Letters from Spectator readers, September 2024

The cunning of the Democrats’ lawfare

Wow! A tour de force of snark! But wonderful for it. My late father-in-law would have said that instead of brushing his teeth in the morning, the author gets a file and sharpens his tongue.

As depressing as this article is, it is likely an accurate assessment of what’s going on. Particularly the image of Trump and Biden essentially playing the roles of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in the Grumpy Old Men movies.

Carry on, America. Down Under, we have our own problems, as well as being affected by yours, same…

The cunning of the Democrats’ lawfare

Wow! A tour de force of snark! But wonderful for it. My late father-in-law would have said that instead of brushing his teeth in the morning, the author gets a file and sharpens his tongue.

As depressing as this article is, it is likely an accurate assessment of what’s going on. Particularly the image of Trump and Biden essentially playing the roles of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in the Grumpy Old Men movies.

Carry on, America. Down Under, we have our own problems, as well as being affected by yours, same as every other country.

— David Gerber

Tellingly prescient. The 800-pound gorilla the next generation will be forced to address will be unsustainable entitlement transfer payments. The curtain is coming down on the era of tax and spend or don’t tax and spend. Both the Dems and the GOP have constructed an enormous Ponzi whose days are numbered.

The framers of the Constitution never contemplated the issues we are facing. Band-Aid fixes won’t work. Amputation and a tourniquet will be disruptive to the point of open class warfare. We have met the enemy and he is us.

— Harold Begzos

What’s behind the risk-averse approach toward love and family?

Loneliness is not “the scourge of the modern age.”

Whining about loneliness is.

In the past, when challenges were more existential (global war, Dust Bowl, Depression, no safety nets) people appreciated being fed and warm.

My advice: learn to enjoy your own company and lose the Marcuse Marxist tactic to criticize everything.

— Arne Fegus

If Trump or Biden actually cared about America, they would step aside

Silly article.

“Trump is now a Convicted Felon™, with more cases pending.”

Well, gee, Alexei Navalny had cases against him too.

In case the author didn’t know, the “conviction” has zero chance of standing, it was total rot. Likewise the other sham cases are falling apart.

But yeah, he should pull out because the other side is corruptly attacking him? How inspiring!

— T George

While I don’t think Trump should drop out of the race or that he’s unfit because of a conviction by a kangaroo court in New York, I do think that both Trump and Biden are in it for themselves. Biden showed it when he hung on to a nomination for an additional term when it was obvious that he couldn’t keep up with his duties now. Trump showed it with his behavior after it was obvious that he wouldn’t get reelected in 2020. He could have used the vote integrity issue to stay relevant while he was out of office and bring attention to a huge problem in our country. Instead, he used the issue to raise money and seemed to lose interest once Biden was in office. All of his complaints have been about how he was cheated. Perhaps, but isn’t it worse that the American voters were cheated out of an election result we can trust? By being a champion of voters instead of only himself he could have done some good and prepared for a second run.

Trump missed a chance to be a statesman. Instead, he was a politician. He’s better than the alternative by a wide margin, but he could have been even better.

I agree with the author’s sentiment and lack of enthusiasm for both men, but I’ll still vote. It’s the only reason they care about us at all, even if it’s only before an election.

— Ian Goff

Joe Biden, naked emperor

The mainstream media (MSM) is afraid that once people realize they have been lied to about Joe for so long, well, what else are they lying about? Quite a few things.

By bringing in Kamala ASAP and celebrating her everywhere in the MSM, the whole ruse can continue. The left and the MSM are very good at what they do — staying on message and packaging up preferred Dem talking points throughout at least half of the media ecosystem. And, of course, that is the half that counts with Very Important People on the coasts, those who only read prestige journalism, with a dash of MSNBC thrown in, of course…

There is never accountability for MSM journos who lie. But that isn’t quite true to say because media is undergoing yet another round of layoffs, and the reason for that is in good part because of how rotten their product has become over time.

But there is never anyone individually called out for telling outright lies and getting awards and at least a measure of fame online, for example. And the cycle continues because senior journos will often land in MA programs in journalism, where they tell the next generation of ambitious young Wokesters how it’s done. That’s another reason media in the US is so dishonest and broken today.

— VR

Going ham in Andalusia

My adult son runs a kitchen in a restaurant on a famous street in the US. After reading this article while at Fort Walton Beach he said, “Now I’m hungry. What I want to eat is in Spain.” This food is yet another reason to include Spanish Andalusia in a future trip.

— Brooke King