SteynOnline

Letter of the week

THE SEA IS STAYING PUT

I am a tax refugee from Edmonton, been one for 16 years. No plans to go back. Alas, not the reason for my letter. As the title suggests, it’s about sea level.

Was on a harbor launch with one the assistant hydrographers from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore yesterday. Now, for those readers who do not know what a hydrographer is its basically a surveyor for the sea, someone who maps the oceans, the makers of nautical charts and all that. Now, if there is anyone who should know about sea levels, its a hydrographer. So, the topic about global warming, climate change (or whatever the latest moniker is now) came up and after the laughter died down I asked a direct question, "Have any of the tide gauges around Singapore shown any measurable rise in sea level?". Answer, "No". How many years of data do they have? Roughly 60 years at various locations and the sea level is the same it was when the British were still running the port of Singapore 50 years ago. In fact, the hydrographer added that they had multiple queries from the Ministry of the Environment and the National Environment Agency because those bodies did NOT believe that sea level was not rising because that's not what the UN says.

But then if you read anything from junkscience.com, this is not surprising. There is no port in the world that is reporting that sea level is rising. We did a project in Trinidad last year and there was some bally-hoo about rising sea levels at port Stanley. But the project we were doing had to do with defamation monitoring of the tectonic plates in Trinidad with the University of the West Indies. The geophysics prof in change of the project related how he had to spend hours explaining to cabinet ministers that sea level was was not rising but that that particular corner of Trinidad was sinking, being pushed under the South American Plate by natural tectonic forces. For an island that is only roughly 25 miles by 25 miles, Trinidad has 3 major fault lines, the north of the island is on the same plate as Tobago, the south is on 2 different plates all moving in different directions, makes things very interesting with respect to property boundary surveys which is of course what our project was related to.

The interesting thing about all of this is how reality has been conveniently shoved aside and replaced with all of the IPCC rubbish from the UN. I mean, lets use the Canadian government for example, they spend untold millions of dollars every year to run the Canadian Hydrographic Service. You'd think that at least ONE cabinet minister would have the common sense to call the boys up at the CHS and ask the very simple questions, "Is sea level rising or not?". But they don't. Mark, this fits in very nicely with your thesis about how all of our cultural elites are increasing out of touch with the main stream and with reality.

Checking sea level is so easy, just call the port authority of the nearest sea water port to you and ask. They've been monitoring tides for years and the answers will all be the same, "From our numbers, there is no indication that sea level is rising."

The question begs, why does the IPCC ask? We all know why, because they don't want to hear the answer.

John Edward Serink
Product Applications Engineer,
Singapore

HE WHO RECREATES IS LOST
My two (or three cents) on this insanity that Murtha has started re tour length and time at home.  First:  To be really good at combat you have to train for it for a long time.  Second:  To be really, really good at it you have to be in combat for a long time!!  The skills, intuitions, reactions to combat situations improve the more they are faced.  Now, this simple fact is ignored by those who oppose any and all use of force in the world, however, that does not negate it. Battle hardened warriors are vital to the survival of a country. Congressional mandates of tour length and time at home clearly interfere with the Commander in Chief’s role and will place this country at risk.  Given the Democrat Party’s embracing of America-is-always-wrong positions over the past 50 years, this should be no surprise.  

Perhaps it is time to remove restrictions on members of the “all volunteer” military from criticizing Congress??  Just a thought. 

By the way.  Though the MSM touts Murtha as a “decorated Marine” he is what we used to call a REMF (Rear Echelon M#$%@& F*&%$#)!!  His time as a supply troop in the rear should not be overblown to make him an Audie Murphy as Kerry tried to do!!

George Hawks
Southlake, Texas 
(Retired Fighter Pilot)

PUNCHING THEIR CAREER TICKETS
Your note on the Murtha slow bleed restrictions stuck a chord with my experience.  I am an Army reserve officer and served a year of mobilized active duty after 9-11.  I was appalled at the selfish attitudes of active duty folks who wanted to get home to momma or otherwise continue to punch their career tickets on schedule after 90 days in  the Persian Gulf,  but nonetheless they weren’t about to put many of us reservists to full and productive use in their stead.  I recalled how my father, and many like him, had enlisted in the Navy during WW2 “for the duration” – Dad didn’t come home until mid 1946, too, as it was First In, First Out.  I demobilized quite frustrated with these entrenched entitlement and careerist attitudes, so I worry that, despite the overwhelming attitude of sacrifice we see in the deployed troops in Iraq, Murtha’s call might yet fall on fertile ears in their families at home et al.

Theodore M. Cooperstein
Miami, Florida
HAPPY TO BE OVERSEAS
I did 21 years in the Air Force.  A good bit of that time I was in what the command called  a "High Demand, Low Density" type of unit.  We were typically deployed for 150 - 220 days to Southwest Asia or other points every year.  Many of us actually enjoyed the chance to be stationed overseas with our family for a 2 or 3 year period, where we would only deploy for 90 - 100 days a year.  It does wear on you to a point, and it is tough to get all your training done in the short periods at home, but it is not impossible to do for years on end.

Robert Bartee
Fort Worth MITS MURTHA’S MURKY PLAN
When I was at sea in the 1980s, in peacetime, we didn't spend two years between deployments.  Neither did the Marines I was on shore duty with. Murtha has picked a course to make the actual use of the Army and Marine Corps impossible, anywhere.

Ed Ahlsen-Girard

DRIVING A WEDGE
The real purpose of Murtha's proposal is to try and drive a wedge between the troops and their commander and chief. People like  Murtha are frustrated that the troops remain loyal to their commander.

Jonathan A Dyar

WE WOULDN’T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING
I spent 21 years in the U.S. Navy, six at sea and five in Japan, arriving at the latter in 1975 with wife and two three-year olds.  Yeah, the culture shock was considerable and took a while to overcome (months).   But to this day, my wife and I agree that we wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.  And I still think being at sea (with limits) is way cool.

Tom GroomeA DIFFICULT SEASON
Words can express the grief and anger I feel over what I see happening in the US Congress regarding support for the war and the troops in Iraq. I hope you'll highlight Senator Schumer's comments in an upcoming column. Because the Senate debate was held on Saturday, not many Americans had the opportunity to hear the senator's words. 

“There will be resolution after resolution, amendment after amendment . . . just like in the days of Vietnam ,” Schumer said. “The pressure will mount, the president will find he has no strategy, he will have to change his strategy and the vast majority of our troops will be taken out of harm’s way and come home.”

Between Murtha's "slow bleed" and Schumer's "just like Vietnam" strategies, we are in for a very difficult season indeed.

Thank you for your part in communicating truth to the American people.

Anna Bastounes
A Teacher in Texas

 WHAT DEMOCRAT WAR?
"But one day Democrats and Hagelian Republicans might find themselves in a war even they want to win"

Even in my wildest imagination I can't imagine what that war would be. The Mexicans could invade Texas and these people would call it a quagmire after two weeks and be calling for a negotiated settlement to demilitarize the Rio Grand.

John C Kluge
Georgia

 QUIZ CONGRESS
You wrote in NRO's "the Corner" of America's legislators vast lack of interest in the Iraq War in any aspect.  How about devising a short quiz for Congress, their aides, and the rest of us? I have been reading some of the speeches of members of Congress about the "non-binding" but embarrassing vote.  My God, the ignorance! They don't know anything about the war, from either side, they are completely ignorant about the military and what they do.

I know, I know, you're writing as fast as you can, and it is appreciated deeply.

Drennan Lindsay

SPEWING NONSENSE
I've listened to you spew your nonsense on Hannity for some time now. I know I won't change your mind, but I do need to try and make you aware of your nonsense.

Victory in Iraq is a nonsensical term. From our perspective we'd like to see a stable, democratic, western biased country, but that has nothing to do with victory, especially military victory.

The "Iraqi People" is also a nonsensical term, since there are so many different factions in Iraq, each wanting something different. If the United States imposes a military solution it will be imposing a solution on the backs of and against the wishes of one or more factions of the "Iraqi People." We'll be imposing a "dominant culture" on everybody in Iraq.

Your idea that once the president makes a war everyone has to subordinate themselves to the war is idiotic. And the idea that we must all speak in favor of the war - any war - because people in other countries will take heart if we criticize the war is - you can't see this? - making the people in other countries our masters.

You are an ass.

Steve McKinney
Proud Liberal
MARK REPLIES: “There are so many different factions in Iraq, each wanting something different.” Okay. How many “different factions” are there? And how different are the things that “each” of those factions wants? Evidently, you’re not an ass, so I assume you can put a rough number on it. If not, one might get the impression that saying the place is full of irreconcilable factions is just an excuse for throwing one’s hands up: oh, it’s all so complicated, Sunnis, Shia, who can keep on top of it all? Lots of places are full of “different factions”: Belgium, Switzerland, Fiji, India, Northern Ireland, Quebec… Iran, come to that. If America now has a McKinney Doctrine of only intervening in countries with no factions, it won’t be much of a superpower.

SERVE FOR THE DURATION
Amen.

I have wondered for years when this policy of rotating troops home for a “dwell period” before going back to the war theater started. What happened to the WWII policy of serving for the duration?

I just watched the last episode of “Victory At Sea” on PBS this weekend,   and those servicemen were away for years at a time. Now, I have friends in the service,  and I understand the family hardships as well as anyone not serving themselves,  but really, all of this talk about “breaking the force” is ca-ca.

Gen. Pace said that the definition the Marines have of breaking the force is not having the desired time home between deployments. Nothing to do with combat effectiveness,  just time off before going back. And then the Commandant issued new orders Corps-wide saying that anyone who wants to go to war,  should be given the chance. Apparently the biggest complaint he hears from Marines is that they don't have the chance to go fight. The Commandant had to order all unit commanders to give those volunteering to go to the fight the chance to go. According to him,  only 1/2 the Corps has been in the fight so far,  even though some have had 3 or 4 tours. An old swim coach of mine is a US Navy SEAL and I see his mom frequently.  She says his biggest complaint is that his team hasn't been in the fight enough!  Granted, SEALs are a tad more gung-ho than your average serviceman,  but I think the point is the same.

Mike Miller
Villanova, Pennsylvania

P.S.,  I've tried to join the Marines 3 times and the Air Force twice since 9/11 and they won't take me because of my bad knees so I say “phhbbttttt!!!” to those who would call me a chicken.  “Say it to my face, pinko!” is what I say.

MARK REPLIES: You ask about World War Two. By most accounts, there was a measurable difference in performance between those US troops who shipped to Britain for a couple of weeks, then were moved to a relatively low-key part of the Continent for cultural acclimatization and then were pitched into the heart of the fighting, and those who went straight from the US to a major combat zone. The idea of giving troops a two year break home in Montana and then sending them back to Ramadi would have struck most commanders of 60 years ago as good neither for the men nor the war effort.

FINISHING THE JOB
There were plenty of Marine and Army Divisions that left the US in 1942, and didn't come back until after the war (if they came back at all).

Dave Taggart
US Army, retired
Calhoun, Georgia

ANYONE FOR VENICE?
You included a bit from a response to your objection to Murtha's proposal, in which your correspondent mentions:

“I have served over 10 of my 19 years in the military overseas and it is wearing in a way that you, who has probably spent all of your time "on the continent" in the Intercontinental sipping your champagne brunches on the Grand Canal in Venice cannot possible comprehend. STFU.”

My guess is that it wasn't too wearing, otherwise he would have left the service at the first opportunity following his first overseas assignment.  He doesn't say when he was overseas, or under what conditions, but a complaint like this sounds too much like the guys who join the military because it will pay for their college complaining about being required to, you know, actually use their military skills!

Bob Powell
PEO-Weapons IT Support Team (96 CG/SCD)
Florida

POINT OF GRAMMAR
I find the email taking you to task for your criticism of John Murtha highly dubious.  This guy, who admits he is a foreigner and someone who hasn’t served in the military, has the nerve to criticize you for expressing opinions about US Military personnel policies.  And then he reverses course and claims to have served from at least age 9 to age 19 in the US military overseas and criticizes you for frequent pleasurable travel to the “continent”!  If what he says is true, there sure are things worth criticizing in how we recruit our troops!  This is what happens when you don’t apply yourself in school (in his case, apparently, 4th grade) – you end up mentally confused and stuck in the army.

Phil Brown

 MORE QUALIFIED THAN MOST
I feel as though I should begin this letter with the obligatory barrage of compliments and praise, as this is the first time I have decided to write you. As they would say in the world of talk radio, "First time, long time". I really won't bore you by rambling on about how much I love your works, your wit and you website.

With that out of the way, I'd like to comment on a reader reaction in the Corner this morning. More  specifically, the negative and eloquent (STFU?) comment. This type of reaction has always been something that has bothered me, and I say this as a veteran, a light infantry "grunt", who has worn out more than a few pairs of boots. Anyone who has served, or is serving would probably not utter such nonsense. I know I am not the only one who would gladly serve so that others never have to.

I also think it is important to recognize that everyone plays a role during a time of war, and that it is utterly selfish to diminish the role of others because you happen to be serving on active duty. Someone like yourself, or Victor Davis Hanson or most folks at National Review are able to influence opinion, able to present facts, are able to stimulate thoughtful debate, as well as debunk the "facts" that are presented by those who would like to see us fail. Anyway, I know you don't need anyone to tell you this, but I'm pretty sure you can go ahead and comment on personnel decisions. I'm certain you're qualified than most.

Jim Courtney

 REDEPLOY FROM EUROPE
If he spent 19 years in the military, then by definition 10 years overseas wasn't "too much," as much as he might have preferred to be stationed in San Diego.  Now, if Murtha is calling for the withdrawal of troops from Western Europe, then more power to him.

Carl Friddle

CONGRESSIONAL MEDDLING
He writes, “I don't think you are remotely qualified to comment on how the US Military makes its personell decisions.”

But we’re not talking about the MILITARY making decisions. We’re talking about CONGRESS making decisions, decisions that can do nothing but handcuff “the military.” Some lawmakers are so eager to hamstring President Bush they’re willing to work through our military to do it. As you wrote back in the Fall, “lawmakers always give money for the programs the military doesn’t want, and take it away from the programs the military does want.” Congress meddles enough without this new effort.

Rich Tucker

MARK REPLIES: Yes, indeed. That’s the point. We’re talking about legislators like Murtha attempting to usurp in-theater decisions by the military commanders. But apparently Mister STFU is okay with that.

CONGRESSIONAL SHOWDOWN
If the Dems in Congress pass a law restricting the president's authority to deploy troops at intervals that he, as Commander in Chief, deems fit, it will provoke a constitutional showdown that the Dems will almost certainly lose.

The president's status as leader of the Armed Forces is plenipotentiary, bounded only by congressional delimits on funding, war authorization, military legal structures, and the organization of the forces. How often this or that regiment may be deployed into a congressionally-authorized war zone is not within congressional authority to decide. If it is, then the constitutional role of "Commander in Chief" is utterly vitiated.

S Allen Riley

STYMYING OUR SOLDIERS
So Murtha's military experience and knowledge is finally being used to advance the Democrat Party agenda, he was able to come up w/ a very good way to stymie use of troops for almost anything.

Charles Neely

THE ROTTENEST, SLIMIEST CONGRESS EVER TO CONVENE
Do you know that poem that begins....Milton thou should'st be living at this hour: England hath need of thee: she is a fen of stagnant waters, alter, sword and pen....

I can't remember the rest of it, and frankly I can't even remember too much about Milton and why he would have been helpful in England's low time. But I have been thinking of useful men from America's own hard battles in the past: Washington, Lincoln, even Truman that feisty little haberdasher with the courage of a lion. Washington, Lincoln, Truman: you all should be living at this hour because America has need of you, she is a fen of the rottenest, slimiest Congress ever to convene. Please come back and lead us out of the dreadful, half-witted, political sinkhole of congressional pandering we find ourselves in.

But they aren't coming back to help us, are they, Mr Steyn?

Which brings me to my point. You are now the best voice of reason, of courage, and of victory in our enfeebled, endangered democracy today. It is your voice that echoes the great courage of past leaders who led and formed us into the powerful yet benevolent nation that we are. But may not be for much longer. You, Mr Steyn, a foreigner in America yet with the heart and voice of a lion for freedom throughout the world.

America has great need of you now.

Sara McLain
Pennsylvania

WRONG AND INCOMPETENT
So this cartoon doesn't capture all the nuance you'd like it to?

Steyn it's time to face facts:

- There really was a rush to war, and if Bush had been right no one would remember that, but now that he's turned out to be utterly, tragically wrong and incompetent on so many levels, it's a legitimate worry for a hawk that we're completely bogged down and distracted.

- If the CIA discovered hard evidence of enriched uranium in Iran tomorrow, and international coordination were required to do something about it, we know two things for sure:
- without Iraq, and after Afghanistan, we'd surely would have easily been able to get help and coordinate a response - in reality right now, we surely would not get this help

You're a smart guy Steyn. It'll be interesting to see if you're one of the true believers on the right who will take this grand empirical lesson into account and grow, and lead the way with reformed neoconservatism (or some other rational proposal that takes the Iraq failure into account), or alternatively whether you'll be writing apologist books 20 years from now stating that we were winning, and had the bad people on the other side I always knew were bad not screwed us over, we'd have won (the 80's Republican line on Vietnam - plus it'd surely sell, there are plenty of wrong people out there waiting for someone to tell them they were right all along). Or maybe blame the generals or the troops or the public or my cat.

Steve Conover

MITT’S TABLE MANNERS
I just saw Mitt Romney on O'Reilly. My wife and I came away feeling fairly depressed.

We hoped he'd say "I'll do whatever it takes to win in Iraq because we and the rest of the world cannot afford for the United States of America to be defeated by Islamofascists. If we leave without winning it will be the first great victory for global Jihad."

Instead he said something along the line of "Let's wait for a few months and see what happens. If we're not winning by then we can talk of other options."

Very depressing. Didn't a very successful American President not long ago say "We win. They lose"? Now, that's a leader! Now that's moral clarity!

Then, when Romney was asked if he'd use force to prevent Iran form getting the bomb we hoped he'd say" "I will not permit Iran to get nuclear weapons. If diplomacy fails I will use America's military to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons—because if they get nuclear weapons tens of millions of innocent people will die."

Instead he said that "we shouldn't take anything off the table."

Very, very depressing.

Cliff Their

MARK REPLIES: In fairness to Governor Romney, I sat opposite him at dinner and I didn’t see him taking anything off the table. But you’re right: his Iraq rhetoric seems to have become a bit de-butched of late.

PERPETUAL LOSERS
I read the February 16 AP version of the Badhdad offensive - apparently we've lost before we've even taken off there:

 "The Pentagon hopes its current campaign of arrests and arms seizures will convince average Iraqis that militiamen are losing ground. Yet each explosion is another reminder of the militants' resources and resolve (emphasis mine)…"

And this sums up the argument explaining why we are losing - because there are enemies who are still fighting.

Are these enemies winning territory, facilities, or the population to their cause? No, but that doesn't matter, they are still fighting, therefore we lose. Is their violence spreading? No, it's pretty well limited to Baghdad and Anbar province, but that doesn't matter, they are still fighting. Schools are being built, infrastructure rebuilt, economy picking up - but that doesn't matter, because they are still fighting. So we are losing.  Time to pull the troops out.

 After the second A-bomb was dropped, many Japanese refused to give up the fight (see Gordon Prange - "God's Samurai"). So, post Nagasaki, the US was losing by the current reasoning.

 Decades after VE Day, Neo-nazis continued to commit acts of violence in Germany. Conclusion?  We lost WWII.

 And just look at the US: racism is rampant (at least according to the left). We all know that the source of racism is the white ante-bellum South.  Conclusion?  The South won The War!!  Let's redeploy all US forces currently based in the South!

 We're just perpetual losers!

 Your Biggest Fan In France

J Gildard

WHIPPED CURS
I read your column on America's pending defeat in the Middle East in conjunction with Hillary Rodham's ninety day notice to our enemies that we will start our withdrawal from the field of battle slinking like whipped curs towards Okinawa.

In my days at UC Berkeley, I remember the Leninist adage:  "Capitalism causes Imperialism causes War."  While the Soviet Union and the Communist doctrines may have faded in the aftermath of our victory in the Cold War, the leftist seeds are sprouting and spreading in a manner that is reminiscent of the Mongols becoming more Chinese than the Chinese themselves until they were overwhelmed. And of course, the United States is the greatest of culprits being the greatest capitalist nation..

The Democrats in many ways, with the possible exception of World War II, have been a "peace" party as exemplified by the Copperheads during the Civil War, their animosity towards Wilson in WW1, and of course Korea and Vietnam. This tendency now has been grafted on to socialism which at its base draws its nourishment from Communism. Thus, the attack against religion (Christianity), corporations, the family, and of course, the war against Radical Islam. Thus the domination of academics, media, and entertainment and the growing politicization of every facet of life to include Bush's beloved ESPN. Thus the loyalty to party above all else....Thus the chains of political correctness which stifles free expression on vital issues and prevents us from rallying.

The cold harpy fury and yelling of an outraged Hillary saying that she is a patriot inspite of her criticism of the war, stilled the voices of the Republican party. It is a shame at this key moment in our history that aside from columnists, bloggers, and talk radio, we don't have real leadership. And I shudder to think what will happen to the morale and future willingness of soldiers to go into battle after a second Vietnam.

And Bush, who I think has turned the other cheek attitude towards his political enemies and has a wish to be loved like Richard Nixon, has done everything he can to mollify the Democrats when what is needed is the gauntlet to be thrown down against the left. The leaders of the West, Chirac, Merkel, Olmert, and Bush, all are mediocre at best. We should have mass mobilized as soon as the twin towers fell, but now will have to wait until the barbarians have crossed the Jura Alps and laid waste to several of our cities.

Keep blowing Stand To Mark. Perhaps there is a leader or two out there who will rally us.

Major "K"
HURTING MORALE ON THE HOME-FRONT
If Iraq were an island nation it would be up and running today. Two years ago you ran a letter of mine in which I questioned (in the early aftermath of the Abu Ghraib mess, and after a whole bunch of related photos had been published ) McCain's silly suggestion EVEN MORE of the existing pics be published.

I opined that McCain wanted to hurt morale on the home-front....while Syria and Iran were doing their stuff in Iraq. McCain must be awfully tired these days. He's been in "primary mode" since early 2000.

John Gross
Beloeil, Quebec

THE DRUMBEAT OF DEFEATISM
Your columns are a daily dose of sanity in an insane world.

At this point I'm simply numb to the pacifist, socialist media and Democrat drumbeat of defeatism that is losing the Iraq war via public opinion and further emboldening the terrorists for even more spectacular homicide bombing, chemical, and nuclear attacks on our cities. I won't even get into the laundry list of domestic issues that are ruining this country as well.

What's even more disappointing is that the strongest Americans are hard working conservatives yet for decades we've let the left control the discussion via the media and activism. Are we going to sit quietly while the socialists among us slow bleed this country into France or is there any conservative in the wilderness with a backbone that can rally conservatives to take our country back via the same means the socialists use - massive pro-America, pro-military, and pro-conservative demonstrations in the millions.

I've circled the wagons around my family but is it just me against the world or is there anyone to rally the conservative troops to the streets?

May God bless you and yours.

Troy
Mason, Ohio

Re: Bewitched by boarding schools
J K ROWLING’S SOCIALIST PALS
Steady on there - this is J K Rowling you are talking about, close friend of (Communist, let's face it) Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown, she is an Edinburgh based real kicker in of the Conservative Classes (the Dursleys are “Daily Mail readers” who believe in Capital Punishment - much like me - it is lovely to be a Conservative parody percolated around the world, especially to liberal China, where Rowling is a multi million selling writer) My favourite City in the world is Edinburgh, my favourite piece of architecture in my favourite City is Heriot's School, the gothic school building which she based Hogwarts on and who this vastly rich woman has an intimate connection with.

I would far rather live in civilised Edinburgh  (which I visit whenever I can) than the vicious, ignorant South East of England (which I have to), presided over and destroyed by  privileged Scots Socialists (Tony Blair was educated at Fettes, the one Edinburgh school regarded as superior to Heriots - there was Robin Cook, George Robertson, Gordon Brown himself, John Reid, one loses count of the Scottish Labour confreres).

These people (who Rowling is an acquaintance and supporter of) have deliberately and systematically destroyed the England I grew up in - and is herself a saleswoman of the Occult to a mass market of middle class child book readers - you have often declared a simple Christian belief - how can you speak so blithely of her? We all know how these sick people love to ‘subvert’ as they call it. Hence the darker more obscene and violent tone of the later novels and films.

Guy Reid-Brown
Kent, England

Re: Who Cairs?
REFLECTED GLORY
Simple answer to Lisa Schiffrin's question: A group becomes a significant domestic constituency when its values, its objectives, or both, reflect the culture of the nation's newsrooms and faculty lounges (two twilit zones which have become pretty much interchangeable).

I think of it as Pauline Kael Syndrome ("I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don't know. They're outside my ken. But sometimes when I'm in a theater I can feel them.") Pauline Kael Syndrome is in turn a post-50s version of Fran Dodsworth Syndrome--if you've ever read the book, which like all of Sinclair Lewis is simultaneously dreadful and fascinating, you will remember Sam Dodsworth's wretched wife whose highest ambition was to be thought of as "European".

For these cleverboots Opinion Leaders, CAIR represents primarily a weapon with which to mow down those unseen but disturbing presences in the theatre--the creepy American
Other, with its racism, its nationalism, its sexism, its homophobia, its unEuropean food preferences, its NASCAR, its WalMart, its...well, you get it.

Buying into CAIR allows them all to feel enlightened and cosmopolitan, the way they do when they're bashing '24' or banning language or sending actors into rehab for criticism
and self-criticism or urging the mass lynching of lacrosse players. Ever since American intellectuals got to stop having actually to KNOW anything in order to get ahead in
life, this sort of shoddy ideological short-hand has inevitably swooped in to fill the spectacular void between their ears.

On a side note, do forgive me for rambling on, I know correspondents like me can be immensely annoying presences in your emailbox, but as an invalid, I must say it brightens my day to be able to read and respond.

Deborah Weiss
LADIES RUN LOOSE
You know the real reason is the Ladies' Aid Society won't put out a fatwa or cut off your head? Or even just torch that nice new Beemer parked in the editor's reserved spot? Perhaps, reading your note, the Ladies Aid Society will catch on and change its tactics.

Stuart Koehl
Falls Church, Virginia

MARK REPLIES: You’re right, of course. If the Catholics object to your play, who cares? If the Muslims do, you close it out of town.

Re: Song of the Week
HOW HIGH THE NOON?
Thanks for the piece on the late Frankie Laine - I usually read your website for the political stuff, but your retrospective on Laine's career was a real treat for this nostalgia-starved old boomer.
One thing, though: you mentioned Frankie moaning about "dooty" and "byooty" in High Noon - wasn't that Tex Ritter who did the theme for High Noon? (If that was a slip, it's quite understandable. The first time I heard Randy Newman sing "Birmingham" back in the seventies I thought it was Ray Charles.) Keep up the good work, politically and musically!

Joe Lorenz
Chester, New York

MARK REPLIES: Tex Ritter sang it over the titles in the movie, but Frankie Laine had the big hit with it. Frankie got to Number Five on the Hit Parade, Tex to Number 12.

THE BOOK OF THE SONG OF THE WEEK
Just read the piece about Frankie Laine.  Wonderful, I loved it.  Wondered if you might be putting together a book of those Song of the Week articles ?  I really enjoy reading all the background about the songs and the people who wrote or sang them.

Thanks for great reading on whatever subject you choose to write about.

Linda Wheeler
Alpine, California

MARK REPLIES: We hope to have a Book Of The Song Of The Week out in a few months or so.

MUST-SEE STALLONE
You wrote:

"Lee Hazelwood overheard some guy in a bar snarling at some departing female, “One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over her”, and wrote it up for Nancy Sinatra."

By the way, have you seen the movie Demolition Man with Stallone? 2032, Los
Angeles, renamed San Angeles, ruled by political correctness. Hilarious. Scary.

Lenina Huxley: Anything not good for you is bad, hence, illegal. Alcohol, caffeine, contact sports, meat . . .
John Spartan: Are you shitting me?
A computer: John Spartan, you are fined one credit for a violation of the verbal morality statute.
John Spartan: What the Hell is that?
A computer: John Spartan, you are fined one credit . . .
Lenina Huxley: Bad language, child play, gasoline, uneducational toys, and anything spicy. Abortion is also illegal. But, then again so is pregnancy, if you don't have a license.

Jacques

MARK REPLIES: “Et maintenant?” is one of the few French songs, I’d say, whose title is superior to the English: “What now, my love?” is fine, preserves the sense, etc, but the addition of those two words makes it far less Gallicly oblique.

Re: Pioneer Jihadists
WAHHABI PROVOCATIONS
You cite Wahhabi provocations in India, and have made sound criticism Dinesh D'Souza's thesis.

Still, I saw a blog post recently about Indian BJP nationalists and Muslim extremists BOTH attacking Indian Christians for their decadent St Valentine's Day customs...

Robert Arvanitis
Connecticut

MARK REPLIES: That’s certainly true. Without Wahhabists, there would still be an element of tension to one degree or another between various types. But so what? Nowhere’s perfect. The fact is the Raj’s 19th century civil servants understood very clearly that allowing Wahhabism to take a hold only made things a gazillion times worse.

SHANIA YES, DARWIN NO
Further to the recent controversy over The King Fahad Academy and its slightly less than culturally sensitive depictions of 'repugnant' jews and porcine Christians, a further insight into how some parts of the Islamic world see their fellow peoples of the book. As a teacher of English as a foreign language I've taught a large number of students from the Muslim world over the last few years. In conversation with a particularly radical (although perfectly nice, if you kept him off the subjects of politics, race, women, sexuality, drugs, pop music etc) young guy from Jordan, I decided to spice up our one to one conversation class by asking him his views on Darwin. After a spot of sardonic laughter he explained to me in the tone usually reserved for wilfully ignorant three year olds, that Darwin was basically wrong on every count, as we are of course Allah's creations. However, after a second's reflection he then caveated this by adding that there was one small element of truth in Darwin's theory. There is, it seems, one group of people who are indeed descended from apes. This group is, of course....drumroll....the Jews !!! Apparently, as a punishment for using drift nets to catch fish on a Saturday Allah turned them in to monkeys for a few thousand years, allowing them to slowly develop back towards humanity (a “scholarly” analysis of this claim in the Koran can be found at: www.memri.org/bin/articles ). Now there's nothing new or surprising in an Islamic extremist believing that Jews come from apes. What was so interesting in this guy's case was that to all intents and purposes he was an intelligent, scientifically minded guy who was fairly open to the west. He had two degrees - one in physics and one in mechanical engineering. He also had a Mickey Mouse watch and was a big Shania Twain fan. And yet he was quite happy to believe this lunatic tale of simian shenanigans from the big hand in the sky. Ever since meeting this guy, I've made a point of raising this story with other Islamic students, and although some are more forceful than others in maintaining the truth of it, there's not a single one who's been prepared to agree with me that it is clearly complete and utter nonsense, even among the most chilled and liberal students who, lunatic beliefs aside, are thoroughly nice chaps. Just a little something to bear in mind next time you hear mention of “moderate” Islam...

Dan Vesty
Shrewsbury, United Kingdom

WHY DINESH IS RIGHT
Yes, Dinesh went off the deep end, but there's much worth contemplating in what he says.

Of course, you are right that the radical Wahhabist don't require Paris Hilton as an inspiration to hate the West.

Yes, notwithstanding the grave damage that can be done by a very few nuts, as on 9/11, in the long run I don't think the Wahhabists can succeed without the support, or at least the sympathy, of rank and file Muslims. And the perceived depravity of a culture that produces a Paris Hilton makes it all that much easier for the Isamist agenda to gain traction among the Muslim rank and file. Paris Hilton and her type, supplying propaganda with more than a grain a truth about the potential downside of Western liberalism, help the Wahhabist to acquire that support and sympathy.

Not only that, the Paris Hiltons of the West do much to undermine our own (much deserved!) sense of moral superiority, which is necessary for us to sustain the will for this fight. Especially among the left, moral depravity leads a self-loathing (which the left attempts, but fails, to mitigate by adopting an even more pernicious relativist morality). It all tends to give rise to a deadly question: "Does a culture that can no longer locate the moral grounds from which to defend its own values deserve to survive?"

As I've written elsewhere: "To sustain ourselves for what will be a very long fight against the Islamofascists, we in the West must first reform ourselves morally, but it seems that the precondition of that reform is a . . .self-criticism which only increases our self-loathing and undermines our will to maintain the struggle.  . . . What's needed now is a Reagan-like figure to save us from the abyss of self-negation, someone who can lead us to what we can become without making us feel quite so dispirited [and internally divided] about what we are."

Herman Jacobs
(blogging sometimes as Bathus at Adeimantus Blog)

 MARK REPLIES: As I think I indicated in my column, I wouldn’t disagree with much of that. It’s certainly the case that one reason third-generation European Muslims are more unassimilated than their grandparents is because of their revulsion at the Paris Hiltonization of the west. But, that said, Dinesh D’Souza goes way overboard in his book – his contempt for Turkey, for example.

HOW OLD MARK STEYN?
Reading your pieces over the last couple of years and turning to Face of the Tiger and hearing you on radio now and again, something puzzles me.  You seem to drop names of people I think were gone by the time you came on the scene as friends or acquaintances of yours.  I thought you were in your 60's or 70's when I first read you and you can't be a day over 50 now that I've seen you.  How the heck did you make the acquaintance of so many tin pan alley and broadway greats of the 20's, 30's and 40's.  They were almost all gone by the 80's and you could not have been more than 30 then.

John J Vecchione, Esq.
Fairfax, Virginia

 MARK REPLIES: Actually, I’m a well-preserved 87.

BOMBS AWEIGH
Why oh why didn't Ford's 1915 "peace delegation" catch a torpedo?

Where is the Kriegsmarine when you need it?

James Perry

TOLKEIN THE DEMOGRAPHER
If you watched "Return of the King" you might recall a scene where Gandalf is talking to Pippin. I can't remember it exactly, but its close to:

I can't find the corresponding lines in the books, but it looks like, decades ago, JRR Tolkien was thinking about cultural and demographic decline...with a loss of confidence and will linked with childlessness, and with trivial pass times and academic navel gazing.

Of course, JRRT was a catholic conservative.

Actually, LoTR is full of demography. Most poignant perhaps is the dying race of Ents, where the entire female population just upped and went off to find themselves and self actualize and see the world,  never having any baby Ents ever again.

Love your writing and your books.

John Ashton

SHOULD I INVEST IN EUROPE?
I just read America Alone and loved it. I am quoting it frequently. I do have one question. Europe is a failing welfare state with immigration problems. If Europe is so weak, why is the dollar worth less than the Euro, and why do money people invest there at all? I need to know this to answer my liberal friends who always think Europe is superior. I hope you can give me an answer.

Lynne Teinert
Albany, Texas

MARK REPLIES: Well, first of all a currency unit per se reveals nothing about the “weakness” or strength of a country. Some countries have a big unit of currency – the pound sterling. Some have a small one – the peso. That’s just the way it is, for historical reasons mainly. One Deutschmark was always worth less than one pound, yet few people would dispute that for the second half of the 20th century the mark was the stronger currency. The Euro was created to be roughly the same as the US dollar. Five years on, one Euro is currently about one and a third dollars. That reflects many things but certainly not the long-term issues discussed in America Alone. As to “money people” investing there, some do, some don’t. But, if you look at economic growth on the Continent, it’s not a pretty picture. Essentially, France has missed out entirely on the boom America’s enjoyed this past quarter-century. In 1979, the British were 20% poorer than the French. Today, they’re 5% richer. They closed the gap and overtook them by being less Continental in their economic affairs and more American. Meanwhile, the Continentals remain wedded to high-prestige flops, like the A380 Airbus, which nobody wants. The fact is that, if the EU nations were to join the American Union, with the exception of Luxembourg they would rank among the poorest states. And that’s mostly due just to economic protectionism: once the aging of the population, the unaffordability of the entitlements and the greater demands of Muslim immigrants really start to take hold, you’re going to see the economic flatlining tail off very steeply. As for whether many “money people” see this trend, Don Coxe, the Bank of Montreal’s investment strategist, has a fascinating piece in BMO’s monthly newsletter suggesting that prudent investors would be wise to consider whether Paris, Brussels and Berlin really are such sound investments given what’s on the horizon.

THE COMING COMET
hello, Mark, huge fan since you used to occasionally appear in NR: there is no greater heir to the mastery of D. Keith Mano and Florence King than you.

Surfing today and I found something that only you can handle - UN asked to deal with asteroid threat - 1/45000 chance an asteroid will hit us in 2036.  Between the idea of politically correct blue helmeted astronauts unable to actually use force to deal with it, Food for Ore potential, and idiot politicians thinking we are exporting the baseball steroid issue, it is ripe for you.   Hope to see you taking this one on.

Joe Ullman
Falmouth, Maine

IT’S NOT FUNNY

“Andrew, let us not forget the words of Bill Lockyer, California’s Attorney-General and thus the man who represents the state’s “justice” system, speaking in 2002 re Ken Lay:

‘I would love to personally escort Lay to an 8 x 10 cell that he could share with a tattooed dude who says, 'Hi, my name is Spike, honey.’

“No-one should have to endure rape as a consequence of incarceration[…]”

Quite right, Mark. Nice if you’d get as serious and non-jokey about torture. What is it that makes torture a fit subject for jokes by you, and prison rape not? Is it because the torture you were giggling about was torture of non-Americans? Or because torture of people accused of terrorism is ok? Or what? Really, I’d love to know.

Jonathan McLellan
A tedious, sense of humour failure Brit

MARK REPLIES: No, it’s because I don’t regard making sleep deprivation, reading Harry Potter, playing Barney the Dinosaur records or even waterboarding as equivalent to anal rape resulting in a fatal disease.

SANCTIMONIOUS LIES
You win that contest. Talk about sanctimonious. Jeez. You are about the most sanctimonious person I have read on the web these last few days. I'll bet you're proud of it, too.

This lowers the discourse. But, then most everything on the Corner is about lowering the discourse. It's the only way you guys can win an argument (by appealing to an emotional gut level that has nothing to do with the truth).

You know you'll be forced to deal with the lies you tell yourself (and the rest of the world) when you cross over. Good luck with that. I'm not pure, but I'm not wallowing in the self-denial you are.

Tim Osbourn

MARK REPLIES: Gee, who’s sounding “emotional” here? Have a nice cup of herbal tea and lie down in a darkened room, you’ll soon feel better.