration of the American flag, a measure that for the first time stands a chance of passing the Senate as well.

"If the flag needs protection at all, it needs protection from members of Congress who value the symbol more than the freedoms that the flag represents."

Gitmo vs. Hanoi Hilton

A great reader letter in Jay Nordlinger's Impromptus today:

Jay,
My husband was a POW in Vietnam for five-and-a-half years. He is beside himself over this Gitmo stuff. “Honey glazed chicken!” he says. “What about moldy bread with rat turds in it?” And “what about nothing but pumpkin for 45 days?” And “what about getting beri-beri from eating nothing but white rice for months?”

“They complain that the air conditioning was turned up?” he says. They made him live in a box outdoors for months, under the summer sun.

“They are put in uncomfortable positions?” he says. He had to sit on a stool for months, in one position.

And so forth.

He is writing a column on this, but he is recovering from surgery so he is slow writing it. The surgery is his second hip replacement; his hip was eaten up by the beri-beri.

Yet nobody’s asked any of the POWs what they think of the Gitmo thing.

Rice 2008

"The Egyptian Government must fulfill the promise it has made to its people--and to the entire world--by giving its citizens the freedom to choose. Egypt's elections, including the Parliamentary elections, must meet objective standards that define every free election."--Condoleezza Rice, speaking Monday at the American University, Cairo

Ever since President Bush settled on a policy of promoting democracy in the Middle East, he has been repeatedly lambasted for his alleged hypocrisy: Why advocate democracy for Iraq and Lebanon, say the critics, but not for autocratic U.S. allies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia? In this telling, "democracy" is said to be just an alibi for the pursuit of narrow U.S. interests, especially a steady supply of oil.

Well, so much for that view. On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice traveled to Cairo and then Riyadh and, in soft tones, delivered a stark message: America would no longer pursue "stability at the expense of democracy." The U.S. will now notice when peaceful Egyptian protestors are brutalized by government security goons, or when Saudi citizens are imprisoned for "peacefully petitioning the government"; and the future of both countries as American allies rests on the seriousness of their commitment to democratic reform.

But today's WSJ shakes my endorsement theory quite a bit. First, the first page reminds that Senators McCain and Chafee have opposed eliminating the "death tax" (The deficit, you know) and the Ed Page leads with Secretary Rice's barnstorming the MidEast as the Sharansky disciple she is. And she would never, ever, ever find herself paired with a Lincioln Chafee in a news story.

Rice 2008. If there's no chance of drafting her, McCain.

1964 Killings

Justice is finally served.

Forty-one years to the day after three civil rights workers were beaten and shot to death, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman was found guilty of manslaughter Tuesday in a trial that marked Mississippi's latest attempt to atone for its bloodstained, racist past.

The 770-page book is the latest in a long series of attempts by the 87-year-old Democratic patriarch to try to explain that event early in his life. In it, Byrd says he viewed the Klan as a useful platform from which to launch his political career. He described it essentially as a fraternal group of elites - doctors, lawyers, clergy, judges and other "upstanding people" who at no time engaged in or preached violence against blacks, Jews or Catholics who historically were targets of the Klan."

58% say "keep Gitmo!"

Power Line has some interesting poll results. American adults said 58 - 36 to keep Guantanamo Bay vs. close it; 52 vs. 37 approve of our treatment. Hindrocket sez:

It seems like there is a common denominator in the Dems' tactics of late: they're going really hard after the most liberal 37% of the population. I'd guess that the people who think Priscilla Owen is a dangerous extremist are pretty much exactly the same ones who lie awake at night worrying that a terrorist's air conditioning might not be properly adjusted.

Apology Accepted?

From Yahoo/AP

"Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line," the Illinois Democrat said. "To them I extend my heartfelt apologies."

His voice quaking and tears welling in his eyes, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate also apologized to any soldiers who felt insulted by his remarks.

"They're the best. I never, ever intended any disrespect for them," he said.

Voinovich and Durbin.

Who's next?

Conservative Power

Great article in the WSJ Ed Page today: Cheer Up Conservatives!

One item that seemed especially applicable to ThreeSources:

But is this loss of steam really all that remarkable? All second-term presidents face restlessness in the ranks. And the noise is arguably a sign of strength. The Democrats would give a lot to have a big-tent party as capacious as the Republicans'. One of the reasons the GOP manages to contain Southern theocrats as well as Western libertarians is that it encourages arguments rather than suppressing them. Go to a meeting of young conservatives in Washington and the atmosphere crackles with ideas, much as it did in London in the heyday of the Thatcher revolution. The Democrats barely know what a debate is.

The piece is pretty optimistic, though it does underscore the need (oft quoted 'round here) to keep the Evangelicals in the tent.

Another ppg I dug:

The biggest advantage of all for conservatives is that they have a lock on the American dream. America is famously an idea more than a geographical expression, and that idea seems to be the province of the right. A recent Pew Research Center Survey, "Beyond Red Versus Blue," shows that the Republicans are more optimistic, convinced that the future will be better than the past and that they can determine their own futures. Democrats, on the other hand, have a European belief that "fate," or, in modern parlance, social circumstances, determines people's lot in life. (And judging by some recent series in newspapers on the subject, the party appears to have staunch allies in American newsrooms at least.)

Adopt a Blog

This is cool and I hope it works.

ThreeSources will happily host a Chinese blog to help a blogger circumvent government blocking.

WikiHome

Still Pro War

I want to reaffirm my support, not only of the troops but of their mission.

Senator Durbin's comments, focus on Gitmo, poll numbers, &c. have obscured the goals and achievements of the War on Terror.

I have mentioned my friend’s emails before. I respond infrequently because I think that she does not enjoy my responses, but I respond occasionally because -- well -- I can't stop.

Today she sends an EJ Dionne column with a preface about how she has always suspected a global conspiracy. She cites the Dionne column and a Bill Moyers interview on CNN as substantiation.

Here is my response. I was happy to affirm my support:

I should be nice and let a few more go by, but I MUST comment on today’s email

I read every word you send, by the way. I worry that you are less exposed to alternate views. Today’s email quotes E.J. Dionne and Bill Moyers, whom I consider to be two of the most far left and anti-administration people in Journalism today. Yes, Thomas Friedman supported the war, but I would not say that he supported the administration. Friedman is a moderate liberal, not a right winger.

I’m sure the war could have been prosecuted better and I wish Iraq were more stable today. But I clearly believe there is far more hope for an Iraqi today than when Saddam Hussein was filling mass graves and throwing people into recycling shredders. The elections in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine-Authority, and Lebanon – plus the growing movements in Egypt are all direct benefits of the Coalition’s muscular approach to terrorism.

The US will likely never be “safe” as our open society exposes vulnerabilities. But I certainly feel that we are safer with Saddam out of power and many al-Qaeda leaders captured or killed.

We’ve paid a high price, and I flatly reject that those who have died have done so to enrich the wealthy. They did it for their country and to make the world better – and I believe that they did.

I hate to end on a side note but rich folks enjoy stability: make deals with Saddam, make deals with the Saudis, keep the money rolling in. Inviting instability is a bold move that was not done for profit, it was done for freedom. History will judge its efficacy but I am confident judging its intentions today.

With love and respect,

Your friend.
jk

I was so upset when I read the Star Tribune's Editorial today that I sent off this letter below to the editor from my duty desk in Baghdad, Iraq. The voices of millions killed by Hitler, Stalin & Pol Pot are rising from their mass graves and demanding an apology. Durbin is wrong and the Star Tribune is wrong even more. Clearly they are not on our side! Soldiers over here keep asking me why America has forgotten 9-11. I keep telling them that the liberal media won't let the American people see the images of the murdered and tortured Iraqis we find every day over here. Please keep up the fight back home and I promise the American military will win the war over here!

2008 Endorsement

No, never too early to talk politics.

I have been dreaming of a '08 match up between the Junior Senator from New York and the 66th Secretary of State. But a gander at the Sunday shows yesterday has taken me to an odd place.

Sec. Rice was on FNS and if she were to run, I will sell the house and quit my job to get her elected. BUT, she demurred and it was enough to make me think that a Rice '08 run is really not gonna happen.

So I watched Russert last night interview Senator McCain. I HATE McCain-Feingold, I'm still mad about his waffley-non-support of the President's tax cut, I'm not wild about the 14 Senator compromise on judges -- and basically admire McCain's heroic service yet am annoyed by his presence. I fear that he prefers media approbation to principle.

And yet. He was great on MTP yesterday. He pointed out that he supported the President in 2004 (against his ambitions) and pointed out that media have over-hyped (no!) disagreements between he and the administration. He pointed out that he has supported the administration on all the important issues.

I'm softening today. I'll give my ThreeSources brothers a chance to straighten me out but consider:

-- He is a very popular Republican. I'm all for a more conservative candidate but I don't want to lose the general to Senator Clinton.

-- He is an eloquent speaker that can pitch conservative and American ideals forcefully and cogently.

-- He is war hero, friend to the military, and fierce advocate of freedom and victory in the war on terror.

-- He did support President Bush in '04. I think of him and the words "loyal Republican" don't well up in my heart, but he did it in '04 and deserves a reward.

So: McCain in 2008. Anybody else in?

UPDATE: some lurkers are shocked (so am I). I have said nice things about the Senator from Arizona (both, actually) before. I will return to his oratorical skills, most recently his speech at the comvention:

"Take courage from the knowledge that our military superiority is matched only by the superiority of our ideals and our unconquerable love for them. ... We fight for love of freedom and justice--a love that is invincible. Keep that faith! Keep your courage! Stick together! Stay strong! Do not yield! Do not flinch! Stand up! Stand up with our President and fight! We're Americans! We're Americans and we'll never surrender! They will!" "

American Apologizing

Tip to Tim Blair.

Censure Durbin?

That's what Newt Gingrich is asking the other 99 Senators.

By his statements equating American treatment of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay with the behavior of the evil regimes of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Pol Pot’s Cambodia, Senator Richard Durbin has dishonored the United States and the entire U.S. Senate. Only by a vote to censure Senator Durbin for his conduct can the U.S. Senate restore its dignity and defend American honor.

I can see why. It's nothing more than saying "naughty naughty, now go and make laws again."

Less severe than expulsion, a censure (sometimes referred to as condemnation or denouncement) does not remove a senator from office. It is a formal statement of disapproval, however, that can have a powerful psychological effect on a member and his/her relationships in the Senate. In 1834, the Senate censured President Andrew Jackson – the first and only time the Senate censured a president. Since 1789 the Senate has censured nine of its members.

Senator Thomas Dodd a Democrat from Connecticut.

Despite any perceived "psychological effect" that the quoted link might describe, in today's polarized political climate it's not going to do much more than say, "Look! They don't like what he said... CENSORSHIP! CENSORSHIP!"

Blah blah blah, the same tired liberal tripe.

Censure is not the answer. Neither is resignation.

He's going to run again in 2008. By then it'll all have blown over and forgotten. But that's politics.

Nightmare Blogging

I have been doing this too long. Last night I dreamt that I was being grilled on the Senate Floor. The lights were shining brightly in my eyes, and Kent Conrad of North Dakota intoned: “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the 'Big Beer Brotherhood of Hamm’s?'”

I woke before I had a chance to answer.

No Private Accounts for Farmers

The AP Headlines reads: Dems: Private Accounts Would Hurt Farmers. Huh? It is not, unfortunately, a joke, it comes from the Ds' weekly radio address:

"Farm families have tight budgets, and most don't have access to employer retirement accounts such as 401(k) plans. In fact, three out of four farmers fund their own retirement. They depend on Social Security when the crop yield is low or the weather is bad," Etheridge, a member of the House Agriculture Committee and a part-time farmer, said in the Democratic Party's weekly radio address.

My second thought was "Why is it that Farmers would be unable to manage their own investments?" Followed by "can't we just give them bigger subsidies in the next farm bill?"

There are some serious and principled arguments against private accounts, though they don't dissuade me. This isn't one of them.

Has anybody told Willie Nelson about this?

Mopar Madness

Brother AlexC has started a trend -- buying Hemis!

The Wall Street Journal notes, in a Page One story, Chrysler's Storied Hemi Motor Helps It Escape Detroit's Gloom

"The power and mystique of the Hemi made me more willing to go up," says the 34-year-old Marine. That's the name for the car's powerful V8 engine, which added $5,000 to the price. "I said to myself, 'that's 345 horsepower, my friend.' "

The Hemi engine, made famous by muscle cars of the 1960s and 1970s, is now helping make DaimlerChrysler AG a notable exception to the gloom that has descended on Detroit. Amid the U.S. auto industry's most severe crisis in a decade, the Hemi is revving up profits and market share. In particular, it's reviving sales of passenger cars, a stark change from Detroit's recent reliance on sport-utility vehicles and pickups.

The story of the Hemi is part luck -- Chrysler started tinkering with the engine almost a decade ago -- and part clever marketing. To escape from a slump five years ago, Chrysler's managers placed a premium on making cars that stand out, which it can sell for full price. As part of that thinking, it took the unusual step of making the Hemi engine the star of an advertising blitz. Soon TV viewers were intoning its tagline: "That thing got a Hemi?"

As a result, Chrysler was able to take advantage of a shift among car buyers: a nostalgic return to the souped-up muscle car. About half the Magnums, Dodge RAM trucks and Durango SUVs sold by Chrysler are fitted with Hemis, significantly more than the 30% to 35% the company expected. Its Hemi plant in Mexico is working around the clock and has increased output three times since production started three years ago.

Beyond nostalgia, I offer this story in a Postrelesque vein: While GM and Ford whine about the economy, Chrysler has given people what they want. And are booking sales.

You Don't Say

Sometimes I wonder if polls are just an easy way to write a news story.
For example...

Most Americans think movie stars are poor role models and almost half say movies generally aren't as good as they used to be, an AP-AOL poll found.

Australian star Russell Crowe's recent arrest for throwing a phone at a hotel employee is the latest in a long line of unflattering incidents involving major movie stars. Christian Slater faces charges he grabbed a woman's buttocks in a New York City grocery; Winona Ryder was convicted of shoplifting in 2002; and Hugh Grant was caught in a car with a prostitute in the mid-1990s.

Those occurrences, combined with most Americans' preference for watching movies at home, suggest the industry faces challenges if it is to reverse a recent drop in attendance at movie theaters.

Movie stars don't set a good example, said Earl Ledbetter, a movie fan who lives in Ventura, Calif.

"They just don't have the morals," he said. "They marry and divorce, sleep around a lot."

Because when I'm looking for someone to lead by example, I want the person whose greatest talent in life is doing and saying what someone else says.

And you didn't need a poll to prove that contemporary movies suck. I understand that are probably a limited number of stories about the human condition, but that doesn't excuse such cinema as "Starsky & Hutch", another Batman and a Dukes of Hazzard movie.

Give us new characters! Not the same tired ones.

F*ck. There's even a new Willy Wonka coming out. Yawn.

Legislative Giants

Four house members Push Resolution on Iraq Pullout. Bring it on! Mr. Speaker, call a vote! That would be the quickest way to get this out of the way, instead we'll get a bunch of news items, as if it is really happening. The sponsors are Reps Ron Paul (Why don't I vote Libertarian?), Dennis Kucinich, Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, and Walter Jones, (R-NC) one of the four who voted for the war. What other patriot acts has this legislative giant accomplished?

Two years ago, Jones helped lead an effort to ensure Capitol Hill cafeterias retooled their menus to advertise "freedom fries" instead of french fries to protest France's opposition to the war.

75th Anniversary

Of Smoot-Hawley protectionism that launched The Depresion. Larry Kudlow observes:

Many thanks to Tom Sowell for reminding us that tomorrow, June 17, marks the 75th anniversary of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff that helped trigger the 1930's depression.

Barriers to trade, coupled with retaliatory measures around the world, raised the unemployment rate from 9 percent in 1930 to 16 percent in 1931 and 25 percent in 1932. Farmers who supported the tariff saw their exports cut by two-thirds.

Today Senators Smoot-Schumer and Hawley-Graham, who have proposed a 27.5 percent tariff on Chinese imports, may be celebrating this anniversary. But if I were they, I'd keep the cork in the champagne bottle.
[...]
May Smoot-Hawley rest in peace, never to be resurrrected again.

Happy Bloomsday

Attila at Pillage Idiot reminds us "It's June 16, time to start reading Ulysses again (not that you or I will)."

I read Ulysses when I was young and was consciously trying to survive some challenging books. Finishing in 24 hours would be ambitious -- I seem to recall alternately suffering and enjoying that book for six weeks.

After that, my brother challenged me to read Finnegan's Wake. I failed.

All and all, I like Joyce and spending time in Ireland I have been surprised the low regard for him. Maybe it's not a fair cross section but the Irish I've met respect him about as much as this Coloradan likes John Denver's music...

A New TV Show

Hmm. Jonathan Last, who turned me onto Buffy has a good review of a new Fox show with Tim Minear, Adam Baldwin, and some writing by Jane Espenson.

The Inside Story

And then, something miraculous happened: The executives at Fox hired Tim Minear to salvage the project. Minear worked his way up the TV ladder as a writer on various shows until he made his mark on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off, Angel. From there he executive produced the critically-lauded Firefly in 2002 before creating Wonderfalls last year. How good is Minear? It would not be rash to consider him one of the five best minds in television.

I have not watched a show that was actually on TV many years (I bought Buffy and Angel and Firefly on DVD) but I will check this out.

Gub'mint Art

I want to continue a riff from yesterday and am aided by a thoughtful and measured piece from Peggy Noonan (who also earned a spot in JohnGalt's Conservative babes collection).

Today, the doyenne of honest social conservatism celebrates PBS's achievements as she whacks its obvious biases. But I am forced to take umbrage with her assertion that public funded Teevee remains necessary.

At its best, at its most thoughtful and intellectually honest and curious, PBS does the kind of work that no other network in America does or will do. Sumner Redstone is never going to pay for an 11-hour miniseries called "The Civil War"; he's not going to invest money and years of effort into a reverent exhumation of the rich loam of American history. Les Moonves is not going to do "Nova." Bob Iger is not going to OK a three-part series on relativity theory. Jeff Zucker isn't going to schedule a calm, unhurried adult drama like "Masterpiece Theatre." They live in a competitive environment.

I just watched Ted Turner's "Gods and Generals" and "Gettysburg" on DVD. Sam's Club has the pair in a bargain box; if you can find eight hours to watch, you get a great perspective on the Civil War. From Ted!

I'm not sure PBS couldn't make it without government money. But even if it is killed, these other channels would have a larger talent pool and viewership.

Ms. Noonan makes a mistake more common to lefties: to assume that removing the government provided service removes the service. It is more likely to be replaced with something better.

WSJ Praises NEA

What planet did I wake up on?

Nat Hentoff has done yeoman work promoting jazz in his Wall Street Journal and JewishWorldReview columns. He and I share a love of Jazz and it pains me to dissent from his column. Today he lauds the achievements of Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, for his support of jazz.

The chairman is involved in expanding audiences for all the arts, but he is especially driven to "expand the country's awareness of jazz, to use it to combat the cultural impoverishment that threatens us." In an era of "reality" television, and a music scene where even Merle Haggard is hardly heard on commercial country music radio stations, Mr. Gioia doesn't consider it necessary to define "cultural impoverishment."

He has launched "NEA Jazz Masters on Tour," sending Jazz Masters across the U.S. to nonprofit organizations--from, the NEA declares, "the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono, Maine, to the Anchorage Concert Association in Anchorage, Alaska." The co-organizer is Arts Midwest, and the sponsor is Verizon with additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Verizon also sponsors other NEA jazz initiatives.

In addition, I must question the efficacy, if not the intention of the good chairman's efforts. A PBS and an NPR series? I'd better protect my Tal Farlow CDs -- surely they will be in incredible demand when these stories air.

Jazz yes -- on the public dime, no!

One Man's Torture

Chris Muir nails it today:




Day By Day is always available from the ThreesSources.com blogroll

Geneva Convention

As I (and my pals at WSJ Ed Page) see it, if the terrorists staying at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility want to be treated under the Geneva Convention, we can shoot every one of them. Then, the queasy among us can get their wish of "shutting down Gitmo."

WSJ.com - The Red Cross and Congress

The International Committee of the Red Cross gets special access to prisons around the world as the neutral observer body designated by the Geneva Conventions. But for more than three years now the ICRC has abused that position of trust to wage an unprecedented propaganda war against the United States.

Leaked ICRC reports have described conditions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as "tantamount to torture" because indefinite detention is stressful. And just last month the ICRC's Washington office broke its confidentiality agreement with the U.S. government to fan the flames created by Newsweek's false Quran-abuse story.

Fortunately, Capitol Hill is starting to notice. A study released Monday by the Senate Republican Policy Committee says the ICRC has "lost its way," and suggests annual reviews be conducted by the State, Defense, and Justice Departments to certify that the organization truly adheres to its stated principles of "neutrality, impartiality and humanity."

In particular, the study raps the ICRC for its efforts to "afford terrorists and insurgents the same rights and privileges as [uniformed] military personnel" by misleadingly pretending that a radical document called Protocol 1 is settled international law. This causes the ICRC to "inaccurately and unfairly accuse the U.S. of not adhering to the Geneva Conventions."

U.S. taxpayers are the largest contributors to the ICRC's budget ($233 million, or 26%, in 2003). They have a right to expect an honest interpretation of the Geneva Conventions for that money, not more leaked reports that will be spun to give aid and comfort to al Qaeda.

New New New Math

Rethinking Mathematics - The New Teacher Book - Rethinking Schools Online

[Insert your own comment here -- I'm speechless!]

Hat-tip: Pillage Idiot

NYAG Satan

Spitzer only wins in trial-by-media, when this prosecutor has to go to court, he gets his ass kicked.

OpinionJournal - Featured Article

The AG charges in his suit that Mr. Grasso's compensation was not "reasonable"--that directors awarded him money based on "incomplete, inaccurate and misleading" information; and that Mr. Grasso influenced his awards. Mr. Spitzer is also suing former compensation committee head Ken Langone--on grounds that he misled directors about the true size of the compensation package--as well as the Exchange itself.

Bully for Exxon!

A WSJ front page news story today (not those crazy right-wingers on the Ed Page that I love so dearly...) highlights Exxon CEO's, Lee Raymond's, refusal to do the PC thing. Mr. Raymond is going to stick with principle.

Oil giants such as BP PLC and Royal Dutch/Shell Group are trumpeting a better-safe-than-sorry approach to global warming. They accept a growing scientific consensus that fossil fuels are a main contributor to the problem and endorse the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which caps emissions from developed nations that have ratified it. BP and Shell also have begun to invest in alternatives to fossil fuels.

Not Exxon. Openly and unapologetically, the world's No. 1 oil company disputes the notion that fossil fuels are the main cause of global warming. Along with the Bush administration, Exxon opposes the Kyoto accord and the very idea of capping global-warming emissions. Congress is debating an energy bill that may be amended to include a cap, but the administration and Exxon say the costs would be huge and the benefits uncertain. Exxon also contributes money to think tanks and other groups that agree with its stance.

Exxon publicly predicts that solar and wind energy will continue to provide less than 1% of the world's energy supply in 2025, a subject that others shy away from. Even if fossil fuels are the chief global-warming culprit, Exxon argues, the sensible response is to figure out how to burn them more efficiently.

"We're not playing the issue. I'm not sure I can say that about others," Lee Raymond, Exxon's chairman and chief executive, said in a recent interview at Exxon headquarters in Irving, Texas. "I get this question a lot of times: 'Why don't you just go spend $50 million on solar cells? Charge it off to the public-affairs budget and just say it's like another dry hole?' The answer is: That's not the way we do things."

Tax Cuts Work

The Laffer Curve works.

President Bush's "tax cuts for the rich" have boosted Federal Revenue more than 15%. Lower tax rates get more revenue. Freedom pays for itself sometimes, if you let it.

The WSJ Ed page gives props to Art Laffer and his napkin illustration that launched Reaganomics and the Bush cuts in Real Tax Cuts Have Curves

Now we have overpowering confirming evidence from the Bush tax cuts of May 2003. The jewel of the Bush economic plan was the reduction in tax rates on dividends from 39.6% to 15% and on capital gains from 20% to 15%. These sharp cuts in the double tax on capital investment were intended to reverse the 2000-01 stock market crash, which had liquidated some $6 trillion in American household wealth, and to inspire a revival in business capital investment, which had also collapsed during the recession. The tax cuts were narrowly enacted despite the usual indignant primal screams from the greed and envy lobby about "tax cuts for the super rich."

Making the tax cuts permanent may be the most important issue under consideration today. Too many in both houses still think that you have to "pay" for tax cuts.

Maybe Owens '08 After All

Saved by the Veto. That would be the State of Colorado, and the veto pen would belong to Governor Bill Owens. (Whom I have met)

Our new State Treasure Mark Hillman writes, quoted on ClayCalhoun.com

What do you get when you cross a liberal Democrat state legislature with a conservative Republican governor?

Forty-three vetoes, and fortunately that's no joke.

Since the legislature adjourned on May 9, Governor Owens' veto pen has worked overtime ­ shooting down numerous attempts to expand government, increase taxes, and micro-manage business.

The engines of the state's economy ­ taxpaying businesses and families ­should be relieved.

NHL: No Hope Left

I know we've got a few hockey fans and players in the ThreeSources family, so I'll not bother trying to find a political or economic segue.

It's just plain bad news for the NHL. If you haven't mired yourself in it for a while, catch Duncan Currie piece on Weekly Standard's website.

ESPN has dropped the league. Among the bad news:

Then, of course, there was the 2004-2005 lockout. The NHL became the first pro sports league in North America to forfeit an entire season due to a labor dispute. ESPN had to fill scads of empty timeslots with substitute programs. And, as Reuters reported last week, the network discovered that programming "it aired in place of NHL games on a month-to-month basis during the canceled season did just as well or better than hockey would have."

Liberals & the Drug War

Dan Henninger provides yet another insightful Wonder Land column today. Writing on Raich, he offers this brief summation:

Liberalism to cancer patients: Drop dead.

Again, it's a good article and I enjoy seeing the Deputy Editor of my favorite Ed Page show a little softness on the War on Drugs -- it is about the only issue on which I typically disagree with them.

But his conclusion disturbs me. Yes, it will be illegal, but it won't be enforced.

Studies of physician fear of prosecution have been done, which conclude that prosecutions of honest doctors prescribing such pain-killers are rare.
[...]
Once-in-a-lifetime users of medical marijuana are also collateral damage in the war on drugs. Writing for the majority, Justice Stevens said, with approval: "Congress was particularly concerned [in 1970] with the need to prevent the diversion of drugs from legitimate to illicit channels." Some argue, including proponents of drug legalization, that a Supreme Court imprimatur for medical marijuana would have no relevance to campaigns to legalize recreational use of this and other drugs. I don't believe that. There isn't much self-restraint in our activist politics.

What now? My guess is 99.99% of medical marijuana users won't get prosecuted. Society's disapproval of marijuana stays in place, but patients get their drug. Live and let live. Benevolent hypocrisy comes in handy in a free country when public politics, as now, often makes sensible solutions impossible.

I think I might make a ThreeSources.com T-Shirt that says "The Last Federalist." I'll send an XL to Justice Thomas.

So Glad I'm Livin' in the USA

I have had ten weeks to think about health care. My wife had a stroke at the end of March. I have watched with wonder and amazement the incredible high standards of care available in the U.S. system. I have zero doubt that she would have died had this happened almost anywhere else.

I also have had a front row seat for the insane hybrid payment system we have. This system is broke, kids There is little or no free market component to control costs or encourage innovation. Commode chairs, walkers, and wheelchair parts are exorbitantly priced. Like body parts for cars, insurance pays so who cares? Everything is inefficient and bureaucratic. And that’s all for a guy with fairly decent coverage.

David Asman, a FOXNews personality, had a guest Editorial in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. His wife, a young non-smoker like my wife, also had a stroke. She had hers in London and Mr. Asnan compares the care.

He gives the British National Health Service (NHS) hospital high marks on several issues, most notably the skill, competence, and compassion of the medical staff.

The emergency workers who came within five minutes were wonderful. The two young East Enders looked and sounded for all the world like a couple of skinhead soccer fans, cockney accents and all. But their professionalism in immediately stabilizing my wife and taking her vitals was matched with exceptional kindness. I was moved to tears to see how comforting they were both to my wife and to me. As I was to discover time and again in the British health system, despite the often deplorable conditions of a bankrupt infrastructure, British caregivers--whether nurses, doctors, or ambulance drivers--are extraordinarily kind and hardworking. Since there's no real money to be made in the system, those who get into public medicine do so as a pure vocation. And they show it.

His piece does not blast the care, even though he brings up some highly negative items.

When I covered Latin America for The Wall Street Journal, I'd visit hospitals, prisons and schools as barometers of public services in the country. Based on my Latin American scale, Queen's Square would rate somewhere in the middle. It certainly wasn't as bad as public hospitals in El Salvador, where patients often share beds. But it wasn't as nice as some of the hospitals I've seen in Buenos Aires or southern Brazil. And compared with virtually any hospital ward in the U.S., Queen's Square would fall short by a mile.

The equipment wasn't ancient, but it was often quite old. On occasion my wife and I would giggle at heart and blood-pressure monitors that were literally taped together and would come apart as they were being moved into place. The nurses and hospital technicians had become expert at jerry-rigging temporary fixes for a lot of the damaged equipment. I pitched in as best as I could with simple things, like fixing the wiring for the one TV in the ward. And I'd make frequent trips to the local pharmacies to buy extra tissues and cleaning wipes, which were always in short supply.

In fact, cleaning was my main occupation for the month we were at Queen's Square. Infections in hospitals are, of course, a problem everywhere. But in Britain, hospital-borne infections are getting out of control. At least 100,000 British patients a year are hit by hospital-acquired infections, including the penicillin-resistant "superbug" MRSA. A new study carried out by the British Health Protection Agency says that MRSA plays a part in the deaths of up to 32,000 patients every year. But even at lower numbers, Britain has the worst MRSA infection rates in Europe. It's not hard to see why.
[..]
Having praised the caregivers, I'm forced to return to the inefficiencies of a health system devoid of incentives. One can tell that the edge has disappeared in treatment in Britain. For example, when we returned to the U.S. we discovered that treatment exists for thwarting the effects of blood clots in the brain if administered shortly after a stroke. Such treatment was never mentioned, even after we were admitted to the neurology hospital. Indeed, the only medication my wife was given for a severe stroke was a daily dose of aspirin.

I am glad things worked out for them, but this was a woman who recovered on a combination of compassionate care, aspirin, and physical therapy. To get even this required the foreign journalist to pull strings, pay for private procedures and confer with a U.S. specialist.

My wife required three and a half hours of brain surgery. She spent two weeks in a very clean ICU with modern equipment (all but the machine that goes “bing!”) They monitored her Inter Cranial Pressure in real time, along with heart rate, respiratory rate, O2 levels, temperature, blood pressure. She received daily CT-scans and frequent MRIs and chest X-Rays. She was flown on a helicopter from the hospital nearest out house to one that could provide this level of surgery and care.

I didn’t make calls and pull strings to get this, nobody recognized me as a famous blogger. This is available to anyone. Insurance and payment came later.

I wish Mr. Asman and his wife the best; I couldn’t be happier that it worked for them. But reading his story, I cannot consider it a defense of socialized medicine – to me it is an indictment.

Canadian High Court Shrugs

Given the rulings of the past week by both bodies I have to ask, "Can we trade Supreme Courts with Canada?" As a free American, I have been blissfully ignorant to the fact that private medical insurance and private health care service in Canada is, against the law! Canada's Supreme Court acted today to end this travesty. Quebec Private Health Insurance Ban Nixed.

"The justices have taken a year to rule on a case that began in 1997, when George Zeliotis, an elderly Montreal men, tried to pay for hip replacement surgery rather than wait nearly a year for treatment at a public hospital."

Where lower courts have ruled that "the collective right to a publicly funded system is more important than individual rights" the high court took the opposite view. "In its ruling Thursday, the court said the provincial policy violates the Quebec charter. But they split 3 - 3 on whether it violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, meaning there is no immediate impact on the Canadian health-care system as a whole."

But the statists in Quebec City aren't taking this lying down. "Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Benoit Pelletier says Quebec could use the notwithstanding clause of the Quebec Charter of Rights to override the Supreme Court's decision on access to private health care."

What do Canada's comrades and freemen think of the ruling? Here are some examples: (All emphasis mine.)

First, the comrades:

We need to look at values here. The constantly expanding gap between rich and poor is sending us backward to the dark days before medicare. The mean world of conservatism descends.

Those who subscribe to social darwinism are having their way, at the expense of the less fortunate. If you've got the money, then you must deserve the best! That's what they think. Those who can't compete get what's left. It's a sad sad commentary on the evolution of humanity.
Lee Carruthers | Carmacks, Yukon

Why should someone receive medical care immediately just because one can afford to pay while another gets shoved to the back merely because they cannot. It should be decided upon one's immediate medical need not the almighty buck.
Bob Beer | Iona Station, Ontario

The people that are applauding this decision have one thing in common - GREED.
Mike D Potter

It is a self-evident truth that insurance companies sell policies with the premiums geared to risk vis a vis the bottom line profit picture.
Adrian Davies | Toronto

Yo, Adrian. Why is it not self-evident to you that Canada's service-on-demand (when we get to you) medical system is a dismal failure precisely because there is no bottom-line profit picture?

How any Canadian could actually desire paying even more for private insurance, rather than developing an effective public system, boggles my mind, leading me to conclude that we are becoming an ever-more individualistic and self-interested society. How un-Canadian.
Matt Vidler | Peteborough, Ontario

If this is the definition of "un-Canadian" count me in! But the next one is my favorite:

The concept that the right to buy private health insurance to pay for private health-care is universal is purely hypothetical. If you don't have the financial resources, you don't have the right to buy private health-care regardless of what the law says.

Once health-care becomes a commodity, it is available only to those who can afford it. How is that a "universal" right? Anyone who believes that this will not reduce access within the public system is dreaming in techni-colour. The Supreme Court should be ashamed of its disgraceful action.
Greg Gowing | Ontario

Greg clearly confuses "right" with "demand."</