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Thank you for the kind (and unkind) words from Canada, America, Brazil, Britain, Austria and Australia. Mark reads all letters, but especially enjoys the vicious ones. Drop a line to Mark's Mailbox and if you're chosen to be the one-and-only Letter Of The Week you'll join our roll of winners from four continents and receive a copy of "America Alone". It would be helpful if you could indicate your city or town or, at least, your state, province or country. Failing that, your continent or hemisphere will do. For a selection of letters on the immigration amnesty, see Mailbox Extra.
Letter of the Week
THE CIRCLES THAT YOU FIND IN THE COURTHOUSE OF YOUR MIND
Your coverage of the Conrad Black trial is letter perfect, like so much you do. One of your many spot-on observations was how quiet it is in Chicago's skyscraper of a federal courthouse; how rare it is to see any trial in progress among the many courtrooms except for Black's. Sad to say, you need to be both rich and borderline fanatical about your innocence to fight one of
these white collar cases through trial.
The only point I would add is that it's a shame you can't get a simultaneous view of all the empty corridors multiplying dozens and hundreds of times through the other layers of government across the land - all those petty little commissions, boards of appeals, and other quasi-judicial bodies, where there is no such thing as "winning" because the system is rigged to ensure that it costs more to fight the government than any rational person would willingly pay.
It's bad enough that federal judges and prosecutors have so much power to pursue "crimes" with no victims. At least they need to persuade a jury and, in rare cases, are even subject to glaring light such as yours. The lesser bureaucrats, who steal people's livelihoods every day, operate in a space so empty that no one can hear you scream.
So, yes, you are right as rain about the empty corridors at the federal courthouse downtown. But those empty corridors extend like that tunnel that you follow to a tunnel of its own, down a hollow to a cavern, where the sun has never shone, like the circles that you find, in the windmills of your mind.
And if I'm prompted to quote depressing 60's songs to describe state and local government here in Indiana, of all places, you can imagine the rest of the country. Keep up the good fight.
Mark Shere
Indianapolis, Indiana
Re: Collapse of Europe Conference
BATTLES OF THE BULGES
I wanted to draw your attention to this blog post "A continent of losers" at Gates of Vienna where they translated an interview with Gunnar Heinsohn, a German sociologist whose book called "/Söhne und Weltmacht: Terror im Aufstieg und Fall der Nationen/ [Sons and World Domination: Terror in the Rise and Fall of Nations]" has caused quite a stir in Europe. His basic argument is that the demographic phenomenon which he calls "youth bulges" can explain many great historic struggles and also the current confrontation with the Islamic world.
I am from Austria and have read his book (only available in German) some while ago - I always hoped his ideas will somehow get their way into the Anglosphere and here is an opportunity. While I know you are a busy man I would respectfully ask you just to read this one interview. It really chimes quite well with your analysis in "America Alone"
Additionally, it gives me great joy to see that you will meet another one of my favorite European authors on this issue, Henryk Broder who wrote "Hurra, wir kapituliere [Hurray, we are capitulating]" this weekend at the "The Collapse of Europe?"-Conference. I hope that some of the European voices whose analysis are similar to yours will start to get heard in the US. I hope you and the other participants have a productive weekend at Pepperdine and maybe some of
you can come up with helpful ideas and insights on how to deal with this ever-worsening crisis.
Florian Widder
Austria
THE NEW BRITONS
It would appear from this report that dear Old Blighty is going to be finished even earlier than I thought.
Statistics also revealed that 146,944 children were born last year to mothers who did not come from Britain. In 1998 the total was 86,345. Babies born to mothers from overseas accounted for 21.9 per cent of all births last year, up from 20.8 per cent the year before.
Andrew Porter
Australia
ISLAMIC LONDON: BRING IT ON
I trust you saw this. I keep hoping it's a joke, but apparently not. Somewhere Melanie Phillips's head just exploded.
Howard
CAN CANADA BUCK THE TREND?
I just finished reading a MacLeans feature on the decline of the United Kingdom. It was so sad I could barely read it. In Canada, we need to act NOW! to prevent our country from going too far down the same path. I think we've started by electing Stephen Harper, but that’s not enough. What more do you think Canadians need to do to prevent this sort of decay in our country?
Luke
POLICE STATE
In America Alone, you contend - forgive the oversimplification - that Europe is risking turning into a collection of Islamic states.
Do you agree that a more pressing problem for Britain anyway is that it is quick becoming the world's first democratic police state?
The reason I ask is that every few days there is a new story out of Britain about some new police state measure to combat terrorism, or crime, or whatever. E.g. flying drones with cameras, police being allowed to stop anyone on suspicion of terrorism, adding microphones to the existing all-seeing CCTV Big Brother cameras, etc.
Michael Cust
Morinville, Alberta
Re: Live free or die
LIVE FREE, IT’S THE LAW!
No story about NH's "Live Free or Die" would be complete without noting Wooley v. Maynard, the 1977 U.S. Supreme Court case upholding a New Hampshireite's First Amendment right to cover up the state motto "Live Free or Die" on the state license plate.
The Maynards were Jehovah's Witnesses who felt that the state motto violated their religious beliefs, and forcing them to drive around with the motto on their license plate was an infringement of the free exercise of their religion. The State argued (in briefs submitted by NH Attorney General David Souter!) that the State could prevent people from covering up the motto...that it could prevent people from living free!
You just can't make up stuff like this!
Stephen D. Martin
Attorney at Law
Raleigh, North Carolina LIVE FREE WITHOUT THE G.O.P.
I agree the "Live Free or Die" is a great motto and used to define the best traits of the Republican party. However, now the GOP motto seems to be "give up your treasured liberties or get blown up by terrorists." I am personally fed up with the current brand of outrageous spending, big government, anti-liberty, pro-theocracy conservatism. I hope the GOP gets trounced in 2008. Perhaps that will make the party return to its true roots and I'll be able to vote Republican again without feeling nauseous.
Jennifer Pinkley
WHO’S LIVING FREE?
I've been saying this for years. And since my chances of dying in a car crash are exponentially greater than dying in a terrorist attack, "courage" doesn't even really enter the equation. Repeal the Patriot Act, close Guantanamo, restore habeas corpus, get your damn wiretaps out of my phone, restore our constitutional rights. I'll risk the added danger, thank you very much.
Oh, and screw Rudy Guliani and all of you who think "living free" means living like the damn Taliban except it's in the name of God and not Allah.
Steve Welch
Re: Walking the walk
TOO KIND TO BLAIR, TO HARSH ON BUSH
"90% of the time [Bush is] Tony Blair with a ranch?"
C'mon. It's not that great a quip. And it's both too kind to Blair, and too harsh to Bush. (Compare: Blair apologizes abjectly to Iran over the captured Brits. Bush quietly (for domestic consumption) sends a huge battle-fleet to do unannounced wargames just offshore, complete with two supercarriers and those helicopter-carrier monsters carrying about a division of Marines. C'mon.)
Are they passing out hyperbole-gas balloons for sniffing at the NR these days?
Warm regards from a fan,
Bill Dyer a/k/a Beldar (who just bought your book, btw, and doesn't regret it . yet)
PEGGY NOONAN DOES A DICK MORRIS
Peggy Noonan's break with the president is the equivalent of Dick Morris' break with the Clintons. I am fairly certain she can have a job at MSNBC like Morris has at Fox. With Rupert Murdoch on the verge of buying the WSJ, she may need that MSNBC job full-time.
One wonders what other deep-seated reason might account for Noonan's inability to remember her erstwhile boss' famous dicta, the so-called 11th commandment: Do not speak ill of fellow Republicans.
“Robbur” A FINE PRESIDENT
You are, as ever, so sound. I remember in 2000 thinking that Bush was a bit wet. Overall he is a fine President with perhaps the finest Vice-President since Eisenhower's choice.
Your coverage of the Black trial is wonderful. Where can we get the T-shirt?
Daniel Calley
Aghadowey, County Londonderry
RIGHT ABOUT 2000
You are right about 2000 - but even then he didn't elaborate on how extreme his position was - but he said NOTHING about this in 2004. Many, to their regret, thought he had got this out of his system.
As we put it in New York, Bush is an ass-hole.
Daniel
HE DID WHAT HE SAID HE’D DO
I must say it isn't all about her. By personalizing and whining about how George did her wrong she really sounds like a scorned wife. To be precise, he did what he said he would do but did it very badly. He did what he said he'd never do -Nation Build - horribly. He got two things right: taxes and the Supreme Court. He will therefore rank above Carter and Hoover but below nearly everyone else. |
Jennifer
HE’LL SIGN ANYTHING
OK ....but would we have been better off with a President McCain? Or, shudder, a President Gore?
As far as Bush goes....HE is the reason for a balanced government...Executive, Judicial and Legislative.
I believe that Bush made more headway on his domestic agenda because of the "War on Terror" by working across the aisle (Kennedy) to bring more support across the sea. Same with heavy spenders in the Republican Party. Sign anything put in front of him.
A reader from California
I THOUGHT HE WAS JOKING
"President Bush has, broadly speaking, governed as he said he would seven years ago. Unfortunately, a big bunch of sophisticated types in the Republican base told themselves, "Hey, don't worry. This 'compassionate conservative' mumbo-jumbo is just a cunning feint to
sucker the media and the swing voters." Au contraire, he meant it.
There's a lesson there for Republicans."
You nailed it. I personally broke from Bush before his re-election and "threw away" my vote on a third party. Everything I thought he must be joking about (prescription drugs, etc.) he fought hard to get passed.
C. Mark Murrah
Houston, Texas STILL WAITING
Been voting Republican 30 years & still waiting for the payoff.
2004-2006:
1) Death tax abolished? Well, no.
2) Social security privatised? Hit some opposition in the press. Scattered like rabbits.
3) School vouchers? Criticized by the teacher's unions. Threw down their rifles, ran & hid.
4) Fence built?
You know if W had built The Fence between 2000 & 2006, & if W could've concealed some of the more spectacular examples of Republican arrogance, like earmarks & the two-day work week, he'd be king by now & could've passed 90% of this amnesty fiasco with nary a ripple of protest from the 12 surviving Democrats in congress.
Congrats on running the Republican Coalition into the wall, W.
Keep up the good work, Steyn. Glad you decided to become an American. The team is
enhanced.
Brian Perkins Jr
Dallas
Re: When reality’s up for grabs
INSPIRATION IN EIGHTH GRADE
When I was in the eigth grade, we had a new history teacher. He saw it as his duty to disabuse us of many of the myths about American history, and have us read things from the original sources.
We had all grown up with the corny stories about 'young George Washington and the cherry
tree', 'father, I cannot tell a lie', etc... Our first assignment, was to read George Washington's expense account, from his first year in office, as our first president. It was shocking. GW never went anywhere without a carriage and sixtenn horses, etc.. the bill for one year was something like $200,000 [I forget the exact amount], and this was "back in the days when that was REAL MONEY". Needless to say, the SECOND year our feds were in office, they took away the expense account, and gave GW a salary....
Further readings included actual Supreme Court cases, and other eye-opening matters.
By the way, this teacher was a young, liberal-leftist. He definitely had his point of view, and
would share it. But he did NOT neglect to give the other view, with great energy, very convincingly, and in great detail. Class discussions were often a lively back-and-forth between
the liberal and conservative views, as well as some ideas from the middle, and some from out of left field.
This kind of classroom is in stark contrast to today's politically correct, censor-before-the-fact, I-will-give -you-the-only-real-version, -you-don't-need-to-hear-anything-else- style of teaching.
This teacher, and his lessons, are one of the few memorable things that stayed with me from my school days. Too bad today's kids are being systematically deprived of of the opportunity
to examine controversial topics, deprived of the opportunity to THINK about them, discuss them, and defend their ideas and opinions in a public setting.
Josh Aranov
CATCH THEM YOUNG
That is it. That is the truth and the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Amen. We in the US have had our educators many years ago telling us how our school books are being rewritten to omit, or to add or reframe the way things really didn't happened...or as you said; "Didn't happen at all." There is a clear agenda by the Secularist / Far Left in our country to Undo all that we know, believe in and hold dear and true to our way of life. Soros said it a few yrs. ago; we will take control the youth of a nation, control all that they think and all that they are taught and within 12-15 yrs. we will control that nation. We have time. We will soon have their minds, thoughts and all the followers we will need to control a nation; even one as strong as the United States of America. It is being done right now. Right under our nose. No one wants to believe it and think those of us who do, are crazy and paranoid. Thanks for all that you do and all your words. I fear you are a "Candle in the Wind". Submitted with love and respect for you and all your
work. Linda
Linda Longazel
Scottsdale, Arizona
Re: Prancing for Darfur
STARVING PEOPLE, SODA CANS, DOLPHINS, WHATEVER
Your recent Corner Post reminded me of an encounter I had with well-meaning Save Darfur types on the steps of a building at Columbia University. I signed the first and only petition of my life, to send some type of letter to George Bush to get the UN to do something about Darfur. I politely asked them what we could do if the UN refused to act, and they had no idea. I suggested sending guns to the rebels - and their response was "I think there's too many guns over there already". I remarked that the problem was that the wrong people had all the guns - and that in Bosnia and Kosovo the UN was useless, and only NATO dropping bombs finally stopped the ethnic cleansing. They looked at me like I had just walked out of a spaceship. They were completely incapable of attributing responsibility for Darfur to anyone besides George Bush. That experience suggested to me that the vast majority of those carping about Darfur are simply preening, demonstrating their moral superiority by being concerned for something, anything - the murdered in Darfur might as well be unrecycled soda cans, or dolphins caught in tuna nets. They're a bunch of f*cking clowns.
Name withheld
THANKS FOR THE CANDLES, BUT ….
Love your stuff on NRO. Your observations with respect to Darfur and other situations are spot on. I would like to suggest that much of what the 21st century proper leftist Westerner does when responding to violence or other uncomfortable situations are primarily designed to absolve them from personal responsibility, moral responsibility, or tough choices.
With respect to Darfur, the Concerned want to sing Kumbaya, hold hands, and light candles. Sounds like the (Lefty) Officially Sanctioned Response to any terrorist attack. (Darfur is, of course, an activity, sponsored by the same guys who brought us the Cole, 9/11 attacks, Madrid, Bali, and London bombings. The difference is that Darfur is on an industrial scale, without
any law enforcement to oppose them.) Once the Concerned generate the requisite amount of concern, they will advocate taking the most serious level of action they can contemplate: Diplomatic activity.
Showing such concern, in this manner, absolves them from having to advocate to do what is necessary to eliminate the threat.
When proper lefties want to show concern for the downtrodden in the West, they advocate that the government "do something," such as throw lots of money at the problem. Hence, the problem is solved, and the Concerned no longer have to do anything about the problem, such as give money to charity to alleviate the situation.
Jim Grove
14-year NRODT subscriber
SAVE DARFUR – FUND A MERCENARY
It would be interesting to see how much cash has already been raised and spent on "Prancing for Darfur" type initiatives worldwide. Probably more than enough to get a serious and hardy group of well equipped mercenaries in there to get the job done.
If that was the case then I'd plunk down a hundred bucks to save Darfuris.
Richard Phillips
WHEN GOOD PEACEKEEPERS TURN BAD
I have just recently stared reading your columns and am always impressed by your clarity of thought. One of the biggest pieces in your recent book that stood out was the whole Darfur piece and the arrogance shown by people in the west. Especially in comparison to the free Tibet movement. Brilliant.
My one thought on the subject is that people are so willing to send troops to intervene but are they still going to love the cause once those troops start killings these Arab murderers? The term peacekeeper is so benign and friendly sounding but it is not the Peace Corps keeping the peace. It is a US Soldier or Marine enforcing policy through his ability to engage in violence. If you put these two opposing forces on the same ground we will kill alot of these Sudanese idiots
and it is not out of the realm of possibility for civilians to get caught in the cross fire.
I wonder if they will be so ardently in support of the cause once people start dying. How long will it take for the first US out of Sudan march to form? How long before the calls for an end to US imperialism in Sudan?
I can almost envision the current G-8 protestors buying non-carbon credited plane tickets to the first big rally.
Please continue to fight the good fight and hopefully if you beat people enough with common sense they just might get it one day
Capt Mark Murphy USMC
Philadelphian in Newcastle, Australia
Re: Islamberg
A SMALL CORNER OF VIRGINIA THAT IS FOR EVER ARAB
One major news outfit (FNC?) just did a spot on another compound owned by Muslims of the Americas that is located in Charlotte County, Virginia. This report came out perhaps a week or so ago.
No mention of a firing range or other weapons, but I have to wonder how many other locations they operate?
Matthew Joss
WATER BOMBS
I'd worry more about Islamberg being so close to the Cannonsville Reservoir. It would be so easy to mess with the water supply to NYC. I hear your objection - not nearly as flashy as explosions, etc. – so hopefully not on their "to do" list.
Linda Banks
Re: Live Saud or die
TENT DAY
I forwarded your post and a link to the article on Amherst's batty tent day/sharia indoctrination drive to my girlfriend. Her terse response is posted below in its entirety:
Seventh-grade girls hosted the hijab and veil stations, where other female guests learned how to wear the required head covering and veils.
“Perhaps when they study various African cultures, they'll have an entire tent on genital mutilation.”
God, I love that girl,
Howard Anglin
THE GRANOLA STATE
One of the more disturbing things I have seen in a long time in our great state. And there are many disturbing things going on here. Thanks for pointing this out.
Kevin W Stuart
Manchester, New Hampshire
Re: Werewolves of London
A HOWLING GOOD TIME
My ex-husband was a Chicago cop and he and all his fellow officers swore by the full moon and its relationship to an especially busy night of crime. Come to think of it, I believe my nurse friends also swore that a full moon and a night full of zanies in the emergency room went together.
Penny Bonnar
THE E.R. BY MOONLIGHT
I'll file THAT article under "DUH". I used to work in the ER many years ago - the Loonies always came out during the full moons. We all hated those shifts. I'm glad Her Majesty's best finally figured it out.
Dave
GRAB A PITCHFORK
These pinheaded bureaucrats are recycling their studies (and at more taxpayers expense as usual) since I've read this "connection" in lunar cycles and violent crime for decades.
At least the peasants would get ticked off and grab the pitchforks and torches to go
after the werewolves. Too bad they don't get as riled up about wasteful bureaucracy.
Greg & Lynne Barnard
Re: America Alone
AND BABY MAKES FIVE
I thought I'd share this with you, as it is anecdotal evidence that a tide may be turning.
I was at my 20th college reunion last week, and I was astounded by the number of friends who reported that they had 3 or more kids. Three was by far the most common number of kids, with "2" a bit ahead of "more than 3". Average in the folks with one and zero, and I'd still say my class is coming in well above "replacement" rates.
My school (Princeton) has many people that I had assumed would be from the "2 careers, one child" demographic, but I was encouraged to find that this was not the case for many. Also, my conversations with female classmates indicate that, for them at least, the early promise of feminism has been tempered by the reality of motherhood. To a person, they agreed that they had a shock when they left school and their expectations ran aground on the reality. A full career, motherhood, and a good night’s sleep - pick any two. To their credit, many are cutting back from work and spending time at home, with the expectation that they will get back into their careers when their kids are older.
I would never read too much into a string of personal stories like this. It could just be that my sample of friends includes a bunch of raving, hormone-drenched optimists. However, I’d like to think it represents something larger. Either way, I found it encouraging. Perhaps there is hope for us after all.
David McCune
Tacoma, Washington
THE HUMAN SAND-BLASTER
I want to encourage you to keep on speaking out about the idiocy of Islam. As Ali Sina said, "the pain of shame must become bigger than the comfort of clinging to this false fetish." In the short term, anyone can mentally adopt contradicting points of view, but ultimately such confused logic corrupts a ll logic and people become crazy. (Maybe this is why so many "sudden jihad syndrome" terrorists are judged to be mentally imbalanced.) You must continue to wash off their soothing balm, as in "arrogance is the balm that sooths the pain of being stupid."
But a more important aspect of your work is that it assures non-Muslims that their own instincts aren't failing them. The natural tendency to respect all religions has its limits, but people are uncomfortable in recognizing this. While we had no problem dissing Jim Jones' Peoples Temple and David Korish's Branch Davidians, somehow Islam is too big or too powerful to call an evil cult. People subconsciously think that if 1.3 billion people believe in the Qur'an, it must be
the word of God. This is where you play an important role -- might doesn't make right, and if a billion people got sucked into a dumb religion, it doesn't make them rational.
Chris Chrisman
Los Angeles
FIFTEEN AND COUNTING…
Hey, Have you heard of this family in Arkansas? They maybe took your book too literally?
Lindsay White
SAYONARA, GUYS
Thanks for talking more sense than anyone else on this planet. This appeared today
Hope it is of interest
Jon Hodson
Patrington, England
WHAT TO DO?
Mark, this is one terrific piece of research and writing. You are a timely blessing on this earth!
At the frontiers of Islamic invasion, like Minneapolis, what are the specific steps citizens and elected officials should and can do?
Step #1, page 205 is a start. How can "inspection" of mosques, dealing with "no alcohol" Muslim cab drivers, store clerks that won't handle pork, etc. be undertaken, etc.?
Bob Heltman
Hendersonville, North Carolina
Re: Git the funk out of my face and
Re: The ties that bind
BUSINESS SUFFERS, LAWYERS BENEFIT
Excellent summation of the Black Case in "The Ties that Bind", well done.
In the second to the last - or penultimate as Black would say – paragraph Steyn notes, "The disease was manageable, the cure proved fatal". This was both true and predictable. In August of 2002, a month after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act one of my colleagues and I completed a study for the Cato Institute titled: "Accounting at Energy Firms after Enron: Is the Cure worse than the Disease?" Not surprisingly we concluded that the 'cure', the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was in fact worse than the disease. We also predicted that many of the people responsible for these problems, lawyers, accountants and regulators would be among the biggest beneficiaries. Your coverage of the Black trial clearly validates our forecast as does extensive evidence about the rise in the budgets and powers of regulators, the dramatic increases in accounting and legal fees paid by large corporations to protect corporate officers together with the growth of companies seeking non-US share listings.
As a long-term conservative and a pro-American Canadian, it pains me to point out that all of this happened under Bush's watch. First Libby and now Black have become victims of a man like Patrick Fitzgerald; if only Ken Starr had been as successful.
Richard Bassett
HEATED TOWEL RACK SPOTTED
For the information of zealous prosecutors everywhere; in Warsaw Poland last week there was a towel heating rack in the bathroom of our 20 euros/person/night B&B. Make that shared bathroom. Luxury? Hardly.
Best wishes to Lord and Lady Black. Our prayers go out for them.
Hermina Dykxhoorn
Calgary
DID THEY PROVE IT?
During the Conrad Black trial you have savagely returned to beat the stiffened corpse of the prosecution's opening statement.
Any guess what they will do for a closing?
Any suggestion how they might salvage a closing?
Scott Salvato
HEADS WILL ROLL - REALLY
I wholeheartedly agree that the U.S. government has lost all sense of proportion, especially the Justice Department. Alberto Gonzales is causing irreparable damage & wasting millions of dollars by prosecuting the likes of Conrad Black and jailing U.S. Border Patrol Agents for doing their job. To make matters worse, misguided & incompetent bureaucrats like Michael Chertoff & Norman Mineta (thank God he is gone) cause even more damage without any personal responsibility for their actions.
Hey, I'm no fan of China's repressive Communist regime, but at least they have accountability for its bureaucrats. "China's Former Top Drug Regulator Sentenced to Death for Corruption" Just imagine if 9/11 happened in Beijing. Literally, some bureaucrat's head would have rolled.
Joe Weldon
Juno Beach, Florida
TOO GOOD TO BE GSTRuE?
This comment refers to your blog entry, "But who appraises the appraisers?" over at
Maclean's
Did you know that Goldman, Sachs has set up an exchange market for private equity? It's called the "GSTRuE," or Goldman Sachs' Tradable Unregistered Equity System. [Details in this CNN article:]
I understand that GS is supposed to be genteel, so there'll be no advertisements such as, "Now, you can Go Offshore Without Leaving The City!", "SOX Got You (And Your Earnings) Down And Out? Welcome To The Shelter for Homeless Equity!"
Or, for that matter: "Earnings Too Crimped For Public Listing? List at GSTRuE and enjoy the freedom...until the socialists figure out that 'only the rich' can get on an exchange, at which point they'll take out the SOX-costs-barrrier on us. Until then, enjoy it while it lasts."
Daniel M. Ryan
THE PRESSURE TO PERJUR
You missed an important point in your Trial by Jury column - the plea bargain system may work just fine when the accused is actually guilty, but when they aren't, it suborns perjury. Actually, it suborns perjury regardless. Given what I've read about the Black case, I would say Radler
and at least the three celebrity directors perjured themselves due to Govt. pressure and intimidation.
Being a transplanted Canadian, I find all this quite ironic. While the Canadian justice system seems quite lenient in comparison to the US, Canadians, by and large, are not worried about crime, while the opposite is true in the US.
Phil Trubey
DON’T BE TOO HOPEFUL
I delight in the prospect that the Gentle Black will be proven innocent and thus read your court blogs with unaccustomed eagerness. But I have to ask: Surely your affection for the man is getting in the way of your judgment of the jury? While it is plain to see that the case against Mr. Black is built more on envy and poor taste, than on real criminal endeavour by the Black, Mr. Steyn has not got a good read on the Jury as of yet.
How will they vote/sentence? Along the same lines of "Disdain for the Rich", or will they look at the facts? Even the latter phrase gives one pause: For surely none in the jury are familiar with the ways and conventions of operating a multi-national company; dealing in massive dollar sums and valuations? How can they ever be fair and just, if their experience does not lend itself to understanding and their inclination will be to hate?
My only hope is that the judge will intervene on a legal basis, stating "No criminal intent or proof".
Felix von Bormann
Tampa, Florida
ASININE JURY VERDICTS
Trial by jury? Talk to Scooter Libby. Or how about the justice denied to Nicole Brown Simpson & Ronald Goldman?
In each case the presiding judge could have thrown out an obvious, asinine jury verdict. It would take courage but, like Judge Mettrick (Otto Kruger) in "High Noon", today's judges forsake their own communities to preserve their own hides.
Joe Weldon
THE CASE AGAINST JIM
It seems to me that you have built a much stronger case that Jim "The Skim" Thompson lied to investigators than Patrick Fitzgerald was able to build against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
P.J. McClain
Herndon, Virginia
I HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS..
I think you should start a contest on your web-site on the outcome of the trial, much the same way you did in the past when it was election times in both Canada and the USA. Secondly, on a more somber note, I feel this trial will not go smoothly for Conrad and the co. I have a feeling, from your description of the defence and the prosecution, that the prosecution may lose on major convictions but win the obstruction of justice charge (by the way the same idiotic charge FitzPatrick nailed Scooter Libby on). It looks more that the defence is having the upper hand in the big picture but the prosecution nailed perfectly in a small picture. And given that the jury is mostly bored, blue color folks, they will go with the government side of KISS - keep it simple, stupid. Also, I fear the defence is all about Fast Eddie and his magnificent performance, but this trial is not about him, so he may be scoring his own international points but underscoring his client's chances of successful acquittal.
And thirdly, I think you, as a conservative, should be very favourable of Pres Bush these days, unlike many of your colleagues on the right. If Conrad will be sentenced to 100 years in jail, you will need your charm offensive to plead his pardon case with the outgoing president. Because I think Bush likes you. Conrad may still have big and very important connections, but the experience showed clearly that all his high-places and A-list connections brought him nothing in the end. I think you should start preparing your best argument to convince Bush to grant Conrad pardon if he is convicted. Because right now, you Mark is his best chance. You stuck with him out of moral convictions and Conrad should appreciate it. Anyway, tell Conrad he should not think of himself as Napoleon - he got his ass whupped by the Russians in the end. (That is not how I would have wanted to be remembered).
On a serious note though, I think Conrad may be innocent but definitely guilty of surrounding himself with people who betrayed him in the end. He is a businessman, damn it, he should have known and if he did not foresee it coming than it is his fault - he misjudged his subordinates. And trying to blame someone else for his mistake is rather stupid. If he wants to think of himself as some sort of a general in the battle, whose troops abandoned him when it got tough than he is responsible for it. Of course I never heard you say it, perhaps out of fear of drawing his ire.
Anyway, wish him good luck.
Eugene Shmeilin
Toronto, Ontario
SOMEONE TO FEEL SORRY FOR
Perhaps, as you say, Mark Kipnis was charged as a matter of vengeance. But perhaps it is worse: give the jury someone to feel sorry for and acquit so that they will convict the others.
Joseph Shier
Toronto, Ontario
SO, WHY?
Your blog for Macleans re the Lord Black trial makes for fascinating reading. Possibly I've missed something, or maybe I'm just naive, but I can't figure out what the motivation is for the government to bring such an obviously weak case to trial.
Bruce Hendricksen
Plainfield, Illinois
THE WHITE STUFF
Skim milk - the official drink of the Chicago prosecution.
I hear they all plan to quaff a cold one if they win.
Richard K. Ball
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
WITNESS BIAS
Last Tuesday I was on a list of folks to be selected for a Jury in Maricopa County in Arizona.
The Judge asked a number of questions and made various comments to assure an appropriate jury is selected.
One comment she made caused me to recall your Conrad Black reports, particularly regarding
"David Radler, the government's star witness, is a serial liar."
The judge (Theresa Sanders) said we would be required to evaluate witnesses based on "Motive, Bias and Prejudice"
Certainly David Radler has been "Bribed" by the Prosecutor to provide "Biased" testimony. And he certainly has a "motive" for his inappropriate testimony.
Roger Hutflesz
THE BOOK OF THE TRIAL?
I am loving your coverage of the Conrad Black trial. Do you have any plans to publish the final product in any form? It would be nice to follow the narrative on the printed page rather than scrolling up and down the page to get caught up.
Mark Reardon
Denver, Colorado
GUEST LIST
Are there any figures available on the ratio of family members, college roommates, high school friends, etc. to anti-social germophobes and guys lord black was trying to sell real estate to in attendance?
Mike
Canada
SPIKED
I noted a certain irritation that your June 3, 2007 column was pulled from publication in the Sun-Times. I have followed your comments on the Black trial with great interest, and it is clear that you believe that a great injustice is being done that Lord Black has been charged on the evidence presented at the trial. Your column of June 3 was pretty strong stuff, however, and I would hope that you would agree that a responsible publisher could have qualms about delivering it to the doorsteps of the jury and their families and neighbors in the middle of this trial. We have lost you in the Spectator, the National Post, and the Atlantic. Please don't leave the Sun-Times.
Henry Tilney
Chicago, Illinois
SPOT THE MOTIVE
Last Tuesday I was on a list of folks to be selected for a Jury in Maricopa County in Arizona.
The Judge asked a number of questions and made various comments to assure an appropriate jury is selected.
One comment she made caused me to recall your Conrad Black reports, particularly regarding
"David Radler, the government's star witness, is a serial liar."
The judge (Theresa Sanders) said we would be required to evaluate witnesses based on "Motive, Bias and Prejudice"
Certainly David Radler has been "Bribed" by the Prosecutor to provide "Biased" testimony. And he certainly has a "motive" for his inappropriate testimony.
Roger Hutflesz
Re: Windsor Change
SILVER LINING
First of all I just want to state for the record that I am not related to Justice Edward Belobaba. However, I agree with you that Mr. Roach will win. However, I don't see it as a calamity. If Mr. Roach can reject the constitutional order and not swear allegiance to her Majesty, then presumably the door is open others to do so as well. I can think of all types of by-products of our "constitutional order" that I would like to reject - taxes, speed limits, metrication, government-run
medicare, restrictions on carrying side-arms and last but not least, liberal Judges of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Maybe instead of insisting that Mr. Roach's case was frivolous and vexatious, the government lawyers should have pointed out the obvious - if he succeeds, then the court on which Mr. Justice Belobaba sits is illegitimate and the good judge can kiss his six figure pay cheques goodbye.
Drew Belobaba
Chertsey, Surrey
(formerly of Regina, SK)
WELCOME TO NORTH AMERICA
I thought it was great news that an Ontario court might rule that Canadian citizenship need not involve allegiance to the Crown. As a red-state American, I'm thrilled to hear Canada may at last follow our lead in breaking from the British.
(That's the sentiment that could kill Roach's case. You say Canada has no clear values, but of course it has one, "don't be like America." Let the Justice know that in his rush to defer to a vaguely third-world anti-colonialist plaintiff, he's reached a conclusion on the proper role of the Queen in the government of a North American nation that is shared by Rush Limbaugh. His head will explode.)
Brian Gates
Re: China
THREE AT A TIME
Much more interesting story to me is the attempt by Chinese women to circumvent the goverment's policy of one child per family by taking fertility drugs and having all your children at once. This is an extremely creative approach to violate the ban.
Fred Kaiser
ADVANCED MATHS
Understand what you intend by "China will get old before it gets rich." But as an actuary, I must note it's not only the standard maths that apply. A country that can enforce a one-child policy can also enforce a one-grandparent rule.
Robert Arvanitis
LIMITING ADOPTIONS
The time that it takes to adopt a child from China is also increasing, at least at our agency, which suggests that the commissars are also limiting the number of adoptions that are taking place.
C Thomas Ludden
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan SURPLUS YOUNG MEN
Granted that "surplus young men who can't get any action is not a recipe for social stability," it is in fact the end for many young men in the Islamic states, and, as you say, the beginning for non-Islamic ones so foolish as to embark upon such a course. In other words, look for Islam to be a very big part of China's future.
Green is the new Red (in more ways than one).
John L. Quel
Re: Outsourcing the Future
REDISTRICTING ERROR
National Review--"Outsourcing the Future". A huge error of fact regarding redistricting.
Congressional redistricting is based on raw population. Period. Not citizens or voters, legal or other wise.
Great article, nonetheless.
Edward Blum
Washington DC
Re: Ave atque vale
A PLUM ON PROFUMO
I have been meaning to write to you for some time to thank you for your obituary in the Atlantic in 2006 on John Profumo. What a special character Profumo was and you managed to get that fascinating story of his life packed into the best recount of the Profumo affair I have seen and in so doing produced a memorable piece of writing. Brilliant!
Henrik Knudsen
Re: A nation of immigrants
FRENCH TOAST
Mr. Steyn, I was reminded by your recent post in "The Corner", where you commented on the local New England pronunciation of the family name Benoit, that I had made a faux pas (a fawx pass) early in my career on this exact point. I was introduced in person to a woman named Benoit whose name I had encountered previously only (via emails and memoranda) in print and had always pronounced in my head in the French style. When I said "oh, so you're Michelle Benwhah", she looked at me blankly, then said, "no, you must be thinking of someone else, I'm Michelle B'Noyt."
Your comment also had me thinking of the odd pronunciations of French place name in Vermont. I live in Montpelier, which everybody pronounces Mont-PEEL-yer. I was married in Calais, pronounced like what a horny handed son of toil has on his hand, a callous. You may remember a few years ago when the Vermont Dems made mischief for the Republican party by convincing the poor, addled Fred Tuttle ("Man with a Plan") to run in the Republican party against perennial loser Jack McMullen. In the sham debate the two had, much hay was made by the left of McMullen's carpetbagger status by the fact he pronounced Calais in the French style. (Ironic, given that our newest Senator Bernie is about as perfect an example of carpetbagger as one can think of but in his case it doesn't count since he's a Democrat.)
Daniel Desch
Montpelier, Vermont
IS MARK MOONLIGHTING?
Uncanny.
When the Chicago Tribune dropped your column last week, did they still pay the three bucks?
Arnie Keller
Metchosin, British Columbia
THE BILL FOR DER BERG
Bilderberg meeting: Hello Mark, I do not care where you guys meet and what you talk about because you are all entitled to your privacy...for all I care is that you are all friends and have a nice party in some of the most luxurious hotels - and that's ok. But what I want to know is what was the portion of my income tax money that you have used so I can claim it back?
Emanuel
Montreal Quebec
A BIT OF A BORE?
"I was aware of the general torpor and frantically struggling to be interesting." And you failed to be interesting? I would have paid money to see that.
Ezra Marsh
STEYN-SPEAK
“Snook-Cocker” What is that, exactly? I imagine it's not a good thing.
Steve
Cape Cod
MARK, LINDSAY AND PAUL SIMON
Two questions:
1. Any chance we can get a paragraph or two from you on the Lindsay Lohan issue? Just as a momentary diversion from the usual policy give-and-take at NRO's The Corner. In particular, aren't her excesses rather minor compared to past Hollywood celebrities?
2. Wasn't it you who did that great show in the early 90's with singer Paul Simon? I loved it when you asked Paul about "Mother and Child Reunion" and he immediately played part of it for you as a Ska song. It was one of many fine moments from that interview and it made me appreciate Paul's artistry even more. A real musician. And your interview and fine narration
throughout the show was a complete delight from start to finish. We got to see that show, here in the States, on the Disney channel (of all places).
See ya!
Tom Burk
THEY’RE NOT WORTHY
Mark, a few months ago you wrote a brilliant piece under the title “A Flag Worth Burning.” The same idea might be applied to “A University Worth Boycotting.” How many universities worth boycotting are there in the whole of the Arab world? My guess: not a single one.
Raul
Sao Paulo, Brazil
BACK TO FRONT
Weaponized maple syrup? Like so many others, I start reading the National Review from the back when it arrives in the mail box, normally in the elevator from the lobby to home, hysterical!
It was great to see you on H & C last night, even though you were heavily constrained by the format and the teleprompter.
Thanks for being there, from a boy born in Portsmouth, grew up in Australia where my high school economics teacher accused me of being a right-wing muckraker, one of the proudest moments of my short academic career, now married in Oakland, CA which is a little tough for a Bushevik like me.
Cheers, keep it coming.
Mark Morris.
LAST WORD
There is no one on TV, radio or in print that is as insightful and entertaining as you. Can't FoxNews get Alan Colmes to shut up when you substitute for Sean? I don't know if Alan is intimidated by you, but he always acts obnoxiously when you are on the show. I look forward to the day in the near future when someone gives you your own radio or TV show.
Mike Stadtmiller
Hilliard, Ohio
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