Top 10 Letters

THE DAILY STANDARD welcomes letters to the editor. Letters will be edited for length and clarity and must include the writer's name, city, and state.

*1*

Fred Barnes' idea that we should have an equal number of "liberal" journalists and "conservative" journalists" is absurd. (Liberal Media Evidence) Actually, the idea of conservative journalism is something of an oxymoron. Encompassed in the term "liberal" is an emphasis on competing viewpoints, dissent, and the questioning of authority. What conservatives refer to as "moral relativism" is nothing more than an effort to weigh both sides of an issue (an essential part of journalistic integrity). And this is why liberals are more prone to serve as journalists. Conservatives are, by their very nature, poor journalists. This is because conservative ideals emphasize loyalty, ideology and power--which are not characteristics of good journalism.

Fairness in reporting can only be achieved by liberals. Increasing the number of conservative journalists would do nothing but further corrupt the art and science of journalism.

--Patrick Murphy

*2*

Jonathan V. Last says that people who are failing to make the necessary distinctions between the abuses at Abu Ghraib and the murder of Nicholas Berg. (Paternalism and Abu Ghraib)

And he's right. Take Bill Moyers.

On one of Moyers' recent shows, his first guest was a man named, I believe, Peter Singer, who was introduced as an internationally admired philosopher. Moyers' first question to him was whether the beheading of Nick Berg was "any more reprehensible" than what had happened at Abu Ghraib.

--Charles R. Vail

*3*

Another myth for Fred Barnes to add to his list is that the whole world hates us, and hence, we can only expect bad results across the world as a consequence of our foreign policy. (Myths of Iraq) As contrary evidence, see the elections in Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Philippines, where the Islamists have been defeated. Also include in this column of successes in disarming Libya. And now it seems as if North Korea and Iran may also allow certain degree of supervision.

--Jose A, Hernandez

*4*

At the end of World War II the Allies not only disbanded the Nazi party, but put every member of the German Army they could find into a POW camp. That's exactly what we should have done in Iraq. I think the CPA handled the Baath party correctly, but failed to take the military power of the Saddam regime in hand. The plan to rebuild the Iraqi Army was faulty.

--Wally Lind

*5*

Part of having a good energy policy is understanding what you want. (Irwin M. Stelzer, Sticker Shock) But either our country doesn't really knows what it wants, or it wants the impossible: $1.20 a gallon at the pump and clean hydrogen-driven vehicles on the highway. Irwin M. Stelzer is right that the gradual price increase for oil, while painful, is a good inducement for long-term shifts in energy efficiency, both in encouraging hybrid auto purchases and improving efficiency in homes.

But how about this for a twofer solution? Right now the "crack spread" between oil and refined gas is at an all-time high, because our refineries are tapped out. How about (1) changing regulations to get some new refineries built; and (2) developing ANWR so that it only produces after oil reaches a certain price (say, 40 bucks a barrel)? That way, if OPEC drives prices up, we can use our reserves in the ANWR to meet supply and keep domestic oil prices down. Then we'd still have price mechanisms working as oil prices fluctuated, we'd be able to adjust for short-term OPEC greediness (which really isn't a free market organism anyway), and we could ease supply crunches on our refineries.

--Roger Zalneraitis

*6*

Terry Eastland makes an interesting point, but perhaps the election of 1864 is a guide. (Poll vs. Poll) There were no polls back then, but news of the war was what certainly determined the outcome. During the spring of that year and for much of the summer, after the huge number of casualties suffered by the Union Army, Lincoln looked like a loser. However, after the capture of Atlanta, the victories at Mobile Bay, and in the Shenandoah Valley, the public turned in his favor.